Dealing With Rosacea

Last April, my dermatologist confirmed what I suspected....I have Rosacea.

Rosacea is a chronic condition characterized by facial erythema (redness). (From Wikipedia).

Now, mine is a fairly mild case. Occasional redness and a few bumps. It could be worse, since Lupus seems to run in my family, I am thankful it wasn't the infamous Butterfly rash that is typical in those who suffer from Lupus. So I have to learn to deal with it.

Of course, the Dermatologist wanted me to change my cleaning/makeup routine to keep from aggravating the condition. Funny thing though, I am a Mary Kay consultant and have used their products for many years. I wasn't wanting to change, especially since I can get my products at a 50% discount, making them more affordable than even things at Wal Mart.

So I wanted to quickly share what I have found to work for me. I did change a few products around - avoiding masks and cleansers that exfoliate (which Mary Kay's Timewise Cleansing Products do). So far, my Rosacea has not gotten any worse. I have even been able to avoid Metro Gel, the medication the dermatologist wants to have me use. Maybe once we get insurance, I will get it. But for now, this is my routine:

Morning Routine:
Mary Kay Creamy Cleanser 2 (for drier months)
For more humid weather, Mary Kay Deep Cleanser 3.
If I am going to be out in the sun all day, I use CeraVe AM. It has a high SPF.
If it is a day that I won't be out in the sun much, I use Mary Kay Timewise Moisturizer with SPF.

I will also on occasion use Mary Kay Even Complexion.

I also use Mary Kay Day Solution.

For both Morning and Night:

Mary Kay Age Fighting Eye Cream


For night:
Same cleanser as above

Mary Kay Oil Free Hydrating Gel

or

CeraVe PM Lotion

For Makeup:

It is all Mary Kay and I love it. No problems, no breakouts!

Mary Kay Medium Coverage Foundation

Mary Kay Mineral Pressed Powder Which, BTW, I like way better than Bare Escentuals and it is much cheaper for me!!

Mary Kay Mineral Eye Powder


That is about it! I have found this routine works very well for me and has not aggravated my Rosacea whatsoever! I'll repost if anything changes! If anyone else has Rosacea and has any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

More of Knowing God's Will

Another post by Tim Challies on the will of God. Excellent!!! Read the whole thing here.

I totally appreciate his posts. Wow, talk about Freedom! Here is a small quote from the post:

What you will not find? You won’t find the Bible saying, “You should marry this fine, Christian girl instead of that fine, Christian girl.” You won’t find the Bible telling you, “Go ahead and buy the Honda and I will bless you” or “Don’t buy that Toyota or I’ll remove my hand of blessing.” You will find lots of principles and lots of wisdom and lots of clear guidance on how you can honor God. But you will see that God does not reveal his secret will to you and he does not reveal his complete will for you. He guides you and he guides me and all of us in the same way and with the same words. The will he reveals for you is the will he reveals for me.

Some people are disappointed by this, but they shouldn’t be. They should be thrilled! You need to see that there is a lot of joy in understanding that God is not going to tell you whether you should marry this girl or that girl. He will do better. He will tell you that if you are going to marry, you need to marry a member of the opposite sex who is a Christian. That is all the direct guidance he is going to give you. He has spoken to you through the Bible and said all he needs to say on the matter. He wants you to choose who to marry, as long as she meets those basic criteria.

He won’t speak from the sky. Instead, he’ll do something far better. He will let you make a choice and promise to be with you regardless of what you choose. Not only that, but he will love and support you and bless you, because what you do is in accordance with his revealed will as he has given it in the Bible.

Meeting Mark Hall and Juan Devevo

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to meet Mark Hall and Juan Devevo from Casting Crowns!

It was the release day of Casting Crowns new CD, Come to the Well:

It was also the release day for Mark Hall's new book by the same title:



The kids got their picture with Mark and Juan - they were super excited!



We were able to get both the book and CD autogrpahed. Very nice guys, we chatted with them for a short bit. We also bought our concert tickets yesterday. They will be in town November 18th with Sanctus Real and The Afters. Really looking forward to going!! I love Casting Crowns and love their new album. And I am looking forward to reading the book - I am only working on about 5 books right now :)

Knowing God's Will

Tim Challies is doing a series on Knowing the Will of God. You can read Part 1 here.

Today's post is excellent. Below is just a small portion of it. Please check the rest of the post out here. Excellent!!

God will always be guiding us through his providence, quietly and behind
the scenes. When it comes to our conscious participation in doing his will, he
has the ability to guide us however he sees fit. However, in this time he tells
us to expect only that he will guide us by his Son, through the Spirit in
the Bible.

So Christian, if you want to know God’s will for you, you need to look
to the Bible. Here is where God has given us his perfect will; he has given it
to us in his perfect Word. Do you want to know how to serve God? Do you want to
know how to please him? Do you want to know what he wants from you? Do you want to make good and wise and God-honoring decisions? Then look to your Bible. Here is the one and only way that God has promised to guide you.

In one of James Montgomery Boice’s final books he wrote something that
has often come to my mind. He wrote about the Bible and said that as far as he
could see the battle over the inerrancy of the Bible had been fought and won.
The Bible is without error. But the battle for the sufficiency of the Bible was
just beginning. Will the Bible be enough for us? Will we affirm that the Bible
is sufficient to guide us in all of life? Or will we demand that God reveal
himself to us in other ways?

Boice was exactly right. That battle was just beginning. Every year
there are more and more books being published that talk about how to know God’s
will and most of them pay lip service to the Bible but also tell you to look for
guidance from other things—fleeces and circumstances and coincidences and voices
from the sky and impressions and everything else. Some of the bestselling books
on the subject tell you that you should expect God to give you clear guidance
from something other than the Bible in literally every decision you make. Peanut
butter and jelly or peanut butter and honey? God wants you to choose right and
if you listen, he will tell you.

The Reformation and the Men Behind It

Ligonier Ministries is doing a series of posts on six men were a major part of the Protestant Reformation:

Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale, Heinrich Bullinger, and John Calvin

The posts will be taken from the book Pillars of Grace by Steven J. Lawson.

You can read the first here.

These posts should be very interesting and I can't wait to read them. By the way, Ligonier is also offering a DVD by R. C. Sproul called Luther and the Reformation for any gift amount to Ligonier. I am looking forward to receiving this DVD.

I think this year on Reformation Day, October 31st, we will watch the movie, Luther. It was an exceptional movie the portrayed Martin Luther very well. For some reason, we never watched it during our unit study on the Reformation so this would be a good time to catch up!

Women of the Reformation

October 31st is right around the corner! Yes, for many that means trick or treating - my own kiddos included. But an even bigger and better reason to celebrate October 31st is because it is Reformation Day!

I found THIS wonderful study that I plan to join in starting October 31. It is about the women of the Reformation. I am really looking forward to learning more about the women who played a role in the Reformation!

NAR - What is it?

Sola Sisters has a very informative post here about the New Apostolic Reformation -- what it means and who is involved.

I was shocked at a couple, particularly the Tea Party Movement. Will have to look more into that one. I guess, honestly, I haven't really followed the TPM all that much. Anyway, good post with a lot of information.

I enjoy their site. Christine used to be involved in the New Age movement and she can shed some incredible light on some of the stuff going on in churches today.