Faith over Fear 11/26/2011
 
I heard once that it's simply impossible to have fear if you have faith. Makes sense, but then again, how does one go about having faith if their world is being rocked?

For that, one needs courage. Which leads me to the next point: Having courage does not mean feeling okay about your life. I'm pretty sure Rosa Parks didn't decide to hold onto her bus seat with a big smile and thoughts of a Starbuck's latte in her future. She was likely trembling but held tight to her resolve anyway.

This is real courage: Forging ahead with what you know is right even if you are freaking out on the inside.

I've needed a little bit of that this weekend. Maybe you did, too? How about we check in with each other every day just to remind each other that we're going to be okay?


If you have faith in nothing else, start by placing your trust in this silly little website - that for the next week, you have my word I'll drop you an encouraging line.

And hey, it wouldn't suck if you dropped me on back. I have faith you will.

* Photo of my little dude after a whole lot of delicious but off-diet food. You can tell in his eyes that gluten and he don't get along. And now, we can tell in his tics. But they will calm down in a week or so once his body has a chance to detox.

 


Comments

Joy link
11/26/2011 20:35

hard to do lately (faith-wise), very up and down (tic-wise) this week. Busy with christmas stuff so not really paying attention to the new time limits on the ds, which were really making a difference, I think. Have you noticed a difference with Stink after cutting out the DS, Andrea?

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Christy
11/26/2011 22:07

Cute kid. ;-)

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andrea frazer link
11/27/2011 09:20

@Joy - Yes, going off the DS was a huge help for us. Tarzan, his "ah ah ah" tic is only back on big holiday weekends with lots of off diet food and more regular computer. That screen was too much for him on the DS.

@Christy - your kid is pretty cute herself.

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Irishmama7
11/27/2011 20:06

Thank you for the offer. For me I need to reconnect with my DH and things will get better. The whole family broke out the play-doh today as we had a no screen time day. It was so much fun! Good luck in your job search and very glad to hear you found something to help Stink even more.

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andrea frazer link
11/27/2011 21:10

@Irish - I am so glad we have reconnected here. I'm sorry it's more tic talk and less plain ole family stuff from the Pass the Zoloft days. but hey, it's my calling now. And you of all people know you have to heed the call! So glad to "Know" you, lady!

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emily
11/28/2011 11:17

I would love to know more about how long it took to see a difference after starting the GFCF diet. My son just had a sudden onset of complex motor tics one day at DisneyWorld at the end of September. He has been having these tics constantly, all day ever since. He had a few weeks virtually tic free after trying Tenex but they came back full force. We have eliminated artificial colors, preservatives ever for the last month and tried eliminating dairy this past few weeks with no change. We are now onto gluten to see if we see any difference. Would love to know more!

~Emily

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andrea frazer link
11/28/2011 14:30

@Emily - Sorry about the sudden onset of tics. We had a lot of success after a short time going GFCF, but there are a ton of other factors to consider also. My suggestion is to go super clean on everything for a month and see how he does. Journal your progress. Then perhaps add something back in. But honestly, after everything I have read, gluten is a must-go due to brain inflamation. I can tell you that my son had a TON of gluten this past Thanksgiving and he's ticking like crazy right now. Gluten free wont' "cure" my kid of TS, but it keeps its symptoms down for sure. Keep in touch!

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emily
11/28/2011 15:53

Thank you so much Andrea! I really appreciate your info. Dairy has been the hardest to eliminate... just because I will forget bread or cookies or something similar has it. But we are getting there. I will keep in touch. Thank you for sharing your life story....it means the world to others in the same boat! :)

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Liv link
11/28/2011 16:16

I love you. Today I got this email: Detours, challenges, and crisis are simply covers for miracles that had no other way of reaching you.

Even if that's not true, Pema Chodron is fond of saying something to the effect that for better or for worse, anything out of the ordinary: scary, funny, life threatening, etc... forces us to be present. I don't always like getting a cosmic slap in the face, but if it stings, I know I'm alive. And there's still red wine and chocolate. :-)

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Deb link
11/28/2011 19:01

You're ability to constantly look for alternatives and answers and to try to look past the discouraging and see the bright side encourages ME, so I'll give you all the encouragement I can from the other side of the country :)

xoxo :)

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Gwen
11/30/2011 11:57

Emily -
It took a good two months for us to see what I would consider a major difference tic-wise due to the diet. (If, in fact, it was the diet.) We were a month gluten free and then removed dairy and a month after that it was remarkably different.

Halloween was a free-for-all and then we entered a new phase. I don't know if it's the natural waxing and waning or the diet, but we're back on the diet and maybe seeing a bit of difference again now, a full month later.

I will say, when my son's tics started initially, what actually made a big difference was us accepting that there was an issue and that he couldn't help it. It was good for all of us -- the tension dissipated and he seemed to tic less as a result. (And by accept, I don't mean suddenly you're okay with it -- just acknowledging it as uncontrollable.)

Andrea - I think courage is not the absence of fear but persevering in spite of it. I don't believe that faith = no fear. Makes for a good psalm, though.

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