Posts from — April 2009
What Angel really needed …
by Vyckie
Typical mom that I am, I can not stop myself from bragging about my kids ~ and right now, it’s Angel’s turn ‘cuz I’m really proud of how well she’s doing lately.
It has been almost two years ago that I drove to Nashville to bring Angel home ~ she had been committed to the psychiatric unit at Vanderbilt med. center after her third suicide attempt. I was seated in a conference room when a couple of nurses brought Angel in and told us the doctor would be in shortly. One look at my daughter and I was so afraid for her ~ there was a huge gash on her cheek where she had slammed her face against a metal window screen ~ and at first sight, she looked like she belonged in a mental institution ~ so I was scared for me too.
The psychiatrist entered the room and started explaining all the medications she was supposed to take for anxiety, hallucinations, etc. “Is it going to be safe for me to drive all the way back to Nebraska with her?” I was thinking not only of my own safety, but I also had Chassé and little Wesley along ~ what if she had a suicidal moment while I was driving and tried to jerk the steering wheel away from me and crash us into an oncoming truck or something? [Read more →]
April 28, 2009 1 Comment
Boxes ~ by Angel Renee
This essay was written by Angel for her Comparative Mythology class ~ dated April 12, 2009.
Boxes
by Angel Renee
The rains have come. Green is creeping into the white blanket covering the ground. Growth has come out of hiding. With the arrival of spring, hands everywhere are reaching for the accumulated dust of winter to shake it out into the sunlight. I too find myself in a season of cleaning, shaking out the dust within my soul. (Metcalf)
For weeks I have felt the persistent creep of change into my heart. The presence of spring has swept through the mansion of my mind, disturbing what is stagnant. I glimpse the scattered piles of boxes surrounding me. Another winter past, and I am ready to break out the hidden treasures stored away in my subconscious self. Ready to start sorting out the ideas I had held fast to, unwilling to let some go, excited to throw others out and welcome in new ones. Time to break through the cobwebs that are no longer intricate forms of art but a dusty mess that needs attended to. Too long has my mind lay dormant, escaping a much needed renewal. [Read more →]
April 28, 2009 1 Comment
Protected: The Sandy Factor ~ Hope Springs Eternal
April 27, 2009 Enter your password to view comments
Did I *really* trust Him?
by Vyckie
I had lunch with Hazelle at school on her 13th birthday ~ this year was the first time that I didn’t cry as I remembered the trauma of my 4th pregnancy and delivery ~ in fact, I hardly thought of it at all ~ so yeah, time does bring healing and I’m grateful for that.
There’s an interesting discussion going on over in the NLQ forums about quiverfull families who are “trusting the Lord” with their family planning and at the same time, accepting government assistance to support their children.
themomma said: This is one of my biggest complaints against a quiver family I know.
It is all “we are leaving it God” while they are using services. I think it is “selective faith” at the least.
About the same time that we were “convicted” (sorry, Kelly ~ I’m still using that word ::) ) to trust the Lord with our family planning, we were also convicted to trust Him with our finances ~ which meant no gov’t assistance, though we easily qualified for every program available.
Because we felt it would be a poor witness to accept medicaid, I did not seek any medical care during my fourth pregnancy (our first “reversal baby”) ~ but instead found a midwife and planned a home birth even though my first three had been delivered via c-section. [Read more →]
April 24, 2009 1 Comment
Protected: The Sandy Factor ~ Lean not on your own understanding?
April 21, 2009 Enter your password to view comments
There Is No "You" in Qivering: He Preferred Crest
I have seen comments here on the blog that say that Vyckie and I chose this lifestye. That it was a conscious decision on our parts to live this QF/P life. I can only speak for myself and I can attest that it was definitely NOT a conscious decision on my part. I took what was the “frog in the pot of hot water” path. It is said that if you put a frog into a pot of cool water he will be content to sit there enjoying his soak in the “tub”. Turn up some heat under the pot and the frog will not notice. He won’t notice that the water has become warmer and warmer until the water is too hot for him to survive. By then it is too late. He is boiled.
I came into the QF/P lifestyle in much the same way. I let Dale do my thinking for me. I let him interpret the word of God for me. I was supposed to have a “meek and quiet spirit” To me, that meant “give up what you want for him.”
I hate Crest toothpaste. It is waaay to minty for me. It burns my poor, sensitive mouth. I can’t stand it. I prefer Colgate. Dale loved Crest toothpaste. He didn’t like Colgate. I did the grocery shopping. I probably bought 95% of the toothpaste that was ever purchased during our almost 25 year marriage. I ALWAYS bought Crest. I never thought I could buy anything else. I used it for years. And hated it. It wasn’t that I wasn’t allowed to buy Colgate. I had just so submitted my self that I would use a toothpaste that burned my mouth in order to please my husband.
It wasn’t until after I left Dale and I was talking to a friend about this that I learned that I COULD BUY TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF TOOTHPASTE!! It’s as if my development was so arrested in this “submit to your husband in everything” religion that I was trying so hard to practice, that I didn’t ever think that I could have my own tube of toothpaste.
April 20, 2009 1 Comment
Vyckie's Tour de Crap: Bless, Do Good, Pray … 3 Remedies for Sibling Rivalry
April 18, 2009 1 Comment
Protected: Vyckie's Story ~ Part 16: We were Bereans
April 17, 2009 Enter your password to view comments
Introducing NLQ Forums!
Okay ~ I have set up a No Longer Quivering forum where we can discuss the many issues raised by the posts here as well as topics of interest to forum members.
I don’t have all of the boards completely set up yet ~ but hopefully they’re good enough to get us started anyway 
What I’ve decided to do is move most all of the comments over to the forums so that we can continue discussions there. After I have moved the threads, I will post a notice stating that we are no longer accepting comments on the relocated threads here on the blog.
Once I feel that the topic is going fairly strong over on the discussion board, I plan to remove the old comments from the blog. My plan is to eventually have all comments in the forums. I will have the blog posts linked to the forum where that topic is being discussed.
So ~ unless there are a some good reasons why readers would object ~ my plan is to make the No Longer Quivering blog comment-free ~ while encouraging discussion over on the forums.
Please let me know what you think ~ comments may be posted here. ‹(ô¿ô)›
April 16, 2009 16 Comments
When am I supposed to sleep…?
When my 11th baby was born, he had feeding issues. He just wasn’t getting the hang of nursing and I think my “plumbing” was getting a bit worn out.
After two weeks of trying and trying and him crying and crying, I took him to a Lactation Clinic an hour and a half away. The nurses and doctors were wonderful and remembered me from the last time I had a baby with these problems. They told me that I needed to use a breast pump every two hours all day and every 4 hours at night and keep track of how much milk I was making and feed every drop to my baby and supplement him with formula so he would gain weight.
Now, being a QF mom, I felt that bottles and formula equaled failure. I mean, my main purpose in life was to bear children and here I couldn’t even feed them myself. I remember talking to another QF mom about her child that had similar difficulties nursing and she reluctantly admitted to me that she had resorted to the bottle. BUT…they hadn’t used that nasty pre-made formula. They had done research and found a recipe that was better for their baby and fed the child that. Maybe she felt she needed to say that because not nursing your many babies was such a stigma in my circle. I was devastated I would have to supplement but one look at my sweet baby’s spindly legs and I knew I had to do it.
I picked up some formula on the way home and then talked to Dale about the plan I had been given from the clinic. I had a rented breast pump with me and felt a bit overwhelmed with the idea of caring for the 10 kids living at home, pumping every two hours and taking care of the new baby.
I told Dale I would need his help at night because not only did I have to pump but I had to make sure that the baby got a certain amount of food each time I pumped, either from my milk or supplemental formula. He would have to get up every 4 hours to help out so I could be all done in 45 minutes or so. Otherwise, it would take me an hour and a half to do it alone.
He looked at me incredulously and said, “When am I supposed to sleep? I have to go to work every day. You can take a nap.”
I was speechless. [Read more →]
April 15, 2009 22 Comments
