Apparently Ping needs to add Google+. And here I thought Blogger was behind….

Upcoming Event

If you are interested in perhaps one of the biggest FREE events (outside of Alabaster’s CityFest in June) in the Birmingham area, come to StadiumFest Saturday, April 2, 2011. The event will be held at Spain Park High School and will have a children’s play area. Christian group Casting Crowns and Christian artist TobyMac are the headliners along with several local “celebrities,” like Rick and “Bubba,” Kevin Derryberry and James Spann the weatherman from ABC 33/40. By the way, they would like as many volunteers as they can get, so consider contacting them about volunteering your time before, during or after the AWESOME music as well as enjoying the FREE event. It’s really NOT too often that I get THIS excited over upcoming events, but this one merits the excitement. And if you do come, look for me over in the children’s area where I will be volunteering before going to see TobyMac whose music has been an inspiration and an encouragement since I got diagnosed with my immune deficiency almost a year ago. And in case you’re wondering who TobyMac is, most of the more mature people may recall the Christian group DCTalk. I will post more information and links in the days to come when I can access a computer, but for now, consider this a preview until after I see my primary medical doctor about some rather intense upper right quadrant pain that needs prayers.

Promotion of Jim Henson Dinosaur Train School Supplies

There’s a nice little prize pack consisting of a backpack chock full of all kinds of neat school supplies that any parent or caregiver of young children will appreciate. The supplies are themed from Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids.

Check out http://andtwinsmake5.blogspot.com/2010/08/get-ready-for-kindergarten-with.html for more details.

Green Movement

http://andtwinsmake5.blogspot.com/2010/08/crayola-favors-green-this-back-to.html

There is a giveaway for eco-friendly Crayola products. Yes, apparently the green movement has started to trickle down into Crayola products. Of course, they are not the only ones as PaperMate pushes a plantable biodegradable ink pen and several others now make notebooks and other school supplies using recycled products ranging from paper to Capri Sun pouches.

The Wait Is Over…I Have a Diagnosis

So after 3 and a half months of waiting, the results came from the immunologist. I have mixed feelings since my particular case has no cure, no real treatment. But I also know what I’m dealing with and my doctors will be able to work with it easier. My primary diagnosis is Mannose-binding lectin protein deficiency, also known as MBL. Not a lot is known about the condition. I only ask that whoever reads this pray for a cure or at least a treatment to be found in my lifetime and that if not that I continue to learn to accept things as they are and face it bravely.

Grits cover of U2’s “With or Without You”

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you

With or without you
With or without you

Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And Im waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

My hands are tied
My body bruised, shes got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you
With or without you

Lyrics obtained through http://www.justsomelyrics.com/677297/Grits-(Featuring-Jadyn-Maria)-With-Or-Without-You-Lyrics

Jesus, I wait for You. I wait for Your comfort. I wait for Your return. I wait for You.

God Gave Me…

God gave me His Son.

God gave me His love.

God gave me His grace.

God gave me His forgiveness.

God gave me His mercy.

God gave me His compassion.

God gave me courage.

God gave me a brain.

God gave me strength.

God gave me gifts and talents that although many may possess is still unique in its own.

God gave me life.

God gave me friends.

God gave me my dog and my cat.

God gave me my wonderful medical team.

God gave me my church.

God gave me laughter and giggles galore.

God gave me peace.

God gave me me!

What have I given to God to deserve all of these things?

The Dance of God

The story behind this is that Tuesday, I was helping with VBS decorations at the church and had just taken a break to go find my music director to ask him a question. Only when I got to where his office would be I learned he was not in at that moment. So I was heading back down the hall with the windows and noticed it had just started raining. Upon arriving back in the church lobby where we were working on the decorations, I announced that I had to do something, that my momma wouldn’t let me do it, but that I just had to. When asked what it was, I announced, I just feel like I have to take my socks off and go run in that rain. Everyone said, well do it. So I did. I got into that parking lot at the church and just started dancing in the rain, arms lifted up, and I looked toward Heaven and just let God wash away my fears and my worries.

I am no longer afraid of having a rare, incurable disease. I am no longer afraid to serve God in whatever way that will be. And thus begins the dance of God.

The Dance of God

All it takes is one heart, one mind, one soul, one life. All it takes is one breath, one hope, one prayer. All it takes is one small child, one new believer, one young life. All it takes is that to really know and experience the dance of God. The dance of God is not necessarily about the steps, the motions, the choreography because the dance of God is whatever is in the heart. It starts in the heart, moves through the veins, the arteries, the muscles, the brain. The next thing you know, the feet start moving, the arms start moving, the body starts moving. There doesn’t have to be music because the music is in your heart. An onlooker may think it crazy, but you don’t care. All you know is you have to dance, dance, dance. Dance like you don’t care because you don’t. All you care about is praising God, worshipping God. For the small things, for the large things. For the beautiful things, for the not so beautiful things. For all of creation. For all of mankind. And that is the dance of God.
-Written by SES, 2 June 2010

The little girl climbs on the daddy’s feet for a father-daughter dance. There doesn’t have to be music. The music is in the heart. I’m climbing on God’s feet and I’m hanging on for the dance and for the ride. God’s song in my heart is the music of the dance.

Psalm 149:3
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!

“Be Glorified”
By Chris Tomlin

Your love has captured me
Your grace has set me free
Your life the air I breathe
Be glorified in me

Your love has captured me
Your grace has set me free
Your life the air I breathe
Be glorified in me

You set my feet to dancing
You set my heart on fire
In the presence of a thousand kings
you are my one desire

I stand before you now
With trembling hands lifted high
Be glorified

Your love has captured me
Your grace has set me free
Your life the air I breathe
Be glorified in me

Oh yeah

You set my feet to dancing
You set my heart on fire
In the presence of a thousand kings
You are my one desire

I stand before you now
With trembling hands lifted high
Be glorified

Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified

You set my feet to dancing
You set my heart on fire
In the presence of a thousand kings
You are my one desire

I stand before you now
With trembling hands lifted high
Be glorified

Gluten Free at Church

Sometimes, it takes little and sometimes it takes a lot, but as they say, faith as small as a mustard seed can move some mighty big mountains. Okay, so I’m not 100% quoting that verse from the Bible, but you get my point, right?

Well, I’d mentioned the possibility of it last year, but after I had an asthma attack the last time I ate a McDonald’s cheeseburger, made with of course a wheat bun, I noticed that some mountains moved at my church in Birmingham, Alabama area.

Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church now joins the ranks of a cluster of churches who are making the move to provide a gluten free alternative to the traditional communion cracker they usually use so people who have celiac disease, gluten intolerance and wheat allergy can still participate in its monthly communion service.

Although there may not be a percentage yet as to how many people are benefitting from this option, it is a sign of the changing times and the growing acceptance of people who have issues with gluten and wheat.

It also shows that they have compassion for a growing population of people who cannot tolerate gluten and wheat.

Now, I wonder what it would take for them to become a peanut free zone for those who have asthma attacks just from smelling peanuts?

Some Idiots in the World

So there is this jerkwad idiot on YouTube who insists that anyone who uses modified sign language systems – often called Manually Coded English – that conceptually are just as accurate as ASL in terms of the signs only using exact English word order instead of inverted grammar are somehow inferior to everyone else.

This is simply not true.

According to every class I have ever taken on sign language and manual communication, it is just as acceptable for a hearing person, hard-of-hearing person, or even Deaf person to use a modified sign system. Matter of fact, most people whose first language is English do!

I use a modified sign system with my Deaf dog. I use a modified sign system with songs. According to any interpreter and Deaf person I’ve ever met, this is perfectly acceptable. They understand just as easily and often switch to the modified sign system when they know someone is just a beginner in their language.

Heck, just the fact the person is making the effort to communicate with them alone is often appreciated.

But I have seen Deaf people with their interpreters in public and they use modified sign systems more often than straight ASL.

Honestly, I believe the only place anyone would see straight ASL being used is in the Deaf community in a place where very few hearing people would be found.

Are people who use modified sign systems somehow inferior to those who use straight ASL? Heck no! People who use modified sign systems are no more inferior to those using straight ASL than blind people are to sighted people. And blind people are not inferior to sighted people.

Yes, I use a modified sign system in my own personal life and in my worship. And I will continue to do so when I lose the last of my hearing. There is nothing wrong with it. It is perfectly acceptable. And it is because sign language is my fourth language, not my first language.

For more information about Manually Coded English and its comparison to ASL, check out this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manually_Coded_English

It may be more than you care to know, but it may answer some questions.

By the way, I had to write this in defense of the fact that yes, my poster with the sign language alphabet has on its backside The Pledge of Allegiance and yes, it’s in exact English word order, but it is the same signs conceptually as ASL. So, my point is who cares whether a person uses straight ASL or some other modified sign system, they are all just as accurate and correct, just like a Southerner and a Northerner who each have different dialects are just as accurate and correct.

Immune Deficiency Foundation Reminds Us That Some People Are Zebras in the Medical Field

http://www.primaryimmune.org/zebra/images/img_zebra_logo.jpg

Think Zebras!

Visit them at http://www.primaryimmune.org/idf.asp for more information.

AAAAI – ELEMENTS of Allergy & Asthma

AAAAI – ELEMENTS of Allergy & Asthma.

http://www.aaaai.org/patients/gallery/immunodeficiency.asp

Great overview on immune deficiency.

Wheat allergy – MayoClinic.com

Wheat allergy – MayoClinic.com.

Um. Yeah. The medical explanation.

American Latex Allergy Association | Latex Allergy Topics

American Latex Allergy Association | Latex Allergy Topics.

Technical Bulletin # 10

ALLERGENIC CROSS-REACTIVITY OF LATEX AND FOODS

A compilation from the literature

Allergic reactions to natural rubber latex comprise both delayed and immediate (IgE-mediated) hypersensitivities, producing clinical symptoms ranging from contact urticaria and bronchial asthma to anaphylactic shock. Natural rubber prepared from the milky sap (latex) of the tree Hevea brasiliensis is a common component of numerous home products and medical supplies, including surgical gloves and catheters. While delayed hypersensitivity reactions to latex-containing products are often traced to additives and stabilizers employed for their production, immediate reactions are closely associated with endogenous protein components of the natural rubber latex materials.

Recently, coincident IgE-mediated allergies to latex and multiple fruits or vegetables have been documented. In vivo and in vitro investigations of clinical specificity have produced complex patterns of allergenic cross-reactivity (suggesting shared or common antigenic components) among botanically-unrelated allergens such as latex and foods. While the details of the clinical association of latex and food allergies await further study, documentation of food allergies known to coexist with latex sensitivities may be useful for identifying the risks of latex exposure for some patients.

Listed below are the allergens reported to be associated (clinically or immunochemically) with natural rubber latex.

Degree of Association or Prevalence:

High (4)

Banana

Avocado

Chestnut

Kiwi

Moderate (7)

Apple

Carrot

Celery

Papaya

Potato

Tomato

Melons

Low or undetermined (33)

Pear Mango Sweet Pepper

Peach Rye Cayenne Pepper

Plum Wheat Shellfish

Cherry Hazelnut Sunflower Seed

Pineapple Walnut Citrus Fruits

Strawberry Soybean Coconut

Fig Peanut Chick Pea

Grape Buckwheat Castor Bean

Apricot Dill Lychee

Passion Fruit Oregano Zucchini

Nectarine Sage Persimmon

Simultaneous occurrence of allergies to certain pollens and foods described above have also been documented in reports independent of those focusing on natural rubber latex. Significant levels of allergenic cross-reactivity have been demonstrated for the allergen groups listed below:

Mugwort with Carrot, Celery, Apple, Peanut and Kiwi

Birch with Apple, Pear, Peach, Cherry and Hazelnut

Grasses with Potato

Ragweed with Banana and Melons

*Might be calling the doctor after this one.

This might explain my wheat allergy and peanut allergy. It sure sheds light on some of my other food allergies!

Food Allergy Initiative – Wheat Allergy

Food Allergy Initiative – Wheat Allergy.

Another explanation of the differences between celiac disease and wheat allergy.