Sending You a Sunset by Jaye Lewis

I have always loved sunsets. I would rather watch the sun go down in the Appalachian Mountains, than just about anything else on earth. And in the Appalachian Mountains, where I live, the sunsets are spectacular.

When my day is done, and I have slain the many dragons brought on by diabetes, nothing completes the day quite like watching the sun go down from my own back door. Living in the mountains, and watching the sun set behind the distant ridges, removes the shadows in the valleys of my life, whether made of earth or made of fear. When the sun lights the sky on fire, it is almost like I can see into heaven and behold the glory of God, in all His beauty. It is then, when the evenings hush begins, that I feel His presence.

Then I begin to talk to Him. God. I talk to Him. It has been a blissful habit of a lifetime, even when my world was darkest. And many times, dark it was. Did you know that science can tell us HOW a sunset is formed? Yes. Science can go into all kinds of dithering to prove that blaze of glory is nothing, in just a few words. Well, knowing how cannot tell you why. No. Science is not why. It is always how. I believe that I know why sunsets are so glorious. God has created them for our pleasure. As I watch, and speak to Him of my love and worship, I can feel Him very near.

So, do not try to change my worship of Him, which spills from my heart and washes my soul. Why would I trade heavenly joy for earthly mundane? It would be like capturing the beauty of a star and dashing it into the mud. How foolish.

So, this day, when my feet are stinging, and my eyes grow dim from what diabetes has done to me, I thank Him. Thank you God for making me so rich. You heard the prayers of my heart, giving me a wonderful family and all that my heart can hold. God is real, and He calls the ones who deny Him fools. Why cling to what is not, and deny the best joy of your life? Why throw away all eternity, simply because of pride in knowing how and never asking the simple question, why?

So, this day, I’m sending you a sunset in my picture above. I send it with much joy. Though your feet may sting. Though your heart may flutter. Though you may need machines to clean your blood. Though it feels as though your life is finished. It is not. You are important to God, and you are important to me. I do not see all of you. I see one of you. You are my friend, just as I am yours. We are one another’s gift. A gift of God. So, I’m sending you this sunset, my gift to you.

Heavenly Father, as diabetics, our lives often seem bleak, and the battle with this disease rages within us. We fight against diabetes, and no matter how good and faithful we are, this disease often wins. Help us, Lord, to understand that the defeat of the day, need not be the defeat of our hearts. We can be brilliant reflections of your love, even if only to ourselves. Grant us the grace to seek you, in the deepest darkness. And when life seems bright, and we are blessed at every turn, let us not then forget that it is You who makes us victorious.

With love,
Jaye Lewis
www.entertainingangels.org
www.entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com
www.jayelewisliliesofthefield.blogspot.com

A Successful Day by Jaye Lewis

Hello friends,

Today has been a successful day. I was able to walk over a mile on my treadmill. It took longer than it used to, but my feet held out, and my blood glucose meter showed me my results. My blood sugar lowered to 98! Yesterday, my blood sugar lowered to 99. So, in spite of having to be on two diabetes pills, exercise is still essential. I’m so grateful.

The wonderful thing about my walk, on the treadmill, is the music that moves my feet, my heart, and my soul. It’s my worship CD. Every song is Scripture based, and the music is soothing and inspirational. After five years, I still never get tired of those same songs that say so much about my relationship with God. I have missed my worship walk, and I know now, how important that walk is to me.

I still have the neuropathy in my feet. So, I have to be creative. When my Celebrex, for my arthritis first goes into my system, pain pretty much is controlled. Then I have my two Metanx, my Lyrica, and my Lamotrigine (Lamictal), which work on the nerves. They are a blessing. Then, right before I get on the treadmill, I take two Fast Release Tylenol, which dumps a mild pain-killer into my system in fifteen minutes. Well, that’s half-way into my walk. I can’t tell you that I’m pain free, but I can promise that I am pain managed. That is so important.

I’ve discovered that it is essential to get nose to nose (figuratively) with my doctor, when things are not going right. It is also important to research your disease. You cannot know too much about diabetes. Please avoid “sure cure” sites. They are so unhelpful. Just today, I received an email from a woman who wanted nothing more than to introduce me to her “sure cure,” and she would be so happy to lead me through the process and empty my bank account. I deleted the message. If we stay informed and establish a relationship with our doctor we will be able to manage our disease.


I thought that you might like to know about the diabetic foods that I have grown to love. Here they are.

Dreamfields Pasta. This is a yum-yum. Tastes just like ordinary pasta, because it is ordinary pasta, with one main difference: high protein and fiber. It really helps to be able to eat normally.

FarmBest brand probiotic yogurt. Sweetened with Aspartame, it is a real treat for a low glycemic diet. I can’t tolerate Splenda, although I began my food control with it, successfully. If you find that you can tolerate it, then I would urge you to try the many delicious products that use Splenda (sucralose) as sweetening, puddings, chocolate milk, yogurt, and a plethora of other yummy products.

Agave. This yummy, perfectly natural sweet syrup comes to us from the Agave plant. Our favorite brand is Wholesome Organic Raw Agave. It comes in dark and light, and it can be found in a good sized health food store. Agave has a very low inulin response, which helps us to control our blood sugar. Also check with your local grocery store. They may have Agave in another brand name or they might be willing to order it for you. We use light Agave at the table, to drizzle on toast. The dark, which tastes a little like light molasses is wonderful in puddings, pies, and some baked goods.

Hershey’s cocoa. Wow! I bet you are surprised with this. However, this is how I make sugar free cocoa.

Recipe: Pour 1/3 cup Instant Non-Fat Dry milk into bottom of cup, along with a heaping teaspoon of powdered cocoa. Stir.

Slowly add 1/3 cup evaporated milk, while stirring, until it becomes a thin paste and all lumps are gone.

Next slowly stir boiling water, into the cup leaving room at the top for adjustment of ingredients (I always like to add more evaporated milk), until all ingredients are combined.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 packs of your favorite sweetener.

I love hot cocoa on a crisp fall day, after coming in from raking a pile of leaves. Makes me feel warm and toasty.

So, now my friends, don’t be discouraged . It’s not easy, and I know it. I have no idea where I will be in six months. Will I be slim, or at least slimmer? I don’t know. Will my diabetes be controlled? I don’t know that either. But movement forward is the key. If we move forward, with our eyes not on ourselves, I think we can make it, successfully, to the finish line.

Father in Heaven. Thank You for giving us life. Help us to understand that our bodies are temples, and that we must take care of ourselves, especially when it is hard. Forgive us for the despair, fear, and defeat that we often feel. Grant us the grace to place our trust in You.

With love,
Jaye Lewis
www.entertainingangels.org
www.jayelewisliliesofthefields.blogspot.com
www.entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com

Again and Again by Jaye Lewis

One of the hardest struggles I have as a diabetic, is maintaining a healthy weight. Both my diabetes and asthma medications promote weight gain. It’s a vicious cycle. Medicine heals me and hurts me. I can’t live without the one, yet the side effects of the medications slow my metabolism to a halt. As a diabetic, I’ve discovered that diet and exercise alone, works only as long as my disease remains constant. When my disease progressed, and my A1c shot up from a low 6.2 up to a high 7.0, I had no other choice, but to go on medication. I learned the hard way, that diet and exercise is not a guarantee that one will always be successful at staying off of medication.

Diabetes is a complex disease, and it amazes me that there are those self-styled “wellness doctors,” who argue that diabetes is the patient’s fault. They’re lazy, glutinous, and even want to stay sick. Thank you very much. My best efforts did not create a miracle. My diabetes was not cured, because of some whole grain muffin worshiper and media doctor to the stars. My diet and exercise program merely delayed my need for diabetes drugs, as I denied my need for muffins.

After four-and-a-half years on my treadmill, five days a week, and a half hour a day, I was beaten by a terrible side effect of my disease – diabetic neuropathy – which is, basically, the death of the nerve cells in my feet. The neuropathy caused so much pain, I could barely stand. Staying on my treadmill was agonizing, and the weight that I had lost over those years, simply piled back on. I felt that God was punishing me, and I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong. I had tried to be obedient, and obviously I failed.

It didn’t help that every TV anchor with a perky personality, and no medical training, suddenly became an “expert” on diabetes.

“Yes, Jeff, those pictures of fat stomachs are alarming, as well as, just gross. Tee-hee!”

“I know, Amanda (wink-wink), it’s such an abomination that people would let themselves go, like that, especially with diabetes. Everyone knows (the great deity of no one knows), that Type II diabetes can be controlled, always (by everyone), with diet and exercise. Don’t these diabetics understand that they can lose a foot or kidney function or their sight, and even their lives?!”

Ah, yes, Jeff…we do. Every day. With each breath. And yet we live our lives, thanking God for each glorious sunrise, that you, dear old Jeff, just might miss. And we sure do appreciate your condemnation and contempt for those of us struggling with our weight, as we battle a terrible disease.

And diabetes? According to Jeff, being overweight caused the diabetes. Just ask those, who only think they know, and they will fill you with humiliation and despair. But don’t give up. Don’t listen to them! They are wrong. No one knows exactly what causes diabetes. If they knew, there would be a cure. Diabetes, itself, causes weight-gain in 80% of diabetics. The other 20%? They struggle with extreme weight-loss, and it is not a blessing. It’s yet another symptom of diabetes. It you have diabetes, and you are struggling to maintain your weight, those extra pounds are not your fault! If you really DO practice secret eating, gorging with high sugared foods, well, then you have more problems than weight gain. Secret sugar-y eating can cost you your life!

Diabetes makes it difficult for the body to fight off other diseases. The flu. Asthma. Lupus. And many others. Then you have medications, which definitely promote weight gain. Prednisone. Anti-depressants. Blood pressure medications. And, the greatest offenders, diabetes medicines themselves. Feel like it’s just not worth it? Don’t listen to your negative self, especially when society already has written you off as a closet, chocolate cake eater. Don’t give up!

There are wonderful medications for diabetic neuropathy – that horrible stabbing, burning, stinging pain in your feet. They can get you back on your feet. One of the most effective for me is Metanx. Metanx is a vitamin compound, which enters the blood stream immediately, and it not only protects the nerves, it can actually heal them. Other nerve medications which help me with other neurological conditions are Lyrica, for my fibromyalgia, and Lamictal for my trigeminal neuralgia. These may, or may not, be diabetes related, but these medicines definitely help me.

I’m very aware that my extra forty pounds do not help the neuropathy in my feet; nor does my weight gain ease my osteoarthritis. So, here I am, much as you may be, overweight, in barely managed pain, needing to get on that treadmill, yet often finding it agonizing, just to place my feet down on the floor. So it irritates me to have some scrawny, salad eating, ten-mile a day runner – who desperately NEEDS a sandwich – sit in judgment on me! One day that woman will be suffering from advanced osteoporosis, due to her continuous dieting, and as she struggles to run a mile, she can shout out her disapproval of me, then! I feel angry and hurt, that there are people, who don’t even know me, and yet they judge me, as well as other diabetics, who are simply living their lives and doing the best they can.

The Apostle Paul tells us to have moderation in all things. So, let’s be moderate. Let’s eat wisely. We all know what to do, and we all know, we must get moving. If you can walk twenty minutes, WOW, good for you! That’s a great start. But, if you can only walk twenty steps, then do that ― three times a day. Move up to twenty-five steps four times a day. Little by little, a step at a time, placing your hand in the hand of God, keeping your eyes not on your goal, but on Him, you will lose your weight, a pound at a time. Your self esteem will increase, and you will no longer feel like a victim. You will feel like a champion. If other diseases find you, and you must take these steps again and again, do not give up. Keep going until God calls you home.

Heavenly Father, forgive me every time I have given up. Grant me the strength to keep going, in spite of depression, in spite of disease, in spite of the judgment of others. Grant me the grace to understand that to struggle is to be blessed with a walk that reflects the one that my Savior took up Calvary’s hill. Struggling beneath the weight of His Cross, placed there by my sins, He has forgiven me, and made me pleasing in Thy sight. You, my Lord, have never given up on me. May I never give up on myself. And may my life, and my struggle, be a glory unto You and to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

With love,
Jaye Lewis
www.entertainingangels.org
www.entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com
http://www.jayelewisliliesofthefield.blogspot.com/
www.jayelewisdiabetesdiary.blogspot.com