Stephanie’s Family

Please welcome a new family to Gleaning the Harvest! We have gotten to know Stephanie online, and we can see the fruit in her life as she is seeking Yahuveh and living for him. We hope you will consider giving of your harvest to Stephanie and her family.

Full Name: Stephanie Bateman
Marital Status: Divorced
Children: Samantha (17), Joseph (14), Thomas (12)
Favorite Bible Verse: Proverbs 3:5-6
“ Trust in ADONAI with all your heart; do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him; then he will level your paths.” ~CJB

Personal blog: http://livinglifeonhisterms.blogspot.com

Church Affiliation: No church at the moment.  Studying the scriptures at home with the children.

Favorite websites: Jimmie’s Collage: http://jimmiescollage.com, Google Books:http://books.google.com, Down To Earth:http://down—to—earth.blogspot.com), Our Plain and Simple Life:http://plainhomesteading.blogspot.com, and of course the Dixon blogs

My Story

“ Trust in ADONAI with all your heart; do not rely on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him; then he will level your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 CJB

This is the verse on my blog, and one that I have tried to live by for a year or better now.  In June of 2007, my second husband and I separated.  It was my decision, and not one that came lightly.  He had many issues from his past that made it very hard for our relationship to work.  I sought out counseling, advice from my pastor, read books, begged for things to work.

Back then I was what I call a “fair-weather” Christian.  I believed and followed Yahweh when it was convenient for me.  If it didn’t suit my needs, I didn’t pay attention.  I was far from a perfect wife, but I truly believe that despite my lack of attention to HIM, He was working on me all along.  I used to be a very short tempered mom.  It was easier to yell and be harsh, than to be calm and understanding.  But through the changes I went through during the last few years of my marriage, I did just that….I became calm.  I no longer yelled.  It wasn’t an overnight transformation, but a long, deliberate process.

When I left my husband in June of 2007, I had a job working as a Licensed Nursing Assistant.  It is a job I have always loved.  I worked in that field when I was in my 20’s, before I married and had children.  I adore the people I take care of, and this job was amazing.  Rather than working in a nursing home, I was working for a private home health agency.  One that provided many of their services for free to the elderly and handicapped, through private donations and state funding.  People who desperately wanted to stay home, and not have to be placed somewhere in a facility could now do that.  I loved being a part of this, and my patients made me smile every day.

Just a few short months after going out on my own as a single mother again, I was hurt at work.  One of my daily patients, a man who had been suffering from MS for 15 years, kicked me in the shoulder.  His leg had a muscle spasm, which it did often.  Through no fault of his own,  or my own, I was hurt.  But the full effects of how injured I was, wouldn’t show up until the next day.  I finished taking care of him, and did one more patient for the day.  I hurt, but kept going.  The next morning I woke up, and couldn’t move my arm from waist high.  I was in excruciating pain.  I went to the doctor that my employer said I needed to see, and they were great.  They believed I had a torn bicep, so treated me for that.

A month later I was no better, so off to the orthopedic surgeon, who specialized in shoulders.  In January of 2008 (3 months after the original injury), I went in for surgery.  It was found out that I had crushed the end of my collar bone when I was kicked.  During the surgery they removed nearly 1 inch of the bone on the end, and cleaned up underneath the bone, to free up the tendons, nerves, and ligaments that had been compressed this whole time.  I began physical therapy a few short weeks later, but continued to have the horrible pain.  Only it was becoming different.  It hurt to touch my arm at all.  My clothes hurt.  I experienced numbness in my fingers.  It was all so frustrating, not knowing why the surgery didn’t work, and I was actually getting worse.

A few months later I saw a physiatrist, who has turned out to be my greatest advocate.  She did more tests than I care to count, and came to the final diagnosis.  Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.  I won’t give you the big long description, but if you would like to know more, you can visit this site: www.rsds.org.

Fast forward just over two years, and I am permanently disabled.  My dominate hand and arm are affected on a daily basis.  But the blessing that came from this injury is that I was able to go back to homeschooling my children.  My daughter stayed in public school, but both of my boys are home with me.  I am still involved in my daughter’s work as if she is still home  me, overseeing her assignments, guiding her, etc.

I do also believe that something very amazing happened through these last few years.  Yahweh let me try it on my own, getting through losing 3 apartments in 2 years, and having to deal with the workman’s compensation mess, and eventually ending up living with my parents at the age of 43.  He was never very far away, just like a parent staying behind a wobbly toddler learning to walk.  Yahweh was waiting for me to reach out for the support that He knew only He could give me.  And I did reach out, and have never regretted it since.  I still struggle with the frustration of my disorder, but with Yahweh and my children beside me, I know I will be just fine.  We are now in our own apartment again, and working to become our “own” family again.

Currently,  I have my own three children living with me as well as my step-daughter Nicolle, her husband Johnny, my grandson Saske (18 mos), and our new little girl, Sonja Rose.

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