What It's Like to Live With Scars

It’s hard to explain something that we've never experienced. We can research things and think we have an understanding of them, but until we have actually experienced them, we can’t even begin to understand the true feelings and emotions. When I first started writing, I heard over and over from other writers—write what you know. That’s why I try to write with sincere authenticity. It is my heart’s desire to give others a glimpse of my life and what it’s really like to live with scars. In doing so, I also reveal the mindset that it takes to overcome our circumstances. Most of the time, when I go beyond the surface, I write with tears. When I can feel it as I write it, then others can feel it when they read it. 

Most portrayals of scars are negative. Society can’t fathom that anyone would be able to accept and even be thankful for their scars. They try to portray differences as a grave sin and the person who bears the scars as a monster. That type of judgment breaks my heart. 

So let me tell you my story….

My mom may have struggled with my birth and my scars, but she never let me know that she was struggling. I attended public school, had friends (that I made on my own), and was forced to adapt to the school. No one gave me any extra help. My mom wouldn’t allow it. She knew I was capable of doing it all, therefore she forced me and the school to look beyond my scars and uncover my full potential. I was NEVER the special child or the different child—I was always just Candida. While there were a few kids who were mean to me, the majority of them loved and accepted me right away, and never even asked me what happened to me.  

Unconditional love drives out all shame. My family loves me unconditionally, therefore there is no shame. To insinuate that shame would be associated, just because a child or sibling is different, is heartbreaking, to say the least. My husband didn’t marry me because he felt sorry for me. He married me because he loves me. Every day he tells me that I am beautiful, and he makes me feel beautiful. Pity or shame has no part in our lives. In fact, he never even mentioned my scars before he married me. To date, he has never brought up the subject. My children follow in their daddy’s footsteps. They have never asked me about my scars. It just doesn’t matter.

Regardless of what some might think, I love and accept myself, as well as my scars. I am grateful that God blessed me to live. The enemy attacked me in the womb and my God intervened and blessed me to live.  Nothing is missing in my life. I am alive to love and be loved. I have everything that I need and sometimes my heart overflows with the abundance of it all. 

As long as people just focus on my scars, then they will never truly see me. Whenever I notice someone staring at me now, I just give them my best smile—the one that reaches my eyes and portrays kindness—and hope that they can see a little glimpse of God through me and my life. In God’s eyes, we are all the same. He loves us all unconditionally. And that is how He wants us to love others. As long as we look for the differences in others and constantly point them out, then we will never be able to see the person beyond the scars. 

If given the choice, I would not trade my scars. They have taught me so much about overcoming, perseverance, strength, compassion, and the love of God. These scars have given me wisdom that I wouldn’t have obtained otherwise; as well as a closer relationship with God. I have met people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, and developed immediate bonds with strangers through our experiences of pain. The hardships my scars cause me is not worthy to be compared to the joy. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

Why We Need To Reprogram Our Minds

Have you ever spent the day with someone who is negative? When we are around negativity constantly, then it has a way of sneaking into our minds as well. I once worked at a facility where the majority of my coworkers complained and were often in a bad mood. Every time I opened the door and walked inside I could feel my mood changing. Their negativity brought me down. Going to work made me feel bad. It was then and there that I decided to become the kind of person who lifts others up, instead of tearing them down. Needless to say, I didn’t stay there for long. 

Now I am cautious of who I allow into my life. I want to surround myself with positive, encouraging people. If we don’t have those types of people in our lives, then we can read encouraging books. Every day we need to do something to fill up our cups. We can’t drink from an empty cup. When we give away our time, our love, and our energy without replenishing it in some way, then we will find ourselves overwhelmed and drained. 

Limiting beliefs have a way of sneaking into our minds. If we are not careful then we will start believing that our lives have limitations. After my surgery, when the pain in my hand was hard to deal with, I listened to encouraging words and hummed hymns. Because I knew that I was in a vulnerable state, I listened to the same inspirational video about overcoming every day until I believed the message in my heart.

 When I start my day by praying and reading my Bible, then I am replacing my thoughts with God’s word. The world is filled with heartache and pain, but God’s word is filled with peace and love. It reminds me to not let my heart be troubled or afraid. God has grace for our every need. We have nothing to fear. 

One of the things that I have learned to do is to examine my thoughts. Then I decide whether or not the thought is the truth or a lie. While I might feel like no one loves me at times, it is not the truth. In an effort to counteract the lie, I might make a list of all the people I know that truly love me. This helps me to reprogram my mind with the truth. Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of the good in our lives. The world will constantly give us a hard time. 

Gratitude is one of the best ways to change our lives immediately. When we pause and feel gratitude for all of our blessings each day, then it turns what we have into enough. God loves hearing from us. It pleases Him when we pause to thank Him for our gifts—especially when we feel it in our soul. When I realized that I was going to have surgery to get a thumb, my heart was overjoyed. Randomly I would burst into tears and praise Him for the thumb I was going to get.

photo credit unsplash

When we constantly feed our minds God’s word, think about gratitude, and live in the present moment, then we are able to break free from the negativity. I’ve learned, it’s harder for me to have a conversation with the devil when I’m talking with the Lord. 

Philippians 4:8King James Version (KJV)

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

My Health Plan

Did you know?

Inflammation is the root cause of many diseases. In fact, arthritis is really just inflammation of the joints. The same is true for heart disease. It is inflammation of the arteries. If we adopt a healthy diet and add in foods to help us eliminate inflammation, instead of consuming the foods that actually cause it, we will be able to dramatically boost our health. 

At one point, my whole body felt swollen. So I eliminated the top inflammation causing foods. I stopped eating dairy, corn or soybean oil, gluten, nitrates and cut back on processed food and sugar. Also, I don't eat fast food. If I do, I pay for it.

Then, I added in foods to help me fight inflammation. Turmeric is a spice: therefore, in my opinion, it is food. I take a supplement of 1,500 mg daily. Drinking a superfoods shake for breakfast has also helped me to add in more of the antioxidants that I need to fight the inflammation. I strive for 3 servings of vegetables, 2 servings of fruit, 4 servings of lean protein, and 1 serving of the good fat through avocados and nuts daily. I try to keep my complex carbohydrates to 2 servings daily. This is the best combination for me. 

If I eat dairy, too many carbs, and too much sugar, my body responds with inflammation. This causes me pain. I have learned the better that I eat, the better I will feel. 

With the weather changing, it is even harder for me to stay out of pain. The cold weather really affects my muscles. So I have to work harder to feel better. Yoga has become my best friend. I woke up yesterday morning with my sciatic nerve bothering me. It comes on suddenly. Before I went to work yesterday, I used a foam roller to work on my achy spots, and then I did yoga for pain relief. This morning I feel so much better. Sometimes we just have to experiment and find out what works for us. 

In the last few weeks so many of you have inquired about my health plan, and this is it. If you’d like to discuss it further or if you have questions, please let me know. It would be my pleasure to help you! <3

Love and blessings, 

Candida

Despite Your Circumstances

Regardless of what we do or don’t do, we will have to go through trials and tribulations. It’s part of life. While we don’t get to choose our hardships, we do get to decide how we are going to go through the trials. Are we going to give up at the first sign of trouble or are we going to keep getting up—despite how many times we get knocked down? 

In my experience of hardships, there are three steps to overcome any hardships. First, we must know why we want to overcome it. What is at stake for us if we don’t overcome it? When I was very sick and told that I was disabled, I realized that I had a choice. I could accept the doctor’s prognosis and believe that I would never get better or I could do everything in my power to get better. Thankfully, I chose the latter. 

This was my why when I was fighting to get better….

I want to live my life and plan my days based on what I want to do, rather than how I feel. I want to enjoy each day and be able to spend time with my kids doing fun things. Never again do I want a doctor to pat me on the shoulder and say, “ I’m sorry. There is nothing else we can do for you. We will keep you comfortable with pain meds.” Nor do I want to be told to sign up for disability to be able to feed my family because I am unable to work. Lying in the bed for months, I discovered the value of my health—and let me tell you, it is priceless. 

Next, in order for me to make the necessary changes, my pain of remaining in that state had to be greater than the pain it caused me to change. Once I raised my necessity to change, then I started looking for a plan to help me. It required me to work on my mindset, my physical body, and my spiritual relationship with God. 

Finally, once we know what we should be doing, then we must take consistent action. I went on a strict diet, adapted an exercise routine, starting reading self-help books, and spending more time praying and seeking God’s guidance. 

During the first few months, I had to constantly remind myself why I wanted to change. It was so hard. Not only is it difficult to change something about our lives, but the enemy always shows up to make it harder on us. He can’t make us quit, so he tries to persuade us to quit. 

With God’s help, however, we can overcome the trial as well as the enemy. When we decide to work on the person underneath it all, then we will develop the necessary skills to be able to overcome it. I believe the trials come into our lives to teach us things. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. 

Today, I encourage you to adopt the mindset of an overcomer. Regardless of this trial, you can overcome it. When we go through the hard times with the Lord, we get to see another degree of His love for us. I have faced many trials with my Lord, and He has never let me down. It might not always work out like I wanted it to, but it’s always for the best. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

P.S. If you haven’t already, please check out my latest book by clicking here. Despite Your Circumstances shows us the power of the mind as it embraces a positive and thankful attitude, and demonstrates how to build a rich life filled with meaning and joy. The author uses seemingly impossible situations in her life to prove that you can be an overcomer despite your circumstances.

Stop Crying Over Spilled Milk

My day didn’t start off as planned. This morning, I got my coffee pot ready to brew as usual, but when I hit the button for it to brew it just beeped and did nothing else. So it’s 5 a.m. on a Monday morning, I have goals and projects to work on, and my coffee pot died. Thankfully, I had some single coffee packets that work like a tea bag, but it made me stop and think for a few minutes. A few days ago my washing machine tore up, along with my steam mop. 

What can I learn from all of this?

We never know what is coming our way. Things catch us unaware. When something like happens we have two choices, we can either a.) cry about what happened to us and allow it to stop us from moving forward, or b.) learn from the situation and find a way to overcome it. 

Living with Amniotic Band Syndrome has definitely taught me how to adapt to life, and modify as I go. Most things don’t go as planned. Life is always changing. Problems are always arising. If we get stuck in a fixed mindset and believe there is only one way to do something, then we trouble strikes we will feel helpless. If we program our mind, however, to focus on finding the solution rather than focusing on the problem, then we are able to move forward quickly. Without wasting too much time crying about spilled milk (or in my case a broken coffee pot), as the old saying goes. 

Worrying about things will not make it any better. We can sit around and think about all the troubles we have right now all of the troubles we’ve had in the past, and all of the troubles we might have in the future, but none of that will help us in any way. It just makes us feel like a victim. If we can train our minds to be grateful in all situations, then the trials and tribulations won’t harm us. 

The good news is that I get a new coffee pot today. What kind should I get? What is your favorite?

Love and blessings, 

Candida

How To Stop Worrying

Most of the things that we worry about will never happen. All it takes is one inkling of doubt or worry to kick our imagination into full force. We take a what-if-this-happens and turn it into a real problem. Before we realize what is happening, we are completely stressed out and nearly crippled with worry. The thing that truly amazes me is that I can make myself sick over a problem that hasn't even happened yet. 

When we feel ourselves going to the dark thoughts of worry and despair, then we need to stop and analyze our problem. Is it real? Is it true? Or is it a figment of our imagination? Writing down my problems help me to look at them from different perspectives. Especially if I ask myself the question, what is the worst thing that can happen? Once I write it all down and look at it from all angles, then I usually see that my problem is not as bad as I had originally thought. Sometimes looking at the facts also helps me to better search for a solution to my problem. If it’s within my power to take care of the problem, then I need to do what I can do to help myself. If it’s beyond my capabilities then I just need to turn it over to God and trust Him to take care of it for me. It is His pleasure to help us. 

In all situations, we need to remember. 

1. God knows our situation
2. He has a plan to help us.

I have spent so much of my time regretting my past and worrying about my future. None of those thoughts have helped me live better today. In fact, it just took away my enjoyment of today. This moment, I am in right now, will never come again. If I waste today thinking about yesterday or worrying about tomorrow, then I have wasted the precious gift of now. When I focus on enjoying this moment right now, then I’m not worried about what might happen to me or what has happened to me. 

God gives me the strength I need for today. He doesn’t give me what I might need for tomorrow. When tomorrow comes He will give me what I need to conquer it. The Bible tells us that we are more than conquers through our God. Yes, I will have struggles on this side. I will have pain and suffering, but nothing can separate me from my God. Nothing can prevent me from going to Heaven one day to live with my God forever. When I look at my life that way, then I have no worries. God will provide me with what I need for every moment. 

I used to worry about becoming disabled and not being able to work. Guess what? It happened. And I survived. Instead of giving up, I put all of my energy into healing my body, instead of worrying about the pain and sickness. Through God’s guidance, I changed my diet, changed my thoughts, and ultimately changed my life. Now my health is better than it has been in years. What I feared as something horrible turned out to be a blessing. 

God is with us today, and He will be with us tomorrow. We truly have nothing to fear. As the problems in our lives arise, He will be there to lead us and guide us. Of all the people in my life who have hurt me, I have hurt myself the most. I am my own worst enemy. If you want to read a previous article I wrote about it, you can read it here. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

P.S. If you haven’t already, please check out my latest book by clicking here. Despite Your Circumstances shows us the power of the mind as it embraces a positive and thankful attitude, and demonstrates how to build a rich life filled with meaning and joy. The author uses seemingly impossible situations in her life to prove that you can be an overcomer despite your circumstances.

My Beautiful Disaster

Last week, the devil almost had me fooled into believing that I was not worthy to write. When he listed all of my faults and failures, I felt so unworthy to share my life with anyone. My life is certainly not perfect by any means. It’s a constant battle for me. Some days I win the battle and other days I feel as if I am barely hanging on. That is life. And why I need God.

Sharing my life to list my accomplishments, however, is not why I write. I fail at something daily. I constantly need guidance from God. It’s His wisdom, love, and the hope in my heart that I want to share. No one is perfect. We all have faults and failures, but God has grace for our every need. 

Regardless of what we do or don’t do, God will always love us. Nothing can separate us from His love. When we do the best that we can do, then God is satisfied with us. That’s all that He requires from us. He knows the battles that we face daily. 

The enemy can make our situation seem so hopeless. He will tell us that no one cares about us. Our problems are too big to be resolved. He will even tell us that God doesn’t love us. The word of God, however, disputes all his claims. 

Romans 8:37-39 KJV

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If we do anything for the Lord, it will be despite the devil. The enemy is always lurking in the shadows seeking those he may devour. Every day we need to watch and pray for the wisdom and strength to overcome him. When we draw close to God, then He will draw close to us. God has the power to overcome the devil—every single time. God is our strength. 

We are all His children and He loves us unconditionally. He died for us before we were even born. God doesn’t have conditions on His love. He doesn’t love us today and then hate us tomorrow. He loves us at our best as well as our worst. 

When I write I want to share about the greatness of my God. He is worthy to be praised. Anything that I accomplish is through and by Him. If I write anything to touch someone’s heart it is only because God touched it in some way. I don’t have that kind of power. 

Sometimes I make a mess of things. I say or do things that I shouldn’t. I fail and make bad choices. The devil tells me that my life is a disaster and that I shouldn’t share it with anyone. My God, however, can take my life, all my faults, and failures, and somehow turn it into a beautiful disaster. He turns our heartaches into blessings. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

The Benefits Of Turmeric

Turmeric has tons of wonderful benefits with very few side effects. I started taking it for pain a few years ago. It greatly reduces the inflammation and stiffness in my hands, even better than the arthritis medicines that I had originally tried. I am very sensitive to medicine. The arthritis medicine made me vomit and hurt my stomach. I couldn’t eat when I took it. I’ve also had negative reactions to pain medication. Usually with the severe side effects like struggling to breathe and itching all over. If you’re like me and struggle to take medicine, then turmeric might be a good alternative for you.

According to Dr. Axe, when examining the research, turmeric benefits go beyond that of these 12 kinds of conditions and treatments:

• Anti-inflammatory drugs

• Antidepressants (Prozac)

• Chemotherapy

• Anticoagulants (Aspirin)

• Painkillers

• Diabetes drugs (Metformin)

• Arthritis medications

• Inflammatory bowel disease drugs

• Cholesterol drugs (Lipitor)

• Steroids

• Skin Care including acne and psoriasis

• Obesity

If you’d like to try it for yourself, you can get it on Amazon by clicking here. 

Not all turmeric is the same. In order to be effective, if you are taking a supplement, it needs to have black pepper and 95 % curcuminoids. If you take medicine or are unsure if you should try it or not, contact your doctor.

I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

Resources: 

https://draxe.com/turmeric-benefits/

We Need To Do Something

It’s so easy to leave the hard stuff to someone else. How often do we sit back and complain about the shape of our country, our schools, and our community? If we are not a part of the solution, then we may be part of the problem. That’s tough to hear. At least it was for me. I was upset one day about a situation involving other people and my thought was I wish someone would do something to help them. Then God reminded me that I am someone. What was I doing to help? 

Talk about hurting my feelings. After I got over my bruised ego, I decided to pour my whole heart into helping my family, friends, and community. Since then I’ve been writing more and sharing my hope with others. I want to get myself out of the way so that I can help others.

We go through challenges to learn and grow. If we can get through our own trials and tribulations, then we can teach others how to overcome them as well. Each trial is for our benefit. It is through our pain that we obtain wisdom. God has used some of the most painful events of my life and turned them into beautiful stories. It’s not always what happens to us, but how we chose to look at the situation that makes a difference. 

One day I desire to have a non-profit organization where I will be able to help others on a grander scale. Until then, I will do what I can with the resources that I have right now. When I use everything that I have right now to help someone else, then God will give me more. His supply is abundant. 

When our hearts start desiring more, then He will give us more. I want my life to matter. I want to inspire people, offer them hope, help them to God, and, ultimately, leave others better than I found them. One day as my life comes to an end, I want to know with certainty that I lived, I loved, and my life mattered. So instead of focusing on what other people are doing or not doing, I am going to focus on what God wants me to do. When we take responsibility for our own lives, then we are able to touch other lives. God can take a little and bless it abundantly. Every day we need to ask Him what we can do, and then do it with our whole heart. 

Love and blessings,

Candida

I Am Not My Diagnosis!

On paper, I am disabled. Regardless of what I accomplish or what I do, I will never have all of my fingers, and my body will always be scarred. That alone qualifies me as disabled. In my mind and my heart, however, I am able to do whatever I want or need to do. Just because I do things differently, doesn’t mean that I can’t do them. 

As a child, my parents never treated me as if I was disabled. In fact, I often wondered if my mom could even see my hands because she treated me as if I was unscarred. I was never the special child or the child with different hands. I was always, Candida. The few times that I tried to get out of doing chores because of my scars, she always reminded me that I could do anything. “Find your own way, Candida! You can do anything.” 

The human spirit is so much stronger than we realize. We can accomplish seemingly impossible tasks if we only believe in our abilities—instead of focusing on our disabilities. Are things in my daily life challenging for me? Yes, of course! Do I allow them to stop me? No, I don’t. 

I will always have Amniotic Band Syndrome. My hands will always have the damage from the bands. The condition, however, does not define me. I have overcome it—mentally, emotionally, and physically. 

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t feel disabled nor act that way. It’s all about mindset. I never think I can’t do that. Instead, I ask myself, how can I do that? Just because I have to modify things doesn’t mean that I can’t do them. It just means that I do most things differently. The end result is still the same. 

When we get in the growth mindset and think, I am going to do the things that I want to do in my life regardless of struggle along the way, then we are able to overcome our circumstances. It all starts in our mind. If we can overcome the challenges in our mind, then we can find a way to overcome them in our body. I am not my diagnosis, and neither are you!

Love and blessings, 

Candida

Would You Like To Be Healthier?

A few years ago, I felt like a victim of my circumstances. I could barely walk and my prognosis wasn’t favorable. I remember lying in bed, with the tears streaming from my eyes, thinking this can’t be it. The quality of my life was in shambles and I begged God to heal me.

My solution wasn’t a quick fix. It took months (if not years) and it was hard. During every challenge, I would always think if I can overcome this then I can teach others how to overcome it as well. 

Years later, I haven't forgotten what that kind hopelessness and pain feels like. I honestly never thought that I could be healthy. Through changes to my diet, my mindset, and exercise, however, I am healthy. I did it all without one drop of medicine. If it was possible for me to do it, then I know it is possible for you to do it as well. 

One of my greatest gifts is the ability to overcome. God has blessed me to write books about my experience, share it on the stage, and now I want to share it with you in a private group. For months I have been wondering about my next step. Where does God want me to be? How can I help more people? How can I use my gifts to help other people? And He reminded me of the time when I was lying flat on my back, feeling hopeless and discouraged, desiring for someone to help me. 

I want to be that person for you! For months, I’ve been writing the formula for overcoming our circumstances. I can give you a step by step guide, suggestions for the tools you will need, and hold your hand throughout the process. 

In the group we will work on the following:

• Discovering why we want to be healthier.
• How to raise our energy levels naturally.
• Raise the necessity of becoming healthier.
• Ways to be more productive and how to set goals. 
• Finding the courage to step out and do it.
• How to develop the mindset of an overcomer.

Would you like more information? The group starts on October 16. No purchase necessary. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

P.S. If you haven’t already, please check out my latest book by clicking here. Despite Your Circumstances shows us the power of the mind as it embraces a positive and thankful attitude, and demonstrates how to build a rich life filled with meaning and joy. The author uses seemingly impossible situations in her life to prove that you can be an overcomer despite your circumstances.

My Thumb: One Year Later

One year ago today, my life changed. 

I still remember the excitement as we traveled to the hospital. Everyone who entered my hospital room knew that I was getting a thumb. The day was emotional. Going into surgery, I didn’t know if I would come out in better or worse shape. It was definitely a step by faith. 

Now one year later, my thumb helps me in ways that I can’t even explain.  Being able to grip the steering wheel with my left hand enables me to give my right hand a break and be able to drive longer without pain. Now I can open things, especially doors, with my left hand. While the use of my left hand is not completely automatic, I still find myself using it more and more. It has helped to relieve my pain tremendously. That in itself has been such a blessing.

Now, I’m going to share something with you that may surprise you. My thumb did not turn out entirely like I wanted. I don’t have very much feeling in it. Sometimes I forget that it is there and I injure it. I’ve stubbed it and stabbed it numerous times. As long as I’m thinking about it or looking at it, I can make it move. Otherwise, it doesn’t move on its own. Also, the center part of my hand gives me trouble because of the shape of the bone and the design of my hand. The bone actually presses on the palm of my hand and causes it to swell and be sore most of the time. One year later, I still can’t move the joint in my thumb nor hold a weight comfortably with my hand.

I am sharing this with you because things don’t always turn out like we expect. In order to get my thumb to function better, I would need another surgery or two. The thought of going through the pain and rehabilitation process again is overwhelming. So is the financial aspect of that type of surgery. 

So I have two choices, I can either whine about the problems with my hand or I can be grateful for what God has blessed me with. In my heart, when we add it all together, the good and bad, I am so incredibly grateful for the things I can do with my thumb. Even when it hurts, I am grateful because, praise my God, I have a thumb. I will not allow the devil to steal my joy. While it wasn’t everything I wanted in my mind, in my heart, it is so much more than I had ever hoped for and more than I even deserve. I still cry when I look at it and think about the blessing God has bestowed upon me. Going throughout my day without the tremendous physical pain has opened a new world to me. My whole life I had been told that nothing could be done to help me, and then God intervened on my behalf. He has helped me— despite the circumstances. 

He understands our tears. He saw me struggle every day. He knew my situation completely, and He helped me. He doesn’t forget our prayers. He bottles them up and when the time is right He answers them in His way. And it is always to our benefit. 

Romans 8:28 (KJV)

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Even though my thumb doesn't function exactly like I wanted it to, I can still use it. God can take the smallest, simplest thing and bless it to help us greatly. That is what He did for me. My thumb is a daily reminder to me that God still performs miracles, and when we open our eyes and search for them we will find them everywhere. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida