Happy Birthday Dan!

Tomorrow is Dan's birthday! Months before I ever met Dan, his family had been telling me all about him. I, naturally, thought there would never be anything to it since he lived in Brazil and I lived in Oklahoma. The very first time I ever saw Dan I remember thinking to myself, "Well, if anything were to ever happen, it would have to be God." A little over 4 years into marriage, I still feel that way. I feel so lucky and blessed to have such an amazing husband to share life with day-in and day-out. God truly does give us far more then we could ever ask or imagine. It's been 4 and a half years since Dan asked me to marry him. In those 4 and a half years, we planned a wedding, got married, Dan finished school, we changed jobs, moved overseas, studied two languages, and have 2 kids with the 3rd on the way. If you look at any list of high stress factors, I think we've probably got the majority of them covered. They say that who you really are comes out in stressful situations. If that is true, then I am here to vouch that either my husband doesn't get stressed at all (which I think is probably partially true) or he is just an amazing person who is equally great during all seasons of life (which I know is true). I've learned a lot from being married to Dan. He is the type of guy who doesn't try to lead by asserting his role as husband, but just by living how he knows he is supposed to live. There are many situations where his example has pricked my conscience pretty deep. There are two things that really stand out to me that I have seen continually in Dan's life, and have learned from. The first is a humble spirit. I don't think I've met anyone more humble then my husband. What Dan does with his life is never about getting the acclamation or praise for it, but always out of a genuine love for others and desire to serve them. Dan is also so generous and giving. As middle class Americans, it's hard to ever truly give sacrificially. But I have learned a lot from Dan in this area. I am so thankful for my sweet husband! Happy Birthday Dan!

Peanuts . . .

So, for most of my adult life I have had frequent headaches. My mom has always had a lot of headaches as well, and claims that they are sinus headaches, so I just assumed that mine were the same. Recently, however, I was talking to a friend who knows a lot about migraines and she mentioned that many migraines are caused by certain foods. There is a big, long list of foods that sometimes cause headaches, and different people react differently, so she started naming off some of the foods. Well, peanuts/peanut butter was high on her list. For those of you who know me very well, you know I love peanut butter. My friend suggested I write a cookbook entitled 101 ways to use peanut butter. I like the idea! Anyways, I eat peanut butter in some form almost every day. So, about a month ago I started an experiment. I stopped eating peanut butter. The first 2 weeks I still had headaches on occasion, but during the last two weeks I didn't have a single headache! That is a miracle for me. On Wednesdays I help cook food for folks that don't have a lot. We have a lot of Africans that come, so this past Wednesday I made an African dish that is made out of peanut butter. Umm, ummm good! 24 hours later I had my first headache in 2 weeks. Crazy. Well, I just thought it was all very interesting, and if any of you out there suffer from headaches, you should scan the internet and see if some of the foods you eat on a regular basis are known to cause them!

Along the same topic . . . living overseas has inspired me to try making many things at home that I would not otherwise try. My kids are following in my shoes, and love peanut butter. This week for the first time I made peanut butter. It's so easy. It's so much healthier then the sugary stuff we have to buy here. AND, for around $2.00 I made the same amount that I would pay $6.00 or more for in the store! I think I would have to add a cup of sugar to it for Dan to eat it, but Zeke seems to like it just fine!