Midweek Ministry

As you know from last week I would like to post more on 

Wednesdays about the work our church is doing in our 

community. However this week I have decided to deviate 

because yesterday I heard the most wonderful and awesome 

story. You know one of those stories that leaves you feeling 

little chill bumps because you know God was working. This 

story comes from a friend and fellow believer from high

school, her name is Rebecca Helvey. At this time her 

grandfather has gone through a huge surgery and is recovering

in the ICU. Yesterday as they were wheeling him to surgery 

the most inspiring things happened and I will just copy and 

paste two of Rebecca's posts here.

  
1st post is about her grandfather:

R.J. Stevens... 84 years old. 4 heart bypass. Has spent his life as a Gospel preacher in the Church of Christ & teaches congregations all over the country how to better worship God through song. Also has a hymnal that is widely used through numerous churches called, "Hymns for Worship." So singing is quite a passion for him, 

2nd post is the awesome story from yesterday:

UPDATE on Grandpa before surgery today!! Two ladies came into PaPa J's room this morning to transport him to surgery. They were so sweet & kind to him & our family.

As they transported him down the elevator and through the halls, grandpa was engaged in conversation with one of them about God & Jesus Christ. She asked him what his favorite gospel song was, and he said, "Nearer, Still Nearer." She said her favorite was "Nearer My God To Thee." He replied, "That's a great song, too." He started singing it. Both ladies stopped the gurney and everyone sang it together - my dad, mom, Uncle Joe, Aunt Paula and even Grandma Pauline.
When they arrived at the place where they would eventually put grandpa to sleep, both ladies gave your grandpa a big hug and told him everything would be okay.
When my dad looked down at the ladies name tags, their names were RUTH and ESTHER!! This just brought tears to my eyes when my dad told me this! So uplifting to hear this and fits my grandpa's love for the Lord.

Immediately when I read this post yesterday on Facebook,

I thought several things. One, how this wonderful man was

proclaiming the name of Christ even as he was about to face

major surgery. This shows me where his focus, life and heart

is, it is at the foot of the Cross.  And second, about how God

always shows Himself to us. He lets us know that He IS 

present and He is still in control. I immagine that Papa J blessed 

those two women immensely and I bet they too blessed him. 

So this week WE are going to be the ones Ministering. The

apostle Paul was a prayer warrior and a fine example of how

we are to pray.

    "I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for

     you constantly."  Ephesians 1:16

    "Don't worry about anything; pray about everything. Tell

     God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

      Philippians 4:6

    "Devote yourselves to Prayer with an alert mind and 

      thankful heart." Colossians 4:2

    "Keep on Praying." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

These are just a few times he talked about praying. If

he talked about it so much, then we should probably be

doing it more. 

We are going to pray for Mr. R.J. Stevens today and 

in the weeks to come. God has already been moving and

working and I can see He is not done yet. Pray with me

for our Brother in Christ. Pray for healing, pray for strength

for him and his family. Let's pray that God works so mightily

in Papa J's recovery that everyone will know that it could

have only be done by our Great and Mighty God!! AMEN 

I will update you in the weeks to come as I learn more and

I know that family thanks you for your prayers because our

God is bigger than any health issue we face. Our God

is the Greatest of all Physicians.  

Music Monday

It is Music Monday again and I have a great tune for us 
to start our week! I have had a rough couple weeks and 
every time I hear this song on the radio I crank it up
because it is such a huge encouragement to me. Mainly
because it is a great song, in my opinion. But also because
Shawn McDonald, the writer has an amazing story. Adopted
by his grandparents, in his teen years he started to rebel 
big time and got in with the wrong crowd and started down 
the road of drugs. Then he came to Christ!! And immediately
the drugs were no longer a desire for him. In a moment, like it 
should be, his life was changed. And the amazing part was 
he had never played a guitar in his life! In a few short years 
he went from learning the guitar to being a well known 
Christian artist that you and I hear on the radio several times 
a day. God has a plan for each of us and He can do amazing
things through us when we focus our lives on Him.

We can rise from our troubles because He who is in us
is greater than he who is in the world! Have a blessed
week!!

Thyroid Thursday- The Thyroid

I have talked a lot about thyroid disease
in my last few thyroid posts. I decided today
to get back in the saddle with a post that
is just about the thyroid and what it does
and why it is so important to the entire
functioning of our bodies.


The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland that
sits on the front of the lower part of our
neck. It is usually flat and you should
not be able feel it on your neck.

The thyroid regulates almost every cell in our bodies!!
How crazy is that? It is responsible for metabolism, 
temperature regulation, weight regulation,heart rate regulation
and energy consumption. So if it controls all of that, you
can see why it is so important for it to work well!


Now we get to the confusing part. There are several hormones
involved in the function of the thyroid and another gland
that helps. First, the hormones involved are TSH, T3 and T4.
The other gland is the Pituitary which is in our brain. 
The Pituitary secretes the TSH(Thyroid Stimulating Hormone)
to stimulate the Thyroid to secrete T3 and T4. T3 and T4 are
different but T4 can convert into T3. And T3 and T4 are
the hormones that assist with metabolism. Clear as mud?


There are several ways this system can be interrupted. First,
the Pituitary may not supply enough TSH and the causes 
Hypothyroidism. Or it may supply too much and that is 
Hyperthyroidism. The Thyroid gland itself may not secrete
enough T3 and/or T4 and that can cause Hypothyroidism and
on the reverse it can secrete too much and cause Hyperthyroidism.


Ready for more confusion? If the Thyroid is not producing 
enough T3 and T4 the Pituitary will secrete more TSH. SO
if you have a TSH test done and it is High that means your
thyroid function is LOW. And vice versa if your Thyroid is 
secreting too much T3 and T4 then the Pituitary will secrete 
less TSH and if your TSH test is low that means your thyroid 
function is High. 


Hopefully this helps if you have had a Thyroid test done
and wondered about the hormones and what it all means. 
Please ask any questions if you need clarification.

Midweek Ministry

 Things at our church, First Baptist Church of Belen, have

been heating up since our New Pastor David Guerrero arrived 

this last September. Every week I am seeing our members be 

reignited with passion and fire for what the church needs

to be about. We are refocusing on what our mission is and 

week by week it is so exciting to see our church transform 

into the Acts Church.

Our Youth Minister Sean Farrell has a vision for ministry

he calls his mission "Hands and Feet". We are to be Christ's 

hands and feet. We are to do for others what they cannot do

for themselves and love them like Christ loves them. When

people look at us as believers, they should wonder why we

are different and Sean is working diligently to instill these 

core values into our youth. Our desire is that our church would

be about service to those in need. Getting out in our community

and making a difference and that is what we are doing!!

A turn of events on Presidents day brought about a huge 

opportunity for our youth group and another youth group

from a fellow church! The plan was to go to White Sands

for a day of fun in the sand. But poor weather conditions at

White Sands ended the trip. Pastor Sean said he started to 

think and pray for an alternate plan for the youth. Then it

came to him! The previous day he had spoke with a gentleman 

by the name of Rex Lewis. Rex Lewis and his family lost

their home to a fire just a few weeks ago. Our church had 

already been out to help with the clean up but there is still

lots to be done to prepare for the rebuild. Pastor Sean had

told Rex he would assemble a team and come out again soon

to help. Sean realized he had a large group of teens and youth

workers at his disposal so he pitched his idea to the adults and

then the teens. Most were on board and very excited about

the service project. Of course there were a few of the teens who

Sean says "were not excited about the not having fun," and they 

went home. Little did they realize what they were going to miss

out on!

The workers piled into the vans and headed over to the Lewis's

and started working. Several of the youth I have talked to said 

at first it was quiet and everyone was a bit somber but then

the singing started and creativity in the clean up and silliness

and fun ensued!

 Some comments about the days events were:

- "Honestly, not only did yesterday rejuvenate me, but it turned out 

   SO much better than I had planned. All in all, I am so grateful that 

   the day turned out like it did instead. Where not only were laughs 

   present, but that of which matters, acting and serving out of love and

   devotion. Plus, it reminded me that we may have our plans, but His 

   are always better."     Miranda Lucero

- "I just have to say it felt amazing to help " Mystie Sky

- "Our students lit up Facebook with how much fun they had and how 

    good they felt helping."  Pastor Sean Farrell

- " I think it was a GREAT change of events and some of the students 

     even agreed. I spent time with two last evening and they mentioned 

     it was so wonderful to be in service to others in the Kingdom 

     than just to themselves. They had a great time of fun and silliness, 

     too! It is always such a blessing to give oneself away. I was proud 

     of the work the kids did and how well they did it, too."  

     Venetia Yates -Youth Pastor


- " I think we youth should do more service projects like that. I think 
     that's what we're supposed to be doing. Going to concerts and doing 
    fun things is nice, but so many kids don't realize how important these 
    things can be to someone else. I know yesterday, God was definitely at 
    work. I noticed a few things that happened to me yesterday, that might 
    not have happened if we'd spent all day down at White Sands. Of course, 
    God works in so many ways and through so many situations."  Katie Alvarez

.

The Youth and youth workers left Monday feeling excited and 

honored to be a part of such an awesome day. Of course the

Lewis family was most thankful supplying hotdogs, 

smores and appreciation!  I think that when we help someone in 

need and get our eyes off ourselves, we find that we are equally 

blessed. What I love most of all is that everyone saw that God had a 

much better plan for the day!  

Allergy Tips Tuesday- Spring Cleaning!!

Some of the most common indoor allergens -- the ones that can trigger childhood

allergy symptoms -- are often found in bedrooms. 


I was surprised to find many articles about how to keep a child with allergies
room in tip top shape. I have always been more worried about our living room
and what lurks in our carpet, which is important too. But then it occurred to 
me that our son does sleep in his room for 10 hours every night! Wow probably 
I should pay a little closer attention to his bed. 


There are so many articles that are EXTREME in my opinion about how
to keep a child's room with allergies clean. One gave detailed step by step 
instructions on how to clean the sheets, blankets, comforters, duvet covers, 
pillows, and on and on. It was quite amazing to me. I myself have been
caught in the trap of freaking out with the littlest exposure for our son.
If you have done anaphylaxis or have done an asthma exacerbation, you
want to steer clear of doing it again. But I have come to find there has to
be a happy medium where my son is safe  and I am not being crazy lady.


Our son is allergic to 35 things that we are aware of in the areas of food,
drugs and environmental allergens. It can be very overwhelming if I 
think about it too much. So I just do my best to steer clear of things
knowing that I can not always keep him away from all of them and 
trying to keep him away from the BIG ones. 


That being said I have found that his room can cause issues. So
there are a few things you can do to keep the room a little more
allergen free. First, put a mattress cover on the mattress. We had
already done this because he was a toddler and still having the 
occasional night accident. Mattresses harbor all kinds of horrible
things that no one really wants to think about!! Dust mites being
one of the big ones. Next get a allergy safe pillow cover. We bought
our son a special allergy safe pillow and cover. They are really not
that expensive and when you think about it, that is where their face
is going to be. Lastly, you need to be washing the bed linens once 
a week. I am not that great about this in the off seasons. Usually April
to June is our son's worst time of year and I work hard during
that time to keep all linens clean. Obviously dusting and vacuuming 
are two other important things. But I think the bed is the big
issue because they spend 8-10 hours a night there and it needs to
be a place of comfort and a place that does not cause them to have
a full blown allergy attack.


Lastly, one interesting tip I read that I had not really thought about,
because we don't have bunk beds, many suggest putting the allergy
kid on the top bunk. When the dust and allergens falls, it will not be 
on the allergic one as much.


Any other tips? Chime in and let me know what you think!

Music Monday

"I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water."     Ray Charles


A beautiful young lady I know has reminded me that it is time to 
get back in the saddle and start blogging again. I have been going
over in my mind for a while what can I blog about. I have thought in
the past that I would like everyday to be a day where I explore one 
of the things that I know about. So why not start the week off with 
music hence music monday because music is my first love. 
I completely identify with the quote by Ray Charles, music is who I am, 
it is a part of my genetic make up. I cannot live without it. On Mondays 
I am going to try to hook you up with some tunes that make the start 
of your week good and gives you hope. Music is my go to, to make 
everything better. 


I am so excited one of my favorite vocalist has made her first music videos and it is one of my favorite songs that she does. This is one of my go to songs when the world is beating me up. Just what I needed  for this week as I am facing some challenges right now and just needing the reminder that even though I feel like I am in the valley, He is here to comfort me. He is for me and He is for you!

Blessings for a beautiful week and tune in tomorrow for Allergy Tales Tuesday!