Faith & Health Stewardship

Do you believe in the importance of free speech and unique thoughts and concepts? I do. It’s our varied brains God gave us that created all the “extras” in our world. Without them, we wouldn’t be enjoying electricity, airplanes, advanced medical procedures, books, art, and the like. #GodblessAmerica
I find it disturbing that critical thinking is now so discouraged that those with valid, science based facts are censored 😶  on mainstream social media. Mainstream media and “respected” 3 letter government agencies are also complicit in either censoring, publishing unreliable data or outright twisting the truth. #whyaretheysuppressingthetruth
I’d like to share with you how I have come to vet those whom I hear, that which I read, and guard what (and whom) I watch, because it certainly has become more difficult.
I look at the context and the intention of what I read or view, and then I compare the contents to these two simple Biblical truths:
1. Is the purveyor relaying inconsistent or incongruous information? Does the information itself condone or  promote chaos, hatred and/or fear? If so, Satan has a foothold somewhere within it.
2. Does the purveyor of the information utilize logic and promote peace, kindness or love , and faith? If so….then I don’t stop…. I dig a little deeper and look for both scientific and Biblical discourse that align (or disprove) the evidence that has been presented. If I cannot find additional solid logical scientific AND Biblical evidence that give further credence to what I’ve just “consumed” with my eyes or ears, I table the information for further evaluation.
3.  And recently, I’ve come to add a 3rd vetting: Is the information highly censored by major social media platforms despite the First Amendment? If so….. THAT’S a red herring for truth more often than not. 
🐟Eat the fish and spit out the bones. 🐟
Which brings me to this very important study I came across a few days ago that has since been censored by Facebook. 
(I’d be happy to send you the link. PM me)
The details of the study are these:
*There most assuredly IS early treatment available for the ‘virus’.. Thousands of doctors who are honoring their oath to protect and serve the patients in their care know this, and they are being prosecuted, chastised, and threatened for prescribing ‘the treatment’. 
Why are we not rejoicing that there IS help without waiting in  blind trust of an untested v@ ccine?  Why is the truth being censored? Why do those of us who care enough to speak out have to mince our words as I am doing here?  
*Early treatment is necessary, yet the majority of doctors who operate under fear for their licenses/livelihood decline to even suggest it to a patient, instead telling them to wait it out at home unless breathing becomes difficult. #thatsnogoodstewardshipofknowledge
*I talk to people everywhere I go.  I’ve talked to people who had “it”…. And never knew there was a treatment…. Some of whom have suffered greatly because of that omission.
 I’ve talked to others who did “the treatment” and had a super quick recovery.
 I’ve talked to still others who tested positive and never had a single symptom. (not that I trust the testing even one iota!)  
*The “treatment” in question has been on the safest medication list (CDC generated info) for decades……and used as a common preventative and treatment for a certain killer mosquito borne disease. #malariaisatopkillerinourworldandworsethantherona
If you look it up on the CDC website, you’ll find that the CDC states…. “…. can be prescribed to adults AND CHILDREN of all ages. It can also be safely taken by PREGNANT and NURSING MOTHERS.”
👆This statement is rare among pharmacologicals.👆 Real rare…… but this pharmacological is the synthetic alternative to quinine…. A naturally occurring compound found in the bark of the cinchona tree. Quinine has been used for at least 500 years (if not longer) as a viable naturally sourced medication used for respiratory infections and many other conditions. The synthetic “treatment” is cheap, effective, safe, and over the counter in many countries.
Applying logic……. why then, would the CDC claim that this medication is too dangerous for a “virus” patient? #thingsthatmakeyougohmmmmm 
A few factoids about this trial that caught my attention:
💊It is a large trial: 1.8 Billion people in the treatment group, and 663 million in the control group.
💊Countries involved in the trial account for 31.2% of our world’s population. 
💊People with comorbidities were included in the trial: diabetes, obesity, hypertension, etc. 
💊Other possible factors affecting the outcome were also examined: population density, urbanization, testing level, intervention level, life expectancy etc.
The study shows, on MASSIVE scale, that the treatment group has a 77.4% lower chance of death than the control group.
Now, I don’t know about you……. But if a 20$ prescription cuts the odds of dying by more than 2/3rds (and of minimizing symptoms)…. Isn’t that worth taking note? And isn’t this worth fighting for, if you have someone who has tested positive and has symptoms? It certainly beats the odds of surviving a hospital stay compliments of the invisible enemy.
Again….. Logic. Peace. Love. Faith. 
❤️I tend towards trusting doctors who are willing to go up against the establishment to do the right thing. That’s LOVE in action. #theyaredoinghardthingsfortherightreason
❤️I tend towards resting in the PEACE of knowing there is treatment available if you go to a doctor who is willing to do the right thing. #itsafixablehealthconcern
❤️I tend to have FAITH in the immune system that God gave each one of us. I have nurtured my immune system over the years, and I have faith that it will continue to serve me well… and if it should fail, I know a good doctor who will give me what I need 😉. (Please PM me if you want this same kind of faith in both God and your immune system). #lovepeaceandfaithinaction
❤️I tend towards believing that which is LOGICAL, not that which is inconsistent, inaccurate, and chaos driven. #logicoverlunaccy
Please friends, I know you have friends and family all over the world. If you hear of someone you know and care about who has tested positive and who has symptoms….. Please ask them if their doctor has provided them with a prescription for “the treatment”. It’s safe and it’s effective, and it should be illegal to withhold this information from someone who needs it. 
xoxo~ liz
www.goodmedicine.info
#sharingiscaring
#riseupandspeaktruth
#faithoverfear
#thebiggerquestioniswhyaretheyhidingthetruthaboutHCQ

🇺🇸 It seems like in all the past years I can recall, Memorial Day also marked the end of the school year, the opening of public pools, a “free” day for BBQ’s or picnics, and massive sales in the shopping world.

🇺🇸 Those who died on foreign soil did so to insure our freedom to meet and play together, to shop without a permit or papers, to run a business, and practice our faith as we desire.

We’ve gotten a tiny taste of what not having certain freedoms look like 😬….. and it’s been a little hairy (in some places more than others).

Frankly, the ‘rona situation has made me much more reflective and appreciative of those who died so that we may remain free. They didn’t know us, but yet they still made the ultimate sacrifice to defend freedom anyway. It is a humbling thought.

🇺🇸Hundred of thousands of men and women have died to preserve and protect our nation over the years. Without their willingness to fight (and die), we could have all grown up living in a country that feels like North Korea, Iran, China or Cuba.

Those four are among the 10 most “lock downed” countries in the world, where freedom does not exist.

…. and all of these 10 countries have one thing in common:

Censorship of speech.

Today, this is heavy on my heart. We should be honoring the soldiers who died with flags, memorial services, and parades this Memorial Day, and then we should be gathering together as we tend to do on a holiday… in back yards, on beaches, and at parks, enjoying the freedom gifted to us.

We should not have to wonder if our written word will be censored, or our accounts “jailed” by social media police because a view differs from “the norm”

… Censorship of speech is a path to freedom lost.

🇺🇸🇺🇸God bless the USA and the men and women who have died to protect our soil and our freedom. 🇺🇸🇺🇸 May we honor them by utilizing the freedom they gifted us.

#freedomisntfree
#worthfightingfor
#censorshipandfreedomcannotcoexist
#FirstAmendmentSecondAmendment
#Thankyouforyourservice

Have you ever felt like you were at a crossroads in your life? I’m not talking about a midlife crisis, but rather something bigger and more profound.

About 3 years ago, we took a pretty long road trip to pick up a bull in a remote (VERY REMOTE) area in West Texas. I mean…… drive to the very edge of civilization and then head 3 hours further…..the kind of remote that requires a physical map instead of cell phone/ GPS service. Without a map or good navigational tools, you’re sunk kind of remote. As you might guess, we confidently drove down the road….. in the wrong direction because we thought we knew where we were going. It cost us about 3 extra hours that day. We were reminded the value of an old school map and a dose of intuition!

This kind of parallels the last 15+ years of my life. I have been a pharmacist since 1991. I graduated, and like most health professionals…. upon graduation…… was pretty sure I had a really good grasp of the profession. I’m not saying I was God’s gift to pharmacy (hardly!), but I certainly thought I knew enough to make a difference in people’s lives. I toodled along in pharmacy doing the absolute best job I could do (because that’s my nature….. never tackle anything halfway).

When I was in my 30’s I thought we were living the dream. Charlie and I both had good jobs, had bought our farm, and had begun building our home (by hand, ourselves…. because that’s how we do things…. with all our heart and soul). We worked super hard…. 40-60 hrs a week at our respective jobs and then swung hammers and wielded paint brushes on nights and weekends for about 3 years before completing our home. It was somewhere during that time that I broke my wrist, was subsequently diagnosed with osteopenia , and both Charlie and I were diagnosed with high cholesterol.  In hindsight, that broken wrist was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I won’t go into great detail (you can read more about that journey here and the second half here), but it was a big fat hairy road sign to stop and assess what I thought I knew.

That broken wrist reopened a different avenue of education for me…. only this time, it was not subsidized by the pharmaceutical industry and there was some skin in the game…. my own. When you are a pharmacist, you’re in the business of knowing side effects of meds. The good news is…. you know the potential side effects. The bad news is…. you know the potential side effects. I wasn’t willing to go down that road given the med options they were dangling in front of me. My gut said no way, and once my research started it changed my life forever. It all began with raw milk. From there, my research extended into finding access to truly healthy and healing foods. Each time I thought I knew enough, I found that more pieces to health puzzles were MIA…. not just my puzzle, but everyone else’s too.

About the same time, I went to work at a pharmacy that specialized in rare diseases, oncology, auto-immune disorders, and infertility (which frequently has an auto-immune component). Sadly, this pharmacy represented the outcome of people living in toxin filled environments. Silly me. I still thought I was helping people. I guess I was. Kindness matters, especially when you are dealing with life altering body dysfunctions….. but kindness and pharmaceuticals don’t dissolve the problems these patients face every day.

Another personal puzzle piece fell into place after I was diagnosed with something called interstitial cystitis and discovered (after 9 years of no REM sleep and frequent trips to the bathroom), that it could be managed well with a fresh and healthy, but limited, diet. Expensive medication and daily catheterization are the common treatments. Ummm, no thank you. I would later learn that IC is part of the autoimmune disorder family. Not surprisingly, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the USA are card carrying autoimmune disorder patients. I had been given my card.

Eight years ago, my dad was diagnosed with dementia. It made no sense to me and we had no family history of dementia. I backtracked the onset to a statin drug (commonly prescribed for high cholesterol). In the finest of the fine print of this class of drugs you will find information alluding to possible memory loss with these drugs. Dig deeply and you’ll find it. I thank God for leading me to raw milk to lower my cholesterol instead of that which stole my dad’s memory. I don’t blame the pharmaceutical industry for burying the whole ‘memory loss’ side effect in the fine print. I mean, would you want to take a drug that could potentially rob you of your memory as a side effect? Ummmm, no thank you.

By now, I’ve truly begun second guessing pharmaceuticals. I began educating myself on everything I could get my hands on that gave honest and documented proof that maybe what I knew wasn’t EVERYTHING…… that perhaps there were some gaps in my education and knowledge base. I dug deep deep deep into gut health and discovered the link to most autoimmune disorders. I studied sleep patterns, herbs, thyroid and hormones. I picked up yoga and began healing my posture and my stress level. That led to my recent certification (7 years later) as a Christian yoga instructor. ​

I had a life changing accident 3 years ago this week, and (eventually… after a 3 month recovery) walked out of it when I should have been an amputee. Last week I walked a 37 minute 5K with many close friends. Thank God.  Despite the severity of my injury, I have no pain day to day and am not on any medication. I’ve got oils, supplements and a little thing called Dolphin MPS that rocked my recovery world so much so that I decided to begin taking classes so that I could help others as I was helped…. another tool in my toolbox that wasn’t related to pharmacy.

The last 18 years, by serendipity or Divine design (I believe the latter), I have been gathering tools to help people (myself included) heal physically and emotionally. What had started out as a mission to care for myself and my family gradually extended to include friends and strangers who have become dear friends. The more truth in healing I gleaned, the more uncomfortable I became in my white lab coat. Back in the day, we took an oath to do no harm (that oath has been changed and no longer includes that phrase).

Once you know something, you can’t unknow it.

I have grown uncomfortable in my pharmacist skin (and coat)….. able to speak only truths that are approved talking points regulated by the pharmaceutical industry.

Once I found that there are better, safer, more life sustainable ways to heal, it became harder and harder to deny people access to these opportunities in wellness……. because they exist for the taking.  

Every day, people make unconscious choices that affect their health….. making poor food choices, drinking chemically treated water, watching too much media and not exercising enough…. taking meds without researching them thoroughly first. They think a pill will solve their ills. I’m here to tell you that medications are simply adding to the already hefty toxin load within all of us. The heavier the load, the sicker the individual.

I’ve had several people in the last many months call me a healer. I don’t claim that moniker. I feel more like a shepherd, leading those who are thirsty to a safe place to drink, eat, and rest. It gives me great peace, and it makes my heart sing a song it’s never sung before.

I have straddled both worlds now for many years, and being true to myself is becoming increasingly difficult despite the six figure income that comes with the white coat. I fill prescriptions for people I have grown to love in the community, knowing that they can be helped in other ways that actually heal. I respect my duty as a pharmacist and do not step outside that boundary……but I feel God’s hand firmly on my back telling me to Go. Do. Become. Shepherd those I send your way. 

Really God?

Yes. Really.

And so I prayed. “Lord, if it is your will, send me those who need me.”  I began praying this daily about 5 months ago. God has a sense of humor. I’m sure of it. About a month ago, I had to alter my prayer a tiny bit. ” Lord, if it is your will, can I have a little breather so I can adequately help those you sent so far? ” God is so very good.

I would have never in a million years guessed that I would step away from pharmacy more than halfway thru my career.  Pharmacy has taught me so much. Perhaps most importantly, it has given me the gift of scientific discernment: the ability to understand fact from fiction or skewed data.

When I was a young pup out of pharmacy school, I thought my life was set on auto pilot. I couldn’t have been more wrong. God took me down a completely different path, guiding me and giving me tools along the way: pharmacy, nutrition, exercise, yoga, health coaching, scientific based knowledge of essential oils, supplements, and herbs, Dolphin MPS, and most importantly the empathy acquired from personal experiences.

God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.

Here’s to the journey! I can’t wait to see what the second half of my life holds.

Hugs and love, Liz

PS: I am not completely stepping away from the pharmacy just yet. You will still see me in a white coat one or two days a week.

I am constantly amazed by God and all He has given us. He has given us everything we need from day ONE….. it was all there in the Garden…. and much he did with a little bit of humor and a wink. (I love that about Him…. he has a wry sense of humor at times!)

Pharmacy school has an elective class or two in something called Pharmacognosy: “A branch of knowledge concerned with medicinal drugs obtained from plants or other natural sources.”
This has fascinated me well before I ever even thought about going to pharmacy school (I did a term paper on herbal medicine when I was a Freshman). The list is terribly long, but here are some examples….
 Foxglove = Digoxin (heart)
 Poppy = Codeine (pain)
 Autumn Crocus = Colchicine (gout)
 Tobacco = Nicotine (insecticide/ anti-helminthic.. who knew!?!)
 Valerian = Sedative

In Biblical times, ‘superbugs’ and diabetes likely didn’t even exist except in the rarest of occasions. The prevalence today of these are the result of man messing with things we shouldn’t have. Go back and research the incidence of bacterial resistance and diabetes in ancient times. Neither one existed with any regularity, yet today, they are both epidemic. An oddity (back in the day) deserves an oddity treatment…. don’t you think? Here’s a few more…..

​Gila Monster spit = diabetes
Yesterday, I saw this… Platypus milk! ….. one of my most favorite animals may hold the key to this superbug crisis we currently have. I feel like God created odd creatures as a clue to man (back in the day)…. odd creatures for odd diseases.

God gives us clues to ourselves and His future plans for us ( Jeremiah 29:11). I marvel at how He put events, people, and opportunities in my life (even 30+ years ago), knowing that I would need these things later for what He has planned for me now.

Keep your eyes, ears, and heart (and even your gut) open. God speaks to us all daily. He nudges us in the direction he wishes us to go. It’s up to us to follow or ignore that nudge.

How has He used something in your past to prepare you for what’s going on in your life today?

​Hugs and Love, Liz

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  Honestly, as much as Charlie and I love each other, we are not huge proponents of this particular advertising holiday…. ’cause we just love each other every day, and do our best to show one another that we still do #evenafteralltheseyears. I mean, why limit your love to just one day? Of course we both fail spectacularly on occasion…. but the point is, that we both do try. 

Have you heard of the 5 Love Languages? It’s a concept that has been around for several years and was outlined in a book by Gary Chapman. My love language is service, and Charlie nails that one for me every time. It wasn’t always that way tho. When we were first married, he gave me a few gifts that resulted in a hairy eyebrow from me. Although he was giving from the heart, it was not in a ‘love language’ that my receiving heart understood.

​I know my blog is primarily about health and farm life, and ya’ll might think I’m deviating from that venue in this post. Not so. Our heart, body, and emotionally health is completely and utterly dependent on healthy loving relationships….. not just with our significant other, but also with friends, family, and/or ‘framily’ (those friends who truly become our family). Do a little Googling on this topic, or take a peek at some of the benefits here.

I posted on my personal Facebook page about this topic last week, and my dear friend Miss Dottie added to my musings. She is a little older than I am, and infinitely wiser! ….. there is a distinct advantage to aging well, learning from life, and then passing along golden nuggets to others.  Life lessons should shared so that others may find their road a little less rocky in life!

From Miss Dottie:
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”~John 15:12

As a former relationship coach, matchmaker, & author of the Dr Romance column, I was immersed in the world of love & what makes us tick (or not). Each February my thoughts return to that season with a smile & I love writing about all things of the heart.

My friend posted this little chart this morning.  Since Valentines Day is just around the corner I thought it might help you in showing love specifically to each person you care about. I know the media pushes roses, candy, & cards but sometimes that’s not what means the most. Valentines Day isn’t really about YOU, it’s really about THEM.

It’s really important for all of us to communicate what’s important to us. For me words of affirmation & quality time are the wind beneath my sails. Want to crush me? Use words that make me feel less than. Want to bruise my heart? Never spend time with me or come alongside me.

If you’re alone or maybe not in a healthy relationship, I would encourage you to meet my BFF Jesus. I would also encourage you to “romance the self.” Need a friend? Be a friend. Love flowers? Plant your own garden. I think you get my drift.

I think I Corinthians 13 offers the best definition of love: “Love suffers long & is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…”

Enjoy your day tomorrow, regardless if you are single or have a significant honey in your life. You are loved by someone no matter who you are or where you are in life. Don’t ever forget that! Miss Dottie is a wise woman, and her words are golden!

Hugs and Love from me to you this Valentine’s Day, liz