Mastitis. Laminitis. All the -itis won't make us quit.

That’s not strawberry donkey milk.

The other day I noticed that Julie was looking lopsided (our newest momma.) Apparently the little guy isn’t nursing both sides well, so now we’re battling mastitis and hoping it doesn’t go to full blown infection stage. 

Which means milk her out and dump the milk every two hours to attempt to clear the infection before it makes her extremely ill, and hope baby Trooper makes up the difference.

Honestly, since we started planning the #heehawforhealth , we've been hit from all directions, blindsided again and again.

Which makes me believe all the more that this is important. 

And needed. 

And exactly what we’re supposed to be doing.

Just ask any parent of a child with PANDAS, Autism, or childhood autoimmune disease.

The other day we were challenged to think bigger, how can we do more to help more kids. 

Dangerous stuff, thinking that way.

On the way home I listened to a podcast about facing opposition whenever you step into a work God has for you...and I wondered what would hit us next. 

And then I saw this....ouch.

Sometimes opposition comes in bloody milk, COPD (heaves) donkeys, crimped intestines, miscarriages, mastitis and laminitis. 

Sometimes when my faith is weak and I don't know how we can possibly keep going, milking two donkeys, and feeding 28....when the milk math doesn't add up, and I feel like we've been hit with every "-itis" in the book. I'm reminded that this wasn't something we chose to do.

To quote Pastor Craig Groeschel, "The burden you bear often reveals the calling you will embrace."

My friend said the other day "You have such a heart for these kids." (I was the mom judging "those parents" for their badly behaved kids at the grocery store.) 

Another friend said, "Well, now that your husband is retired and you just milk donkeys..." (He works his tail off...and it's not for fun...)

And another friend said, "Where are you going to have the speakers for the event?" (In the barn we haven't built yet...)

Each time, I nearly fell over laughing, after my jaw hit the floor. Not because I was offended (I wasn't), it's just that I find it hilarious that people see us as having it all together, when it's really out of control chaos half the time.

This isn't a hobby. This is our life. This is how we feed our family, and our herd. 

My laundry basket is full of my husbands soaked shirts, so wet with sweat I should probably wring them out before I throw them in the wash.

I never had a heart for children with Autism, or PANDAS, PANS, Down Syndrome, or autoimmune disease. Until we had a child struck with PANDAS disease. Until my cousin had a baby with Down Syndrome. Until I made friends with incredible families blind sided by diseases they never imagined or asked for, doing everything they can to heal their child, and facing cruel remarks at the grocery store from people who don't understand.

But when we feel like quitting, and doing something easy, we're reminded that this is a burden we've been given to bear.

We never would have had a heart for parents that couldn't afford the treatments that their child needed if we hadn't been there ourselves.

We never would have known about a disease that attacks children's brains and steals them overnight, from a simple case of strep throat. Or a tick bite. Or the flu...if we hadn't lived that nightmare ourselves.

This burden, it's ours to carry. And honestly, its too much for us.

We could never do this on our own. This would crush us...this weight we feel for these families and their children, and the lack of resources available to them.

This Hee Haw for Health event, it's about so much more than Donkey Milk for kids. There is so much more to this than that. There is a spiritual battle going on for our children. We see it firsthand in the lives of these families. It's too much for them to bear.

So, like it or now, we've been strapped with this burden. 

And if you're still reading this...I hate to tell you, so have you.

This isn't something we can do on our own. And, thankfully, we don't have to.

God is faithful, and He owns this farm, and all that we do with it. He gave it to us, literally (but that's another story)...so it's His to do with what He wants.

So, since we've been challenged to ask specific prayers. Pray for a barn. I've never asked before, because we've made due with a couple of sheds in the field...but it's getting more and more difficult to just make due. Belle. Newborn donkeys. This crazy rain and hail and all the nights we've been up worrying about them and moving the priority ones to the sheds, and hoping for the best.

The other night, we were out with an umbrella and a newborn baby donkey in the dark hours of the morning, trying to move them to a little shed across the field so they would be protected from the storm. If that hadn't worked, my (terrible) plan was to stand there, through the storm, with an umbrella over a baby donkey. 

I keep waiting for a barn to plop down in our field, Wizard of Oz style...only without crushing anyone in the process.

But maybe He has something better up His sleeve than a tornado.

(PS. Before you ask, it’s pump and dump. I wanted to save it for the kittens and rescue bunnies, but got overruled. And as tempting as it is...I won't be making any pretty pink strawberry soap either.)

(PSS. Along with every blow, we’ve been blessed. Blessed beyond what we even thought to ask for. He is faithful.)

Thank you @craiggroeschel for prepping us for the fight. He says it better...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-church-with-craig-groeschel-audio/id73802266

#heehawforhealth #fightthegoodfight #lifechurch #mastitis #pandasmom #autoimmunedisease #autism #naturopathicmedicine #alternativehealth