(They changed the way blog music is played through Blogspot.

If you want music playing while on my blog, go to my "IPod" on the right just below my photo and click the arrow to play music.  I added the music videos for David Nevue's beautiful music as well.  I hope they are a blessing. I'm researching some other options but for now this is all I could figure out how to do.)

I love my doctor.

I really do.

But I don't always love sitting in a waiting room and paying my co-pay.

So, when I discovered I had poison ivy a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I bought some anti-itch cream at the drug store.  Yes, I bought generic.  I read the label and the % of active ingredient in this and the name brand was exactly the same.

I "tried" to avoid itching it because I didn't want it to spread, but sometimes I forgot.....and it spread.

I "tried" to avoid going into areas that could have more poison ivy; but when the puppies were getting through the fence at the top of our hill, I decided to try to fix the problem myself and climbed the hill with leftover lattice from our porch and zip-ties.  I found the suspicious openings and fastened the lattice tightly so that the puppies could not push through the bottom of the fence.  But there's something about vines growing through the fence that you are holding tightly that should scream, "Watch out!! I could be dangerous!"  But I didn't hear them screaming, so I just kept on moving along the fence..zip-tying as I went! 

I remember riding around in the pick-up with my grandpa on his farm in Oklahoma and watching him "fix fence," but I don't recall him ever using zip-ties.  I think cattle are a little stronger than Dash and Domino; but as I think of Grandpa this morning, I'm thinking surely he was proud of me for trying to fix a fence!

If only I'd worn gloves and long sleeves, which Grandpa always did!

Well, needless to say, my poison ivy spread this week.

From my right leg to my left leg to my left arm and even to my stomach!

I'd like to say that the quickly spreading poison ivy pushed me to go to my doctor immediately, but I can't.

Instead I went to Family Dollar to pick up some puppy treats and shampoo and asked the manager if he knew any poison ivy secrets.  He immediately hollered to another employ who appeared with a wealth of information.

"You need to put apple cider vinegar on every itchy spot; then go to the poison ivy plant because near every poisonous plant, grows the cure!!"

He then explained that I needed to find a long-stemmed plant with one orange bell-shaped flower on top and boil the stems until they were mushy.  Then apply this to the bad areas and it would clear up.

I went home and immediately applied apple cider vinegar and climbed my hill in flip-flops (never a great idea) to search for this miracle plant.  No luck.

Later in the day, I drove Peppy to a little town outside of Grayson to get his summer haircut.  The sweet lady who cuts his hair is full of wisdom, so I said, "Look at my arm!" She immediately reached into her cupboard of her little store and handed me a bottle of honey.  "Rub this on every area that is itching.  Take a cotton ball and dip it in cool water and then dab the areas to take away the stickiness."

As I drove home with my honey, I was almost laughing at myself......almost.........

When I looked out my window and noticed long-stemmed plants growing all through the ditch with a single bell-shaped orange flower growing atop the stem!

I pulled into a driveway and turned around to try to find a place to pull over and get some of the flowers.  When I realized there was no safe place to pull over, I turned onto a side road and into the driveway of a trailer that had these same flowers growing in the ditch right beside it.

I sat for a minute wondering, "What will these people do if they see me in their ditch picking flowers?"  On top of everything, I was in my swimming suit with a cover-up on because I had left a friend and her daughter at the pool at my house while running Peppy to the groomer's...I thought I would be right back!

As I sat in the driveway, a lady opened the door of the trailer to see why I was sitting there.

I got out of the car and quickly said, "You probably wonder why I'm here, but I have a crazy question."  She replied, "I may have a crazy answer."  She did.

I explained about being covered in poison ivy and about the man at Family Dollar telling me about this plant that was growing in her ditch.

She then walked to me, showed me her arm which was obviously in its own poison ivy-recovery mode and went on to say that the only thing that she had had luck with was Lava soap.

The next think I knew, she was back in her trailer getting me a brand new bar!

She then helped me pick some flowers.

I wish you could have seen my friend's face when I returned 40 minutes later with all of this:

Well, I'm going to be honest.

I never boiled the stems.

And I have yet to rub the honey on my body, but we did eat some of it for dinner and it is delicious!  If you would like some local honey, you can buy it in Hitchens at Flo's little shop called "Family Affair"

I did, however, dip the bar of soap in my pool and begin rubbing it on my arms and legs.

I felt a little like an Appalachian Bathsheba bathing at the pool, but I promise I was wearing a very modest one - piece suit with a skirt; and if David had been next door, he would not have requested my presence in his palace.

Now, I was officially laughing at myself.

Later that evening, I walked with another friend and told her the story, and she looked in her medicine cabinet and found yet another bottle of anti-itch lotion that was almost to expire and said, "Here, use this!"  It did get me through the night!

Anyway, the next day my poison ivy seemed to be reaching a point of no return, and I bit the bullet and spent several hours in the waiting room of my doctor's office as a walk-in patient.  Why does this look so less inviting than walking through the woods looking for a mysterious flower?

I told her the whole story.  One thing I have learned to do is be honest when facing a doctor.  You never know if they have a Lava detector in the room, so there's no since taking a chance.

She offered to give me a shot and medicine, and my husband still can't believe I opted for only medicine.  I truly hate needles, and when she said it would only speed my recovery by about a day; I decided it was worth one more day of agony to avoid a shot.  He thinks I'm crazy, but why should I start changing now?

Anyway, I am on the road to recovery......finally........and I'm thinking all of the tips I received along the way probably do help in mild cases.  I just started asking for help a little too late.

Don't we do that in life when we have a problem?

We try to fix it ourselves first?

Then when it gets out of hand, we turn to friends and even strangers for advice, counsel, and help.

Finally, we realize that only the Great Physician has the answer.

So we force ourselves to wait until He provides the help we need.

In the waiting, we always learn something.

Patience, humility, trust, dependence on Someone greater than us.......

Today, you may not have poison ivy, but maybe there's something you're dealing with that seems overwhelming.

Maybe you've tried to fix it.

Maybe you've even turned to friends.

And strangers.

I'm challenging you today to turn to God.

He is patiently waiting to take your problem and deal with it.........

but here's the most difficult part of doing this.

Remember that He deals with things in HIS TIME.

Not ours.

As you wait for His help, thank Him for the opportunity to grow more patient, the lesson in humility, and the chance to learn to trust Him more.

Thank Him for allowing  you to depend on Him.

I read in II Chron. 15:3-4 this morning,

"For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach, and without the Law to instruct them. 

But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought Him out, they found Him."

I love that passage.

I love that the Bible speaks to every situation in our lives.

Turn to Him today.

Seek Him.

You will find Him.

Deut. 4:28,

There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone,

which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

But if from there you seek the Lord your God,

you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Jeremiah 29:13,

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Love you all!

Have a wonderful weekend!