2008: The Year of New Beginnings

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I am a Christian, saved in 1977. I was a professional viola player and taught Suzuki for years. When I started having babies, I chose homebirths and became a midwife myself. There is nothing like bringing new people into the world. I was responsible for the prenatal care of many mothers. I studied health and nutrition, which drove me to study alternative and naturopathic healthcare. I became a health nut, which I still am to this day.  

I was also drawn to, and later convicted to, homeschool my children. God blessed me with seven children, and gave me a Biblical responsibility to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I live in Texas, and at the time I started homeschooling, the Texas Education Agency made a bureaucratic policy decision to make home education illegal. Homeschoolers didn't have a leg to stand on in court except for religious conviction. I made a conscious choice to disobey civil authority in order to obey my Supreme Authority. Many brave Texas mothers risked jail sentences for teaching their own children. By the grace of God, I have been homeschooling for 23 years.  

In 1993 I began to notice weakness in my upper arms. The weakness began to spread to other parts of my body. I finally saw a doctor about it in 1999. What followed was over a year of harrowing tests, nightmarish procedures, and flesh-scarring biopsies before a diagnosis was made in 2001. Imagine the poor doctor who had to inform a mother with seven young children- four of them under the age of seven- that she had muscular dystrophy, an incurable and progressive disease, and had a 30% chance of living her life in a wheelchair.  

I died that day- died and then rose again. I have learned to play the hand I was dealt. I had to make a choice. Do I spend the rest of my life living? Or do I spend it dying? Like Joshua in the Old Testament, I chose that day Whom I would serve, and I chose to live. I learned to find the joy in the midst of suffering. I learned to find the positive among the black clouds of negativity. I am learning, at present, how to love myself. Being dealt that card was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  

I became a student on a relentless search for a cure that, so far, hasn't been found. I came to a website called Curezone and found love, acceptance, and a lot of great health information. I met Tony Isaacs there, and later, Ben Taylor. Now I get to meet you.  

Spend your life living and not dying. Find the joy in life. Let go and have fun. Life is beautiful. Allow 2008 to be your year to begin life anew.