In Christ I stand

Here in the love of Christ, I stand
Here in the death of Christ, I live

For I am His, and He is mine

bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death

this is the power of Christ, in me

From life's first cry, to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man

could ever pluck me from His hand

til He returns or calls me home

HERE IN THE POWER OF CHRIST I STAND  

The Collier household is excited with Christmas.  The house is decorated, presents bought and Christmas parties begin soon.  There have been many changes.  Jacob is stable.  I took him out of school to home school him.  This took the added stress away of him being truant over and over again.   Next week I begin homeschooling a 5th grader at my house during the day.  I still have the after school tutoring job with another 5th grader.   Life is good.  I have a powerful support system and I'm thankful everyday for what God has given me.

Potato Soup

We had this recipe along with brisket sandwiches last night and it was fantastic.

4-6 potatoes cubed and cooked in microwave for 8 minutes
1/4 cup butter
2 T flour
3 c. milk
1 t garlic
2 T salt
1 T pepper flakes
1/2 t celery salt
1/2 t basil
1/4 c. cheddar cheese
1/4 c. parmeson cheese
1 c. chicken broth

Soften potatoes in microwave.  Melt butter with flour in dutch oven adding milk slowly and the rest of the ingredients.  Mash potatoes before serving.

Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizoaffective disorder may be the best diagnosis we have to date. We believe this is a temporary problem but when people say schizophrenia or paranoid schizophrenia it seems like a life long thing.

This year, there's been two incidents. Before the haldol injection there was an incident at school of rocking and crying believing that a friend had committed suicide (they hadn't). Later in the day we had the typical yelling at us, misunderstanding simple statements, talking incoherently really fast, and pacing (an inability to stay still.)

The haldol just wasn't a match for us. He slept 19 hours a day and on the day for a new injection there was a major breakdown. He could not sleep running into the night, returning, leaving, returning...until running in school traffic and laying down in the school parking lot. At this point he was very excited, seeing things that were not there, etc... I took him straight to the hospital where he was given an injection of invega. This episode took about 5 days to run its course.

Invega brought speech problems, involuntary movements, and cotton mouth. Cogentin was given to counteract the side effects. It's 3 weeks later and he's still taking the cogentin 3 times a day as well as buspirone for anxiety.

We don't have a good plan for anti-psychotic medicine. I would love to hear from anyone that can relate, or has encouraging words.

The days ahead-transition and wildflowers

It is so pretty this time of year. We've had weather in the 70's and 80's in the last week and enough rain that the wildflowers are abundant. I haven't seen many indian paintbrushes but the variety of yellow, and purple flowers along with the bluebonnets are georgeous.

We are in transition now and feel our feet are more on the ground than in past years. Jacob is in the hospital but should be discharged in the next couple of days. He will transition back to school, I will transition back to work and Paul will transition to a different work opportunity. It is transition time.

While this has me anxious, I now have a list of scriptures that have me grounded.

Psalm 139:13-18: You took care of me.

II Chronicles 16:9: For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

Psalm 32:5: You forgave the guilt.

Psalm 20: May the Lord answer you when you are in distress.

Psalm 34:4: I sought the Lord and He answered me.

I Corinthians 8:6: One God through whom all things come.

Phil. 4:7: The peace of God will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Craft time

I have three more weeks before I go back to work full time and have been filling my time with Pinterest projects. This is a picture I modge podged onto a tile. Out of the three that I did, I only liked one. Now I remember how much I hate to modge podge. I can never get it to be smooth and not gluey or have smudged glue.

I am all caught up on the scrapbooking! I even took Jacob to get new photos taken at JC Penney. I feel really good about that!

This is a container I painted. I can't seem to turn the picture, but you get the point.

This picture was copied straight from Pinterest. I'm thinking it would look beautiful with different color flowers and green stems but on the blue wall it worked just fine in black.

Here is an example of catching up on the photos. I've worked some on genealogy. The Obenhaus family in particular.

I made these two pillows out of dad's ties. I really liked the one that I weaved the ties. The other pillow was made by taking the ties apart.

These are picture of my siblings and I as our kids were growing up. I made them into their own bulletin board for the guest room.

Justin took some of the ties for memory's sake and the rest I made into the wreath.

I have spent time with Scott in Corpus, Mom and Larry in San Antonio and plan to go to Georgetown. Now I will organize my school stuff. I am excited to get it organized in a way that when I start back to work, I can find what I need. Yay!

Vegan "diet"

It has been atleast a year since Jacob moved from being a vegetarian to becoming vegan. He has noodles, rice or cereal at every meal, lots of fruits and vegetables, protein smoothies, peanut butter, fried tofu, stir fry, pot stickers, veggie hamburgers, bean burritos, cheese-free pizza, and many other things. I am still surprised when I hear people argue that he should be eating meat. It's his ethical choice and I think for him, it would be wrong to do anything else.

He loves his kale smoothies. He's getting tired of strawberries so I have been using kiwi and mangos instead.

Green Mango Smoothie

1/2 cup kale
1 cup orange juice
1 cup mango
1 kiwi
1-2 tablespoons flaxseed

Blend in blender.

Life is calm and the waters are still

The waters are still. It's a good feeling when you aren't in the midst of a storm. We started our son on Haloperidol Decanoate Injections on Feb. 8th. Three days after the injection, he started having muscle spasms that made normal activities difficult. His answer was to remain completely still and ended up sleeping for almost 3 days. The doctor recommended benodryl and said the spasms were the result of the injection being administered into muscle not a reaction to the medication. We will see what happens after the next injection (next month).

He has returned to school for half days and we hope to increase the time at school in the next week. Life is calm. He is functioning well at home, school and church. I like to see my babies okay.

Lemon Pasta

6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
pasta
Boil pasta and vegetables together. In small bowl mix olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper. When pasta and vegetables are ready, drain and coat in oil mixture, stirring well. Serve.

Pass the beans

I've got a good recipe called Calico beans (bbq beans and hamburger meat casserole) that was passed to me by Frances Allesandro in Atwater, California years ago. Since then, we've made some fun varieties of chili with beans-no meat. Most recently I found a great recipe for crock pot roast and beans. Here are the vegan chili and crock pot roast and bean recipes, both of which I modified from other recipes I have seen.

Vegan Chili

1-19 ounce can tomato
2 T ground chili powder
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups cooked beans
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

Simmer for 1 hour.

Crock pot roast and beans

1 can northern white beans
3 lb roast dredged in flour
1 can roasted tomato
1 can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 pkg. Lipton onio soup mix

Add to crock pot covering roast with liquids. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Bible Verses

Bible Verses

More Smoothie Ideas

Jacob has had this peanut butter smoothie several times.

8 oz. soymilk

1 banana

1/2 cup fruit

1/2 T. flax seed

2 T. peanut butter

Place all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

He prefers the berry smoothie:

8 oz. juice (cranapple, grape, etc..)

1 banana

1/2 cup frozen fruit (mango, pineapple,....)

1/2 cup kale

grated carrot

2 T. tofu

Blend in blender until smooth.

Let us continue on...

As we travel through life, there are hurdles. I was listening to KLOVE this week and I will paraphrase what I think I heard. It is through the trials of life that proves our strength in God. If we were never touched by Satan then it would appear Satan doesn't see us as a threat. Satan certainly tempted Jesus. If we are tempted, it is just another way we are following the footsteps of Christ.

It is our job to overcome Satan, follow God and become stronger through the process. We are dealing with psychosis in the family and it isn't easy. The disease is frightening when you see it turn your child into someone else.

Through the "episodes" we are seeing Satan at his best, but I can visualize God holding us. My husband and I are standing strong against Satan. Satan hits us where we are most emotional and my children and my marriage are the closest relationships to my heart. As we go through the disease, try to find treatment, and all the trial and error...it is easy to want to not pursue God faithfully.

Let us continue on in Christ.

Veganism

Just like anything, veganism can go too far. I have been very hesitant to say this, because it is my son's passion. He's a sensitive, bright, deep thinking child who has come to the decision to be vegan over many years.

When he was as young as 5, allergy testing showed a sensitivity to beef and chicken so I gave him other foods, keeping everything he was allergic to to a minimum.

In 4th grade two things happened: He saw a movie showing chickens in cramped cages, and he went to the San Diego zoo where he saw cages marked endangered species, and at this point he decided to be a vegetarian.

Jacob made this choice because he wanted to do his part to not support the endangerment of animals. We supported him in every way we could, and he never ate meat (now it's been 7 years without eating meat).

A year ago he became vegan. He decided he didn't want to support any company that would use animals in their products so he cut out gelatin, dairy, honey, eggs, and any product that he cannot prove wasn't tested on animals. This ethical veganism is disturbing to me. It is not that we prove animals were hurt in the creation of the product to not use it, it is that we have to prove they were not used in any way in the making of the product in order to use it. If we do not know then Jacob's default is to not eat or use the product. That can mean not using deodorant or not brushing teeth.

I believe he's gone too far, and I'm almost ready to stand up and say it. (Not that I've never told him my frustration. I've just respected his taking a stance that I wanted to support him.) I think anything can go too far. I believe it's wrong to keep animals in cramped conditions, but are these animals unhappy? I know God says he cares about the sparrows, but I don't think he cares about the sparrows over the people.

Yesterday it was soap. He wanted soap that was not tested on animals. I don't see how testing soap on animals can hurt them even if they were in cages as the tests were being conducted. I told him this. We bought the Jason body wash that is vegan approved (and more expensive).

I will never expect anyone to believe exactly as I do, and they cannot force me to believe as they do. I believe God loves his creation, but my conscience is not affected by eating commercially raised animals or using any soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant...that is on the market.

Sourdough bread and onion soup (vegan)

8 oz. sourdough bread
3 large sweet onions
3 large garlic cloves
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 cup soy milk
3 oz. Crisco baking stick (butter flavor)

Cube the bread and toast in Crisco. Cut onion in length pieces and add to bread. Add thyme and garlic and cook for 20 minutes. Add milk, broth, salt and pepper. Simmer soup for 10 minutes.

Time for everything

I haven't completely been able to understand how there is a time for everything. Sometimes you think, this has got to be the worst time for this. Difficulties seem to come by the bucket load lately but we persevere, and keep believing that there is a time for everything under heaven and we will (in time) learn from the difficulties we endure and be stronger.

Whoever said to not run from trouble was right. I don't believe running away is the answer. Even though you can't possibly see the reason for the troubles and what you are gaining for enduring the trouble, it is still better to not run.

When I was having difficulty in 2006 from a number of places....children, family health, and work to name a few, I quit my job. I doubted my ability to work after that. At the time it was the only thing I could run from and I did. Was it the time to run?

More recently I have become unemployed again. This time the school closed; it was not me quitting. I have had a hard, hard time not working. Yet I keep feeling that not having a full time job is the best thing for me. I have been there for my son, I have enjoyed applying (laugh) for jobs along with the interviews, I have been able to attend morning ladies class at church, I have read books, I have painted, I have sewed, I have really enjoyed much of life that I was too busy to see when I was working full time. It was the time to be unemployed. I think.

Whether I will ever completely understand that it was the right time for something to happen, I will believe that everything has a purpose. We grow. We learn. At every time we can grow and learn.

Beef Noodle Stew

1.5 pounds chuck steak cut in 1 in. cubes
flour
butter
can of diced tomato
8 oz. bow tie pasta
4 cups broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. thyme
1 1/2 tsp. garlic


Dredge beef in flour and brown in skillet with melted butter. Add beef, tomato, uncooked pasta, spices and broth to crock pot and cook on slow for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours.