Victoriana

Hello, Im in Bellevue, WA so welcome aboard! Best wishes!

I have not heard about this series of small quakes, Im in Seattle, so I must say I keep prepared too, so thanks for the heads up so to speak, I noticed I was at half a tank today and thought I would gas up tomorrow, I know better than that but, alas, I wanted to just get home. Hope if we do get one that it is a deep one, not a surface one as those tend to be the real doozies eh? This is always interesting to me. Have you been through a quake yet? I have and boy, it gave me such vertigo for a couple of days. Funny thing, my dog barked like crazy and all the birds took flight just seconds before I could feel anything. Animals just have some sense about them. Its amazing. Oh BTW, I love Vancouver Island, and my favorite vacation was at Harrison Hot Springs. Sooo Beautifulll.

Ahem, Religeon is one thing, faith is something alltogether different, and relationship with Christ Jesus is in a realm of its own, because it involves the Spirit. I religeously take medication daily. I have faith in my husbands love for me. Chrish Jesus chose me before the foundations of the world were laid, He saw my unformed body and He numbered my days before a single one even happened. He died so I could be reconciled (relationship) to the Father, and I responded to His love by the revelation of truth by the Holy Spirit. I do believe that this completley defies rationality. But it does explain true Love.

Have you been able to eat omlets all along? I cant eat scrambled, hard boiled eggs or omlets. I think stress could be the culpret, but reheated eggs would really ball up on me for sure. Hope your mom gets better, what a scare you had. I have not noticed stress changing me so far. This is a good question, I hope to learn with you.

Im sure ther are Michigan bandsters, Have you checked in the Michigan site at the bottom of this forum? Best wishes and welcome!

Hey, did we get a twofer here? Are you both banded? What a wonderful idea, built in support! Welcome guys, keep reading and you will learn lots Im sure.

Never feel guilty for taking care of yourself. You certainly care for other people and get them to thier healthiest state, why should you be treated differently? When we care for ourselves, we can care for others even better so Im proud that you stopped smoking, (no small feat), and now you are tackling the weight issue. You know how damaging hi bp is to the heart, thickening the wall muscle and causing it to work harder and harder. I think you are doing the best for yourself. Why on earth should guilt rob you of your hapiness? One more thought, sometimes the anesthesia leaves us with a sense of loss, or depression, or even doubt, so maybe you are just experiencing withdrawal. Many of us notice this around day three or four, so could this explain your guilt? Best wishes on your way to a healthier you!

HEY!!! I have a 23" waist! Its in here somewhere I just know it, and someday when I get to goal, I just might find it again. Its probably under my port by now!!

Thank you Alexandra for your request for us to quit the name calling and belittleing. (sp) I enjoyed most of the post here, as of late some post are sad. I want to welcome Cal to the conversation, and there was a post where I metioned the use of a Talit, I wish to not offend anyone that knows how serious the use of this is in the Jewish faith, and yes I am aware that is is meant for males. I use a prayer shawl that is a Messiaic Talit, and I was given it by Messianic Christians, and I have heard and used the term Completed Jew for nearly 20 years. It is not a new term at all and it is not meant to say that Orthadox Jews are incomplete. I have been quite amazed by the references to the talit and robes through out scripture. From most of them they refer to the authority of an individual and there are many that refer to the healing power of the office. I pray with the faith that there is healing in His wings, and that our Savior arose with healing in His wings, which refers to His Talit and its tassels, which I understand are tied to represent the phrase, The Lord Our God Is One. The winding and knots refer to letters in the Hebrew alphabet that represent this. Again, I am not an authority, but I must say that I appreciate the symbolism. I feel as though I wrap myself in the presence of God, and It becomes my tent of meeting. It sometimes helps me to focus and separate myself from distractions. I had a near death experience, seriously, and a day does not pass where I know that I cannot move my little finger without the life of God moving through me. When I write in word pictures ie, putting a bandaid on my childs hand, I clearly use this as an extreamly simplistic metaphor. Im not ever going to try to razzle dazzle anyone with my writing ability, as proven by my grammar and spelling. I hope that we continue to ask questions of each other so as to gain understanding of each other, and If some are persuaded, so be it and if others are not, thats ok too. I believe as Ron does that we should be able to explain or defend our faith. I also believe that God is the author and finisher of our faith, so its His job to ultimately do the convincing. eh?

If God didnt allow us a choice, how would it be love if we worship and trusted Him out of a lack of other options. God understands love, and the Word says He is love, it was out of love that he allows us the choice, and if we choose to deny Him, thats it. He provided a perfect, sinless, disease free garden and the tree that we were instructed to not eat from. Hoping that obedience would ensue. But since Eve never had anyone lie to her before, she didnt know she could not trust the serpent when he asked her the question, Did God really say... and caused her to doubt, and sin. But God did warn her to stay away. As a parent I taught my children what was dangerous, but sometimes they tested me and had the consequence of getting hurt. This broke my heart to mend a cut finger or something like that. But, God in His infinate love knew that He could still provide a way to be with Him again, but it still comes as a choice, to love Him or abstain. Just because He doesnt force us to love Him doesnt mean that He doesnt continue to hope that we would choose Him. He did take my punishment upon Himself after all, even if I choose to ignore Him. It seems that there is a pervasive rule somewhere that says that since God knows everything, He set us up for punishment. Its just the opposite, He knows we are not perfect, so He still gives us the choice to come back to Him. Personally, I was such a wretched person without His intervention. Not that I was mean to people, or a murderer, or thief. I had a basic moral code that I followed, and believed in personal ingegrety and honesty. I was wretched because inside my self, I was insecure, sad, lonely, and allowed people to walk all over me, I had no value in my own eyes. When I learned how much I really am loved by God, I became safe, free from fear, peacefull, confident and so much more. The only thing that changed was my choice to choose Him, ask His forgivness for not loving myself, and therefore not loving others the way they should have been, and most of all, not loving Him enough to trust Him with my life. That is why my signature about forgivness is on each of my post. I never want to forget the power of His forgivness. Remember, I respect others choices, because God honors us with choices.

It was about 40 before most people noticed for me, I still could wear the same clothes, because before the stretchy fabric was so tight, then when it became baggy, thats when someone said something. My DH noticed at about fifteen. But he sees me everyday.

My cardiologist would not approve any other gastric surgery. He liked the minimal invasion, removability, and slower weight loss. He felt that the mortality rate was much preferred and rapid wieght loss tends to strip potassium from your body which is critical for you heart. Even though I have the band, I had a few month where the potassium needed replacement with supliments. I am off four differen Rxs, have lost 75 pounds and my heart couldnt be more happy. If you think you could ruin your banding process by overeating, you should look at the consequences for overeating with the bypass. It can be fatal. It was cut and dry for me, buy I think you should listen to your own heart, it usually is right anyway.

How precious!! Chicken? For goodness sakes. That was one expensive dinner!

Why do I now weep? Im so full of His presence. I understand why you want to share so. So do I.

Zoweeee! Im gone for a couple of days and look what has been going on! Its nice to meet you Ron.. I would appreciate prayer for a dear friend who is suffering from colen cancer, 2 years now and he is at 148 lbs. I took a prayer shawl to him with a cd on the scriptures that started in the ot and lead to the nt. I love our Messianic brothers and sisters. I am truly in love with the beautiful symbolism they carry through the centuries, and not just that but the way they preserved the scriptures in detailed accuracy for us. Im so tired, I have had so much going on and I just wanted to lurk tonite but alas, I had to respond to say hi and I read every single post on this thread tonite. I as a child wondedred why there were seven days in a week. Why is the time split in our world from bc to ad? How can evolution parallel the creation story as far as the chain of events are concerned. You know stuff like that. Well I will wrap myself in my talit tonight, worship with all my heart and awaken refreshed, thank God Almighty for a new day and take a total stranger to a Dr. appt. (she called the church office for help). We have so much power at our fingertips. God bless you and keep you, my dear brother, and we will talk again sometimes for sure. Victoriana

How scary for him, I hope you are able to feel better soon and my prayers for him are for his healing, completly, and for the trauma of this to not have any lasting effects. Bless you.

Dear Marz, Im praying for your family, so sorry for your pain, and the young nephew, as when he learns of his losses too, he will need support. May God bless you and comfort you.

Wow Letha, how true, Who was, Who is, and Who is to come. Marinantha!

Hi Carlene, Chico sizes are a bit vague on purpose as most of thier clothes are stretchy. I have some of their stuff and size 3 is more like a 16-18 at most. Size one is a combo Small to Med Size two is a combo of Med to Large Size three is a combo of Large and X-large. Its their own idea of making stretchy clothes buyer friendly!

You sure are hitting it hard and fast! Most often your energy comes after several weeks, so hang in there. One caution though, there was a season when I excercised, and I just could not seem to recover afterward. Felt so terribly drained. I found out that because of rapid weight loss, I was so low in potassium, I was critical and was compromising myl heart and ended up in E. R. so if you are really tired and cant seem to get your energy up, get a blood workup andhave your potassium checked, for your hearts sake.

I was so excited, can you believe ths family that had thier son missing four years? It sure gives hope to any family that has a missing person. God bless them all.

Dear Jodie, there was a time in my life that was so similar, every relationship I had ended up in the I give and you take syndrome. I even wondered if there wasnt a sign on my forehead that said USE ME. I had about 3 years of this and went to a counselor for depression. Without understanding how, I was teaching people to treat me like that. It was so subtle, allmost unbelievable to me. My assignment which was so painfull, was to walk around looking at everyone, even strangers to make eye contact and already be smiling at them as if I knew a great secret. Most people that made eye contact, quickly diverted their look or did a doubletake. I was to nod and say just a hi or a nod of the head to acknowledge them, and just continue what ever it was that I was doing. I was amazed that so many people, especially the older generation quickly responded with kindness of some sort. Older men opened the door and held it, older women said things like "good morning dear". Grocery clerks asked "find everything you needed?" This encouraged me to continue. It wasnt long before a "friend" at work wanted to know if I was in a new love relationship. Of course I said no but I wondered why and asked. She said that no one smiles like that without getting a lot of good ... anyway I began to see changes and most of the people that were casual relationships, then the closer relationships took on a sort of calm. What the counselor taught me was that when I valued myself enough without needing anything from others, (confidence) peaple felt at ease around me. Most people are under so much stress anymore that even the slightest friendships that feel any sort of need in them become strained. Of course, I still needed a lot of approval, but I was learning to approve myself first. I was fortunate to develope that habit of projecting comfort. I still had a lot of jerks in my life but they didnt effect me as much. Soon after that I began making meaningfull relationships. Deep friendships. Just a few, but nice friends that I could share with. I still had to be carefull to include genuine concern for their needs too. Im not saying the you are demanding or hi maintenence. There is however an ability to project a persona that we are unaware of projecting. I wanted you to know that I was hi maintenece without knowing it, all I really wanted was to be cared for and I kind of gave people the ability or power to reject me. and they did! If you need help, I did, even medication for a season, like I did, there is no shame in reaching out for it. This forum is a good starting place, but no real substitute for face to face friendship. You are on a new path, taking care of yourself. I hope you can be patient about loosing, It will happen, even if slowly, and I know that bandsters that loose quickly are just as common as the slow loosers. Try to look at the reasons that slow loosing is a good thing. You are not gaining, Your skin will not sag as bad when you loose slowly, Your body compresses nicely. Your hair wont fall out as easily as when you loose quickly, Your organs like the kidneys and gall bladder arent strained as much. You will probabley learn a lot about yourself, like why eating a big bite of pizza is so important or rewarding. I think you are giving other people too much power in your life. You are the prize and not every one wins it, You sound like a very deep and understanding person when it comes to others. I just think that the feeling that is wierd inside is that missing element of really believing that you are the treasure that WILL be discovered by the people that really matter. I see so much of myself in your post, really, and I think you have the ability to analyze details more readily than most. If you give all the details equal importance, its overwhelming. I think you are learning to sort these details out and giving priority to the important ones. Its all a process, and your gonna make it, Im glad you feel free to just get it out and pick through all this later, thats a good strategy. BTW. I still revisit the feelings of being invisible, It just doesnt have the sting it once had, and move on.

Nurturing through food Isnt wrong, its natural in my mind, why else would any mother strive to awaken 3 times a nite to feed a newborn when she is tired out of her gourd? Nurturing with food isnt wrong if the food is healthy, and in proper portions. I have a new friend that nurtures me by teaching me all kinds of great recepies that are loaded with health and they are verly inexpensive on my budget too! Her goal in life is to write a cookbook to teach many others how to live out of their own gardens, or at least a great deal of their food from there. What I do think is wrong is when we nurture through happy meals and junk food, as the taste for sugar and gluten is a one two punch in the health. These foods are just too easy to grab and we dont feel guilty for not working in the kitchen as moms used to because its so time consuming. All this is totally separate from the rude behavior of your fellow cake eaters. They know that you cant eat cake as you once did, one or two bites would have been enough, and you specifically asked them to wait. I think that it they that were behaving selfishly, and that hurts especially when they are supposed to be close to you. I dont think it was the food, as much as it was the hurt they gave you by not respecting your request. after all what is a bite or two of cake in the scheme of things. Your hurt was obvious and deep because it even effected your sleep. I think that the food and love thing was a connection because it was how they hurt you, not that you have the problem loving through food. I think that the two are totally separate issues in this instance. Just my thoughts, thats all. BTW, If you want to you could buy a gormet cake anytime and eat what you want, if all you really wanted was the cake. You want thier respect. right?

John 17:4, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do,.... John 17:6, I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. IMHO, The work of Jesus Christ was to reveal the love of God the father for His children, through the healing of their bodies and reconciling them to the Father by His own sacrifice. I think it is so simple, yet so infinately amazing and we in our mortal state try to wrap out mind around God Almighty, and just cant do it in the here and now. Faith without works is dead and yet what is the work? It isnt the business of taking care of each other and our various needs, ( although this is how we are known, by loving one another as Jesus did.) The work is revealing God the Fathers love for everyone in creation, and that His grace (Jesus the Son) shown to us by the forgivness of all our sins. So often, people refer to works as thier actions that earn thier way to heaven. Thats totally undoable. Without the understanding of His grace and what it provides for us, we are all just a bunch of ants building a larger ant hill. Vanity, and a chasing after the wind. Isnt it far more wonderfull to strive for unity, to glorify our Father in heaven? Thats what Jesus prayed, just before He allowed Himself to be arrested and crucified. I think that when we all face death, our dying words become the most important, or at least honored as such. So that is my rave. I am not afraid to lift the name of Jesus Christ, it is the opposite, It is what has conqured fear in my life in the first place. Peace.

Anyone see my binkie?