Wednesday, March 31, 2004

About the only categories below that I think are accurate is the ones dealing with orderliness and openmindedness. I like order. Having nine kids at home to constantly mess things up helps to keep me from being obsessive about it. I think I am more of an extrover than an introvert, but I resent the implication that I am a bubblehead that doesn't reflect on things. I also do not think that my friendliness necessarily means that I am too much of a follower. I like to think I am a discriminating follower. I am probably not as emotionally stable as I would like to be or as I tested for. It depends on how much coffee or stimulants I have had. Too much coffee does nasty things to my impulse control. :oP

Big Five Test Results
Extroversion (66%) moderately high which suggests you are talkative, optimistic, sociable and affectionate but possibly not very reflective.
Friendliness (68%) moderately high which suggests you are good natured, trusting, and helpful but possibly too much of a follower
Orderliness (84%) very high which suggests you are extremely organized, reliable, neat, and ambitious but probably not very spontaneous and fun.
Emotional Stability (76%) high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, unemotional but possibly too unobservant of your feelings.
Openmindedness (56%) moderately high which suggests you are intellectual, curious, imaginative but possibly not very practical.
Take Free Big Five Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Wild Wedding Weekend

Some young friends of mine are getting married this summer and having a double reception here in PG. It promises to be the highlight of my summer because we are going to have a houseful with approximately 8-12 extra people on top of the 11 inmates that already live here. Most of the people coming are Covenanters, and for the first time in a long time, we will have all three elders together with us. In short, we will be having an informal Covenanter Convention with a wedding, two receptions (one gal is marrying in the US because of stupid US immigration rules, but having the reception here with her sister), lots of discussion, eschatology talk, food, games, hilarity, sleepovers, and perhaps even a giant communion service on the Lord's Day. I can hardly wait!

My only worry is that I have volunteered to make both wedding cakes, using my Great Aunt Bernette's recipe for white cake. (Want me to save you a piece, Mom?) I will be pouring over the Martha Stewart wedding cake book in the coming weeks once we are able to secure the copy from the library in the hopes that it will help prevent me making a complete hash of it! I'm nothing if not adventurous. [sighs]
Princess of the Mudroom

I have a new apprentice, in my role as Queen of the Mudroom. She is not quite two years old, is as cute as a button, and extremely bright. It is Princess Punkadunk, aka Elodie.

Elodie has been demonstrating great diligence when it comes to helping me with the laundry. As soon as she sees me heading for the mudroom, she trails after me and assists me in removing the dry laundry from the dryer. Then she takes out the lint trap and cleans it, putting the lint in the waste basket, replaces the trap in the machine. Next, she waits patiently by me for the wet clothing I hand her which she then puts in the dryer, bit by bit. When I have no more to hand her, she slams the door shut and I start the machine.Elodie also likes to help me with folding, although the results are less than neat and tidy.

I love this toddler stage when they are able to do all kinds of new things and behave like little people instead of little blobs of pooping, drooling humanity. Actually, I think I like all the stages of babyhood and think the current one they are in is the best.

Friday, March 26, 2004

A Tribute to My Parents
This evening I came across some lyrics to some songs by Paul Overstreet, and one of the songs reminded me of something I wanted to do – pay honor to my Mom and Dad while they are able to still hear it or read it. So often we leave things unsaid thinking that a better opportunity with the right conditions will come along for saying it. I learned not that long ago from my daughters’ accident that we can lose people when we least expect it and when that happens, the things we wish we had said get caught in our throats and nearly choke us.

Too bad we can’t hear the music to go with this. Mom and Dad, this song is for you.
(And in case anyone is wondering, my parents are much younger than the parents in this song.)

What’s Going Without Saying
By Paul Overstreet

He stood looking at his father who
Was 85 years old
He remembered all the ball games
They played so long ago
Then he put his arm around him and
Kissed him on the cheek
He said Dad its time I told you
What a friend you’ve been to me

Chorus
Cause when you love someone
You gotta let ‘em know
When you’re thinking of someone
You need to tell ‘em so
Don’t know what makes us think our minds
And our hearts can be read
What’s goin’ without sayin’ should be said.

She stood in the kitchen doorway
All grown up with children too
Watching as her mama cooked just
Like she used to do
She slowly walked up to her and she
Held her wrinkled hands
She said do you know you are the
Greatest mom a daughter ever had

Cause when you love someone
You gotta let ‘em know
When you’re thinking of someone
You need to tell ‘em so
Don’t know what makes u s think our minds
And our hearts can be read
What’s going without sayin
Should be said

No one needs our roses
When the sun of life’s gone down
If you’re gonna send a message of your love
Then send it now

I don’t believe I’ve let you hear the
The things you should have heard
I don’t believe I’ve truly put my
Feelings into words
But to me you are so beautiful
Much more than words can say
But if you don’t mind and you’ve
Got the time I’d like to try today

‘Cause when you love someone
You gotta let ‘em know
When you’re thinking of someone
You need to tell them so
Don’t know what makes us think our minds
And our hearts can be read
What’s going without saying
Should be said.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Now why was I not surprised?!!?

Lucy
You are Lucy!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Carmon Goes One Better

Carmon did a much better (and kinder) version of the sappy email I got the other day. Here it is:

To The One Chosen by God
God doesn't need your picture as He has your name inscribed on the palms of His hands.
He who searches hearts sees Jesus Christ living in you,
And if you abide in Him, keeping His commandments,
You will bear fruit and be blessed with joy unspeakable,
And every perfect gift which comes from the Father of Lights, the Sun of Righteousness.
God hears the fervent prayer of a righteous man
And changes your desires to be in accord with His will.
Face it, to be chosen to be a friend of God is a mystery of grace you don't deserve.

Gratefully accept the loving providence of Almighty God, for Whose glory and pleasure you were created, and let His strength support your weakness so you can run with endurance the race set before you. Amen.

Forward to every Christian you know who is facing trials and temptations...on second thought, just send it to every Christian you know.

John Knox: My Hero!

If you have been paying attention to the url for this blog, you will have noticed that part of the address is "knoxknoxwhosthere." This was the result of some playful punning on the name of a man who I have come to admire greatly: John Knox, Scottish Reformer.

Knox was the man primarily responsible for arresting Scotland's decline and decay into the brutish ignorance and oppression that papal tyranny had produced, and for beginning the climb up to the religious and civil freedoms that not only impacted his nation, but which has spread to many countries around the world. This is an admirable accomplishment, but it is not the primary reason why I have come to love him.

I love John Knox because he was an example of some one who took an uncompromising stand for truth, no matter what the cost, no matter who was offended, and no matter what dangers it forced him into. He faced down raging nobles and a queen who dared to promote the false religion of the papacy. He faced personal danger from those who wished to assassinate him. His language was strong and forthright and he often preached and rebuked sin pointedly from his pulpit, not regarding the stations of those that he knew would be offended. Thomas M'Crie says of Knox:

A stranger to complimentary or smooth language, little concerned about the manner in which his reproofs were received, provided they were merited, too much impressed with the evil of the offence, to think of the rank or character of the offender, he often uttered his admonitions with 'an acrimony and vehemence more apt to irritate than to reclaim.' But he protested at a time when persons are least in danger of deception, and in a manner which should banish suspicions of the purity of his motives, that, in his sharpest rebukes, he was influenced by hatred of the vices, not the persons of the vicious, and that his aiim was always to discharge his own duty, and if possible, to reclaim the guilty.

We may think that Knox's uncompromising stand and vehement charges against the sins of the leaders of the day would also translate into his being a person who was cold and stern in his religion. Knox did have a reputation for being austere, but not unfeeling. He rigidly adhered to God's justice, and yet, there are more instances on record of his interceding for the pardon of crminals than perhaps any other man of his time.

We may often trace the true character of a man by the reactions of his own family and domestics to him. Knox was held in great love and esteem, not only by his wife and children, but by his servants -- a very telling thing indeed. Bannatyne, one of his personal servants, said this of his master upon Knox's death:

"In this manner," says he,"departed this man of God: the light of Scotland, the comfort of the church within the same, the mirror of godliness, and pattern and example to all true ministers, in purity of life, soundness in doctrine, and boldness in reproving of wickedness; one that cared not the favor of men, how great soever they were. What dexterity in teaching, boldness in reproving, and hatred of wickedness was in him, my ignorant dulness is not able to declare, which if I should prize to set out, it were as one who would light a candle to let men see the sun; seeing all his virtues are better known and notified to the world a thousand fold than I am able to express."

Between Knox and his fellow ministers we never read of any discord. He was hated and dreaded by the profane and licentious, but the religious and sober held him in great veneration and affection. In private life he was revered by his friends, and though subject to melancholy and depression because of continued illness, he enjoyed the pleasures of company when he was feeling well, and was not above taking pleasure in jokes and humor, notwithstanding the grave tone of his general character.

This extremely brief description of Knox's character has a point behind it. Knox exemplified the Christian fortitude that all Christians must have if they are to live the Christian life devoid of denying the Lord. All too often, we can betray our principles in the face of fear of either family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances. Popularity, the desire to please, a need for love and acceptance, and just fear are powerful motivators that can cause us to be silent when we should speak, or keep us quiet when we should be active. We pull our punches or compromise in order to minimize the pain we think we would feel if we did take a bold stand. Yet the Lord promises us that we are BLESSED if we do suffer for the sake of righteousness, and it is by keeping an eye on the eternal God and the Promiser of this promise that we may overcome these things.

I close with Knox's dying testimony:

"The day now approaches and is before the door, for which I have frequently and vehemently thirsted, when I shall be released from my great labours and innumerable sorrows, and shall be with Christ. And now, God is my witness, whom I have served in spirit, in the gospel of his Son, that I have taught nothing but the true and solid doctrine of the gospel of the Son of God, and have had it for my only object to instruct the ignorant, to confirm the faithful, to comfort the weak, the fearful, and the distressed, by the promises of grace, and to fight against the pround and rebellious, by the divine threatenings. I know that many have frequently and loudly complained, and do yet complain, of my too great severity; but God knows that my mind was always void of hatred to the persons of those against whom I thundered the severest judgements. I cannot deny but that I felt the greatest abhorrence at the sins in which they indulged, but I still kept this one thing in view, that if possible I might gain them to the Lord. What influenced me to utter whatever the Lord put into my mouth so boldly, with out respect of persons, was a reverential fear of my God, who called, and of his grace appointed me to be a steward of divine mysteries, and a belief that he will demand an account of my discharge of the trust committed unto me, when I shall stand before his tribunal. I profess, therefore, before God, and before his holy angels, that I never made merchandise of the sacred word of God, never studied to please men, never indulged my private passions or those of others, but faithfully distributed the talent intrusted to me, for the edification of the church over which I watched. Whatever obloquy wicked men may cast on me respecting this point, I rejoice in the testimony of a good conscience. In the mean time, my dearest brethren, do you persevere in the eternal truth of the gospel; wait diligently on the flock over which the Lord has set you, and which he redeemed with the blood of his only begotten Son. And thou, my brother Lawson, fight the good fight, and do the work of the Lord joyfully and resolutely. The Lord from on high bless you and the the whole church of Edinburgh, against whom, as long as they persevere in the word of truth which they have heard of me, the gates of hell shall not prevail."

After Knox died, and as he was being laid to rest in his grave, the newly elected regent, Morton, said of him, "There lies he, who never feared the face of man." May the same be said of us some day. Amen.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Why Nerds Are Unpopular

Far be it from me to suggest that I am some sort of genius or exceptionally bright person, but the article linked in the title to this post really resonated with me. (It is well worth reading.) I was not a popular child, particularly in my elementary and middle-school years. It was a common occurance to have classmates come up to me and say, "You know, last year I didn't like you and thought you were weird, but now I think you are okay. "

In high school I hung out with a small group of the "goody goody" crowd and, for the most part, stayed out of trouble. I just wasn't interested in drinking myself into a stupor, experimenting with drugs, or being a vandal. The best times I had in highschool came from spending every spare moment with Hans Hedley, my art teacher, who was a true Renaissance man with knowledge on nearly every subject under the sun. Before classes, lunch hours, after school, you could find me hanging out with Hans. I credit him with being the one who taught me how to think and be curious about how things work and I owe him a debt that can never be repaid. I think I learned more in three years of classes with him than I did in all my other classes combined.

I think it is easy for parents to forget the kind of damage that herds of children can inflict on each other. One of the knee-jerk reactions one often hears from those who don't homeschool is, "What about socialization?" as though the only proper way to socialize children is in age-segragated peer groups. The socialization that takes place in the school setting is some of the most unnatural and evil and cruel that there is, outside the prison system. And yet, this is supposedly the "real world" that people need to be socialized to.

Poppycock! Proper real world socialization means learning to interact gracefully and well with people of all generations outside of one's peer group. Real world socialization is what my kids experience in their day to day life. The result has been children who have no difficulty in talking to or playing with siblings or other children smaller than themselves, and likewise, who have no difficulty in interacting with adults. Depravity still raises its ugly head, but at least it isn't reinforced as a cultural norm.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Changes

If you look at my sidebar, there are a few additions and some subtractions from my list of linked blogs. Chris has been demoted from being a doctor. I finally figured out what the problem was. If your blog no longer appears there, please take no offense. I still read you, but don't know how to change the size of the box to accomodate more. Since space is limited, I wanted to list blogs that are more reflective of my own worldview than not.
Antithesis

Every once in a while I get some kitschy Christian poety in my email. The following was sent to me by a friend (who ought to know better :oP).

To A Beautiful Person
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it
He sends you flowers every spring.
He sends you a sunrise every morning.
Whwevever you wnt to talk, He listens.
He can liver anywhere in the universe, but He chose your heart.
Face it friend, He is crazy about you!

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain,
but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Forward to every beautiful person that you know.

Here is my version:

The Reality: To a Sinful Person


If God had your picture
He would likely burn it along with you if you don't repent
He doesn't need a wallet since he owns everything...
so don't bother to see if your picture is there
And did you remember to thank and praise him for the sunrise this morning, you ungrateful wretch?
Your unrepentance makes your prayers vain and He doesn't hear them
The heavens are as brass against you.
Face it friend,
Unless God does a work of grace in your heart
You are LOST
God promises an eternity of pain, sorrow and every imaginable torment ahead of you.
Repent now before it is too late.

Please forward to every sinner you know.

Thursday, March 18, 2004

This and That

~It is amazing how large a chunk of time is used up in a day when you have to go out to chiropracter's appointments. After several weeks of appointments, the girls' backs have made significant improvement so the frequency of visits is slowing down some.

~Today it is half snowing/half raining and it is gross. My mudroom will soon be living up to its name.

~ Give kids the basic tools of learning and then let them loose to learn. I never used to be an unschooler, but I am leaning more and more that way. When kids are learning for a purpose, rather than just because they are told they need to know "xyz" in grade "x", their learning is accelerated and more lasting. My eldest son is reading Calvin's Institutes,but has also educated himself thoroughly in the last several weeks on the intricacies of buying a used car. I am forcing him to learn algebra and I don't know why. Well, actually, I do. "Everyone" says that you need it. Nuts to "everyone." I haven't used algebra since I took it in highschool, and I bet you haven't either unless you are an engineer. You know what I really want? A good highschool level consumer math course that teaches kids practical math stuff like how to calculate mortgage rates and figure out ways to keep money out of the clutches of Revenue Canada. If they need to know more beyond that because of career requirements, they are smart enough to pick it up on their own. They have the basics. Let them learn the other stuff when it is relevant and therefore meaningful.

~In an effort to help conserve the money my sweetie works so hard for, I cleaned out my freezer before making my grocery list. I found:

+ a total of 6 packages of frozen ground beef, each package weighing about 3 or 4 lbs.
+ three whole turkeys and 9 packages of turkey necks, wings, and drumsticks for making soup with
+ two packages of beef soup bones
+ blueberries I had thought were lost [Yeah! now I can have a protein shake!]
+ numerous packages of frozen, chopped peppers that I cut up for tossing in pots of chili
+ several packages of phyllo pastry that have seen better days. I can't even remember why I bought them.
+ bags of green beans that were covered in freezer burn.
+ a bag of cauliflower that is at least five years old.
+ two wild salmon with an expression of perpetual surprise frozen on their faces, no doubt put there by finding themselves so far from the ocean.
+ ummm. A placenta. hmmm. I think I'll plant a new tree this spring when the ground thaws. :oP Anyone for stew?

I also scooped up several dustpans full of frozen peas and assorted berries that had escaped their respective bags and made their way to the bottom of the freezer. Lots of stuff was covered in sticky brown frozen syrup from frozen over ripe bananas that the kids had neglected to seal tightly in their bags.

You will all be happy to know that my freezer is now clean and tidy and organized once more. And the placenta is safely stowed in a special place so I won't mistakenly cook it up as liver. I feel so accomplished!

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

My other Passion: Glyconutrients

The following article helps explain why.

The Healing of A Healer
One of world's leading physicians says that glyconutrients help save his life and should become a part of the nation's standard of medical care.

By Joseph Green-Bishop
Copyright 2004

Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., the world famous director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has risen to the very top of the medical profession. Three years ago, Time Magazine and CNN named him one of the top twenty doctors in America. In 1987 he was the lead surgeon in the twenty-two hour operation that separated the heads of the Binder Siamese twins from Germany. It was the first such operation in which both twins survived.

But in the summer of 2003 Dr. Carson was diagnosed with prostate cancer and despite three decades of saving the lives of others, he came face to face with the staggering possibility of his own death. "It was a shock," said Dr. Carson, a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins. "I had been living a healthy lifestyle and getting regular check-ups. But I had high grade cancer in a very aggressive form."

And yet, at fifty-three years of age, Dr. Carson was not ready to leave his wife, Candy, and their three sons behind. And with the same strength and determination that his mother, Sonya Carson, imparted to him and his brother while she raised them alone in inner city neighborhoods in Detroit and Boston, he sought an answer that would continue his life.

"I had a friend who was diagnosed with cancer who was given three months to live," said Dr. Carson in his Johns Hopkins office."He changed his diet and pursued proper nutrition. He was still around and doing well. As a result I started to look at nutritional supplements."

The father of one of Dr. Carson's patients told him about a ten-year-old company based in Coppell, Texas which had secured world-wide patent rights to a food supplement known as a glyconutrient. The parent suggested to Dr. Carson that he contact them.

After contacting the company, Dr. Carson was surprised by the amount of science they provided. "I was impressed that they did not make any wild medical claims," he said. The majority of their science pointed to how glyconutrients supported the body's normal functions of regeneration and repair.

Dr. Carson then contacted Dr. Reg McDaniel, an authority in glyconutrients and medical director of Manna-Relief Inc., an Arlington, Texas based charity that makes glyconutrients available to medically fragile children around the world. Dr. McDaniel, who had studied the health benefits of glyconutrients for two decades, shared his experiences with Dr. Carson.

"The science made sense to me," Dr. Carson said. "God gave us (in plants) what we need to remain healthy," he said. "In today's world our food chain is depleted of nutrients and our environment has helped destroy what God gave us."

Through dietary supplementation, one of the most significant doctors in the history of medicine decided to support his immune system with glyconutrients. And almost immediately he saw an abatement in his condition.

"I had been experiencing some urinary tract problems. The problems went away within four weeks after I started taking the glyconutrients," he said. "I began to think that I did not need to have surgery or any other type of treatment. I seriously considered not having any type of procedure. I thought I could beat the cancer by supporting my body through glyconutritional supplementation."

Dr. Carson said his decision to have a medical procedure resulted from his concern for those people who might neglect traditional medical procedures because they had learned of his personal experience with supplements.

"It had gotten out that I had prostate cancer," said the high-profile doctor. "I knew that other people with my condition might not have been as religious about taking the supplements as I had been."

Dr. Carson was told that his recovery after the surgery would be arduous and that he would not be able to return to work for six weeks. "Because of my experience with glyconutrients I was able to return to work in three weeks," he said.

He continues to take the supplements and suggests that others who are concerned with optimal health take them. "I do not see glyconutrients as unnatural," he said. "I see them as complementary to traditional medicine. Dietary supplements should become an integral part of heath care in this country."

A voracious reader of medical and scientific literature, Dr. Carson said that he concurred with an article in the February 2003 issue of Technology Review, a publication associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that named glycomics as "one of ten emerging technologies that will change the world."

"There is a growing trend by consumers to want to blend traditional and complementary medicines," stated Dr. Carson.

He said that it was significant that the National Institutes of Health had granted millions of dollars to researchers to investigate alternative and complementary medicines. "The day is coming when the science will be behind them."

In 1998, The United States Congress appropriated $50 million to support the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which was established by the National Institutes of Health to investigate alternatives and complementary medical practices and their impact on health care in America.

Researchers at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have reportedly identified a plant substance that they say has effectively destroyed cancer cells in test tube experiments. Recognizing that the vast majority of prescription drugs originally came from plants, they have said that it is not inconceivable that a cure for cancer can be found in nature.

Nearly thirty years ago, Dr. Roger J. Williams, a professor at the University of Texas in Austin and the first biochemist to become president of the American Chemical Society, authored a book entitled Nutrition Against Disease. "The human body heals itself and nutrition provides the resources to accomplish the task," Dr. Williams wrote."A proper diet could prevent catastrophic illnesses such as cancer, alcoholism, heart disease, birth defects, stroke and mental illness."

Dr. Williams postulated that there was a direct result between diet and obesity, that a proper diet would prolong life. He also wrote about the relationship between arthritis and nutrition.

In the April 1995 issue of the Harvard Health Letter, which was devoted to "cancer-fighting foods," Dr. Tim Byers, an epidemiologist, said "there's an explosion of compelling and consistent data associating diets rich in fruits and vegetables with a lower cancer risk."

"Analysis of data from twenty-three epidemiologic studies found that a diet rich in vegetables and grains slashed colon cancer risk by 40 percent," the authors wrote. "All in all, at least 200 epidemiologic studies from around the world have found a link between a plant-rich diet and a lower risk for many types of tumors."

Dr. Carson stated that a growing number of consumers were demanding the use of supplements in conjunction with traditional medical treatments, despite strong opposition. "Medicine has become a significant business," he said, "and there are a lot of people who invest a lot of money into drug development who are not going to look at these things (glyconutrients) in a friendly manner."

Dr. Carson is among a growing legion of high profile medical professionals in this country and around the world who have embraced glyconutritionals. Many of them have had personal experiences with the nutrients or have seen what they have described as "miraculous" changes in their patients who have used them.

There were nights when Dr. Alex Omelchuk, a noted Canadian physician and scientist, wished that he were dead. The victim of a massive aneurysm in 1987, the pains in his head were so intense that there were times when he thought that his head was about to explode. Nightly, for nearly twelve years, he had to take hydrocodene to sleep comfortably.

"Only ten percent of the people survive the stroke that I experienced," said Dr. Omelchuk, the former chief of staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Canada. "I was one of the lucky ones."

After recovering from a ten-hour surgery, Dr. Omelchuk was not able to walk or talk. He was unable to teach or practice medicine and his brain capacity was reduced by 30 percent. "I was told by my physicians that I should accept my condition and that I would have to be on pain medication for the rest of my life."

Saddled with a quality of life as dismal as a bad cold on an endless winter night, Dr. Omelchuk often sat in his living room chair thinking of those days when he presided over meetings as president of the Alberta chapter of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. "My constant companions were my wife, Orissa, and my pain," said Dr. Omelchuk. "I tried massage, acupuncture, every type of pain pill that I could get a doctor to give me and, in the end, nothing seemed to work. I was hopeless. I was alive but my quality of life was poor," said Dr. Omelchuk, who was listed in the International Who's Who of Medicine the same year that he had the aneurysm.

Dr. Omelchuk was introduced to glyconutrients during a conversation with a colleague who noticed that he was always fatigued and suggested that they might help him. "I was skeptical," he said. "None of the best physicians in the country were able to help me. I had been told to accept my fate. Yet, we were desperate so I read everything that I could find about glyconutrients. My wife suggested that we try them."

Dr. Omelchuk said that four months after he began taking glyconutrients the crippling pain disappeared. "For the first time in twelve years I was able to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night," he said. "My thinking was clear and I did not have to take any medication."

His recovery did not make sense to him. It contravened what his doctors had told him, his own medical training, and everything that he had learned and experienced in the more than quarter of a century that he had been a physician.

"I read a paper that was written by scientists at the University of Calgary in 1998 that showed brain cell regeneration in laboratory rats. I began to look at other studies. There is research that suggests that stem cells that migrate to the brain undergo a transformation that result in functional brain cells. The brain has a capacity to set up new pathways of communication," he said.

Dr. Omelchuk believes that there is a direct relationship between the regeneration of his brain cells and the glyconutritionals that he used. "Medical researchers told me after my stroke that I had lost thirty percent of my brain capacity," he said. "I had myself tested after I had been talking the supplements and was told that all of my mental faculties were normal. My verbal capacity is in the 97th percentile. I have my life back! Glyconutritionals are responsible for my recovery and for the quality of life that I am able to share with my wife today."

Neither his medical training nor his medical teaching or practice was complemented with education in nutrition, Dr. Omelchuk said. "Some members of the medical community are admitting on a daily basis that our food chain is depleted and that the only way that we are going to get the essential nutrients that our bodies need is through supplementation," he said.

"Glyconutritionals could be one of the greatest nutritional discoveries of the 20th century," he said. "Unfortunately, physicians and many others in the field of health care know very little or nothing about them, even though there is abundant peer-reviewed scientific validation as to their efficacy in supporting the body's normal functions of recovery from chronic diseased conditions."

Hearing about the support of glyconutrients from such noted physicians as Dr. Carson and Dr. Omelchuk has elated Dr. McDaniel, a former of chief of staff at the Dallas Forth Worth Medical Center. "Over the years I have been astounded with the improvements in the health conditions of people, especially children, who have taken glyconutrients," said Dr. Reg McDaniel, who also serves as the medical director of the Fisher Institute for Medical Research in Grand Prairie, Texas. "I have seen quality of life improvements in people with diabetes, HIV-AIDS, heart disease, asthma, autism, allergies, Downs Syndrome and a number of other conditions. Many of these people saw little or no improvement through the use of their prescription drugs."

McDaniel said that during the last twenty years there have been amazing discoveries in glyconutritional research. "One study showed that people who added glyconutrients to their diets developed stems cells from their own bone marrow that resulted in the migration of the cells into damaged organs. Medical scientists concluded that these new cells replaced damaged or diseased ones."

McDaniel, a founder of the newly organized WMS international research foundation, said that he and other scientists will expand the testing of glyconutrients globally in an effort to add to the science behind the technology of glyconutritionals. "We intend to record and document responses to glyconutrients that will assist visionary members of the scientific and medical communities in their efforts to make this crucial technology available to all people," said Dr. McDaniel.

Voted physician of the year by his peers in 1990, Dr. McDaniel understands the skepticism of the medical community to complementary approaches to medicines.
"Most of us never received any nutritional training in medical school and that is compounded by the fact that many nutritional products have little or no science to support their claims. But glyconutrient research is quickly raising the bar of credibility."

As a recognized scientific authority on the potential of glyconutrients, Dr. McDaniel was invited to testify at the Congressional Hearing on Bio-Terrorism on Capitol Hill in 2001. "There is overwhelming evidence that suggests that the human body may be capable, through its normal physiology, of healing itself from almost any malady," Dr. McDaniel said. "I have been in medicine for more than 40 years and I have never been as optimistic as I am today that we will meet the needs of tens of millions of people who lead desperate lives due to chronic illnesses."

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Crazy Busy

It has been a full week in several senses since I last blogged. My days are now filled with appointments with doctors, dentists, chiropracters and insurance adjusters. But I do not complain! All the activity is the result of having a family that is alive, rather than having to endure unnatural quiet because they have gone.

I have plenty of things I could blog about, but alas, the time to blog them is hard to find.

I will try and do better. Next week.

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Extraordinary Mercies

In recent days our family has been the recipient of extraordinary mercies. As many of you know, we came very close to losing four of our six daughters and our grand-daughter in a horrific motor vehicle accident. Poor visibility from sleet and snow caused my daughter, Trista, to misjudge the distance and speed of an oncoming B train (18 wheeled transport truck with a trailer) and she pulled out in front of him on the highway. The truck hit them a total of three times, crushing the back end of the vehicle the first time, spinning them around where he hit the passenger side dead on, and then spinning them to strike the back side which launched them in the air to a flip to land 300 feet out in a field at the side of the road. They missed hitting a telephone pole by inches in the process.

When things like this happen, the typical reaction is to ask "why?" The universal opinion of those who viewed the wreck is that no one could have survived. I thought that myself when I saw the vehicle on my way into the hospital. Many people have lost members of their family in similar or lesser accidents. But we lost not a one. The extent of their injuries is minor: Keiannah, our two year old granddaughter, has a broken tibia and fibula on her right leg that is now adorned with a "pretty" purple cast. Hannah got a bump over one eye and a sore neck, Bethany has a sore neck, Trista got a minor concussion, and Tamara was knocked out and aspirated blood, but is now home and recuperating. We have much to be thankful for.

I cannot resist asking the question "why?" myself. Why were we the recipients of so much mercy when others aren't? Why is God so good to me and mine? I am at a lost to explain this.

Things that I am thankful for:

1. The entire accident was witnessed by an ambulance team who were returning to base. They were right there right away as soon as the car landed. Am I to believe that this wasn't by Divine appointment? I was able to overhear the conversation between one of the members of the Advanced Life Support (ALS) team, unaware by him as to who I was, with the pediatrician who was caring for Tamara. He came in to ask for feedback as to how it could have been handled better. I was impressed by the fact that he would take the time to do this to improve his skills for the future. I was also thankful to be able to shake his hand and thank him for his work.

2. The competence and compassion of the entire hospital staff who treated us with extreme kindness and consideration.

3. The outpouring of love and practical aid demonstrated to us by the Body of Christ, neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. My children informed me that the phone rang off the hook at home with people wanting to know how the girls were and if there was anything they could do to help. Special thanks go to those ladies who provided meals for my family at this time while I was in the hospital staying with Tamara.

4. Say what you like about socialized medicine and free market economies. If this accident had happened in the US, it would have wiped us out financially. Instead, it cost us relatively little.

5. That I don't have to pass the spot of the accident and think that "This is where my children died." Instead, I get to see the spot where the Lord's mercy was greatly extended to them. I think I shall build a monument like the children of Israel did at the side of the Jordan as a reminder of God's goodness. Through out the whole time, the Lord enabled me to keep my composure and allowed me to be a help to the children, rather than be one who needed help.

When times are easy and things are going well, it is easy to remember that "all things work together for good, for those who are the called. (Romans 8:28). It can be harder to say it when things go wrong or look dark. Yet it is in the darkness that we really are brought to ask ourselves if this is really true. Do we really believe that even this circumstance is for our good? By God's great grace and mercy, I can say "yes". His mercies are new every morning, the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and in this He works for our good and His greater glory. All praise and thanks belong to Him!

I would ask continued prayer for our family at this time, as the Lord brings us to your mind. Please pray for Tamara as she continues to recover. She had a serious concussion and though she is now at home, she still has the remainder of the crud in her lungs, from aspirating blood, to get cleared up. She still has headaches and fatigues very easily. It is somewhat disconcerting to see her so quiet when she is usually such a twitchy, active little thing.

Please remember Trista as well. She was the driver of the car and the thought that she was responsible for almost killing her daughter, her sisters, and herself has been weighing heavily upon her. May this be one of the means of grace that the Lord uses to draw her even closer to Himself. I have been encouraged to see how this has been working grace in her and pray that this work may continue.

Lastly, I would ask that this incident would be profitably used to remind us all of the brevity of life and the necessity of serving the Lord as we are enabled. Life is as the flower of the grass which springs up one day and is withered the next. None of us knows how long a time we have here upon earth. May the Lord enable us to stand firm and faithfully for the things that are of eternal significance while there is yet time.