Beautiful Sarah, Handsome Jaime

Photo by Larena Lynn Masson

Photo by Pat Garcia

Counting my Blessings

Counting my Blessings
Originally uploaded by keribeth

My God, have I been blessed lately!

At my son's wedding!

A desert - Ocean Ceremony

Wonderful Happy Day! My son's wedding November 22nd 5 pm.

Different kinds of Mexican Candy

After their professional sunset pictures
26th Anniversary Picture taken at our son's happiest dayWedding Picture November 20th 1982

A new Generation

Briddle less riding

Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding, that must be controlled with bit and bridle,
or else it will not come near you.
Psalm 32: 9

Our obedience to the guidance of the Lord must be without a bit and bridle, but with the freedom he has given us to obey out of mere love and faithfulness.

From Jim Chambliss biograpphy at Sparks of Creativity

I read a statement in the book A Purpose Driven Life to the effect that ‘your most effective mission will come out of your deepest hurts.’ I genuinely believe that I can achieve more socially beneficial goals as a researcher, teacher and advocate, specializing in interdisciplinary studies involving the medical and psychological influences in creativity than in my prior career path.Many people with epilepsy, migraines, brain injuries and other chronic medical conditions are misdiagnosed and misunderstood. While most attention, regarding neurological impairment, focuses on the negative aspects, my current research investigates the positive accomplishments in artistic expression by people with epilepsy and migraines. There can be a productive side to the electrical mischief that epilepsy and migraines produce, through enhanced creativity. This phenomenon is not contained within the boundaries of what is normal, expected and predictable. Some types of epilepsy and migraines can spark inspiration, enhance creative functions and lead some people to produce art that is of such novelty and value as to change the course of mainstream thought, production and appreciation.Some of the World’s most creative minds are thought to have been influenced by epilepsy, such as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh and Lewis Carroll. There were no EEGs or brain scans available during their lives to affirm a diagnosis of epilepsy. One of my goals for the research that I am doing in association with the University of Melbourne, St. Vincent’s Health, the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria and others is that it will serve as a foundation to evaluate whether past artists had epilepsy and/or migraines based on comparisons with the artwork and writing of living artists.

You can contact me by e-mail at jimchambliss@msn.com.

Today's thought
Focus on your God given goal and do not allow anything to deviate you from it. Flee from all things that will hinder your walk toward your destiny.Reaching your God given destinity gives a sense of plentiful fulfillment and joy that nothing else can substitute.
Pat Garcia

To reach My destination
Originally uploaded by Dovaneh

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

--Jimmy Dean--







Sickness set me off course "just a bit" this year, but just a bit can take you somewhere else. I anchored myself and took a while to regain my course. Bitterness, fear and dissapointment were causing damage my heart, from which life flows........ weakening me to a point where it was even hard to face everyday challenges.
Being back on track and reaching a goal that will take you closer to the end of your victorious marathon sure makes your heart joyful.
Joy in your heart strengthens your whole being.

humility
Originally uploaded by flygirljc777

Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.
Mother Teresa

humility
Originally uploaded by Sephyr_Raon_Noxor

Being humble simply means recognizing who you truly are. The words humble and
humility come from the same root as the word humus, Latin for earth. Being humble, having
humility, means having your feet firmly planted on the ground, on the earth. It means
knowing your own weaknesses, and your own strengths. It means understanding your
limitations. It means knowing who you are.

I had a dream......... someone was leading me and encouraging to take steps crossing through water, when I reached the deepest ground I was almost totally immersed and the water literally ripped off, the black sweater and a gray sweatshirt I was wearing. The same person that was guiding me gave me a helping hand, I wanted to go get my purse with all my credit cards and ID's I had left at work in order to continue but I had to keep following and reached a place where you could choose treasures for yourself, but I couldn't get any more. I had been there before and had already gotten mine. The next part of the journey was stopping at a place to eat.

In my walk with the Lord I have crossed through some deserts, yet this journey has taken me to this place of living water where I have received a clear vision of my purpose on this earth. One of the sacrifices I have been asked to make is to give up being self- centered and proud seeking self rewarding experiences but rather have a humble heart to follow God's direction with a new understanding of His revelation......... a revival in my own heart to be immersed in healing and blessing for myself and others.

" What have we got that we have not received? " asks St. Paul. If I have
received everything, what good have I of my own? If we are convinced of this we will never raise our head in pride. If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.

Ezekiel 47:1 Afterward HE BROUGHT ME again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. To follow or surrender to these waters will be a sacrifice.

Ezekiel 47:2 Then BROUGHT HE ME out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looks eastward; and, behold, there ran out
waters on the right side.
These waters with life and purpose were unstoppable. This revelation to Ezekiel took him out of the outer court via the NORTH gate which speaks of ‘tests’ and ‘battles’. We never had challenges like this before . . . it used to be ‘plain sailing’ until He brought me to the Threshold where the true water of life flows out.

living water
Originally uploaded by mike donahue

Please read Ezekiel chapter 47.
In this chapter a angel of the Lord takes EZK out into a river, first ankle deep then knee deep then waist deep and finally in over his head into a river that can not be crossed. I come from a family that did a lot of white water canoeing , I‘ve been on rivers where the current was so strong you could not cross over it, instead you would be swept away down stream.
This chapter is talking about the faith needed to serve the Lord fully. Some venture into the river of the Lord ankle deep, they go to church and watch others serve, some become more involved and venture knee deep, so on and so on. But to leap in over your head takes a great deal of faith, because we don’t know what’s around the next bend we must put all our trust in the Lord.
This is the river that flows from the throne of God, in verse 8 it states that it goes to the sea, in the original Hebrew text it says “the Dead sea” and where ever it goes “it’s waters shall be healed” or in the Hebrew “it shall be saved”. This is very exciting when you consider that where ever the Lord takes you, you will have a impact on others and some will be saved.

Genera-lized seizures involve electrical disturbances that occur all over the brain at the same time. The person may appear to be daydreaming, may stare off into space or may pass out. The muscles may stiffen and the person might make sudden jerking motions, such as flinging the arms outward, for example. He or she also may suddenly go limp and slump down or fall over.

Most seizures last only a few seconds or minutes. After a seizure is over, the person might feel sleepy or confused for a few minutes, even an hour or more. People who've had seizures may not remember the seizure or what happened immediately before the event. They may also be alert and ready to resume whatever they were doing before the seizure happened. As one can see, epileptic seizures also vary from person to person.

Certain things can sometimes trigger seizures in people with epilepsy. They include:

Flashing or bright lights.

A lack of sleep.

Various levels of stress.

Overstimulation (like staring at a computer screen or playing video games for too long).

High fevers.

Certain medications.

Hyperventilation (breathing too fast or too deeply).

Polychlorinated biphenyls effect on thyroid and brain

PCBs are a group of synthetic chemicals used as lubricants and coolants in electrical equipment. Their use has been banned in the US since 1977, but the chemicals still widely persist in the environment due to their resistance to break down. There are 219 varieties of PCBs depending on the number of chlorine atoms in each compound.

The pollutants affect brain development and function and are associated with lowered IQ, motor control and attention. Cell and animal studies suggest PCBs most likely interfere with thyroid hormones that are necessary for proper brain growth (Fritsche et al. 2005). Rats fed PCB-laden fish from Lake Ontario had higher levels of PCBs - especially the more chlorinated varieties- in their brains and were more likely to quit tasks sooner in tests that offered few rewards (Stewart et al. 2000).

A major human source of PCB is fish from contaminated areas, such as the Great Lakes region of the United States. PCBs accumulate in fat and travel up the food chain concentrating in fatty tissue of top-level predators. A recent US Environmental Protection Agency survey looked for 159 PCB types in fish tissue from 486 different lakes across the continental US. The chemicals were found in all the lakes but one, and all but one PCB type were measured (US EPA 2007). In another study of PCBs in Lake Michigan, the highest levels of total PCB were found in its top predator, the lake trout (US EPA 2004).

Children exposed to PCBs during gestation have an increased risk of not developing to their full cognitive potentials. Prebirth exposure to the chlorinated compounds lowered by a few points the general IQ, verbal capacities and attention of the school aged children.

Even these seemingly slight reductions in intelligence can affect lifelong ability to learn, perform and be productive adults. Lower intelligence also affects society in terms of economics, health care and educational costs. A drop of even one IQ point lowers worker productivity and affects life-long earnings potential (Grosse et al. 2002). These subtle differences are often hard to detect through testing but may affect a generation of children. For the individual and society, this could translate into lower quality of life, lost future income, higher lifetime health care costs and expanded special education needs.

The Intelligence's quotient (IQ) is a measure of a person's ability to think and reason. The most widely used test, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III), measures a child's overall intelligence - called full scale IQ, and verbal and nonverbal aspects of mental function. A score of 100 on the three combined tests is considered average while scores less than 100 signify below average and those larger are considered above average. The test scores are generally used as indicators to predict success in school and to diagnose brain disorders, learning disabilities or attention/behavior disorders.

Chayil

The Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary explains that the term "chayil" was used to describe great forces and armies. A woman said to be "chayil" would possess a certain strength, might, and power!
Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure... - Proverb 31:25 (AMP)
Wouldn't you love for your Heavenly Father to say that about you. That is what we all want, right?
But, we are not fighting against flesh and blood in this life. So the strength that you will need to accomplish God's will is not carnal (Ephesians 6:12).
Being able to work 60+ hours and still make time to keep the house clean and cook dinner is not where your true strength and value lies.
Jesus taught this same truth to Martha over two thousand years ago. But it is just as true today.
...a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me."But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her." - Luke 10:38-42 (NLT)
The woman God describes in Proverb 31 understands this.
She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task]...
- Proverbs 31:17 (AMP)

Six-year-old Elke Wisbey, who was born brain-damaged, has been able to communicate with her family by using a high-tech gadget

Machine aids brain-damaged little girl to say I love you mom for the first time
patgarcia at NowPublic

What a wonderful tender bonding experience for her loving parents! Science once again makes miracles happen thanks to passionate people that research and investigate to bless others lives.

A severely handicapped little girl who cannot walk or talk has used a machine to tell her mother for the first time: 'I love you.'

Six-year-old Elke Wisbey, who was born brain-damaged, has been able to communicate with her family by using a high-tech gadget which tracks her eye movements.

The £17,000 MyTobii Smartbox machine from Sweden detects which icons Elke is looking at by using tiny lasers.

When her eyes settle on an icon on the screen of the Smartbox, a pre-programmed voice speaks the word or phrase for her.

Just a few days after setting up the equipment, Elke's parents, Glynnis and Matt Wisbey, described how their daughter started using her eyes to repeat the words 'I love you' over and over again.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Vitamin D Directly Affects Thyroid Function

by patgarcia | NowPublic

by patgarcia

by patgarcia

The research was performed on mice, it is known that research on animals is always the first step for great medical findings to aid the human race. Knowing that vitamin D deficiency's most important effect is on the thyroid gland will definitely be helpful to help those with hyperthyroidism an autoinmune disease.

Alexander Misharin of the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles and colleagues tested the role of vitamin D in a mouse model of Graves' disease, in which hyperthyroidism is induced by immunization with an adenovirus encoding the thyrotropin receptor. Because it was previously established that vitamin D enhances regulatory T cells, the authors hypothesized that decreasing vitamin D through a controlled diet would intensify the severity of Graves' disease in the model.

Vitamin D deficiency induced only small immunological changes. Unexpectedly, the vitamin D-deprived mice developed persistent hyperthyroidism following immunization, unlike their vitamin D-sufficient matched controls. This disparity was not explained by any immunological difference, and the authors speculated that the persistent hyperthyroidism was instead caused by an increased sensitivity of the thyroid to the antibodies directed against thyrotropin.

"Rather than affecting the immune response, the most important effect of vitamin D deficiency was on the thyroid," the authors write, providing evidence for the role of an environmental factor, vitamin D, on thyroid function.

Source: modernmedicine.com