January marks National Cervical Cancer Screening month. Cervical cancer is the second-most common type of cancer among women worldwide, and in 2007, an estimated 11,150 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed in the United States. Half of the women diagnosed with cervical cancer are between the ages of 35 and 55. Two types of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which affects one in four women, are the most common causes of cervical cancer.

From Planned Parenthood National Cervical Cancer Screening Month

Pap tests should start at age 21 or 3 years after a woman becomes sexually active. Regular pap tests can determine if a woman is at risk for cervical cancer because of the pre-cancerous stages that a screening can find.

We now have not only the ability to screen for cervical cancer through a pap smear, we now have the HPV vaccine. The HPV vaccine can be given to girls who are 11 – 13. The vaccine is most effective when given before a woman becomes sexually active.

It can be given after the fact too since a woman most likely does not have all 4 of the HPV types that can cause cervical cancer. Currently there is no test that can tell the specific types of HPV just that it is active in a woman’s body.

Being abstinent, using condoms and getting yearly check ups can lessen the risk of cervical cancer. Let’s be active in her health decisions! Take control of your body! We have so much that can help us to prevent illness. Take advantage of it.

I’ve joined the Woman’s Bible Study that meets every Wednesday morning at 10 AM. We’re studying the book What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey. This book and the study today has me thinking about a lot of things in my life. I need to focus and re-think some painful issues concerning broken ties in my family.

It’s so easy to say that I’ve tried everything instead of really trying forgiveness and prayer. The Pastor’s wife who is running this study made a comment about how difficult it is to be angry with someone when you’re praying for them.

So instead of me giving myself credit for asking for forgiveness, for saying I’m sorry I’m going to pray and work on true forgiveness that only comes with the grace of Jesus.

We plan on watching the movie, Babette’s Feast which is mentioned in the book. I’m looking forward to that. I’m also looking forward to getting to know the women in this group on a more personal level. I’ve opened up a lot in one meeting. This type of study will definitely bring us closer together.

Take a listen to me on Blog Talk Radio. I was a guest of Cheryl from Magies Place . She helped me to promote my favorite non-profit group DOUA – Disabled Online Users Association, my blogs including Brain Foggles, my website, my Squidoo lenses and my eBay store ShawnsBidness Collectibles.

I even got to talk about the chronic illnesses that I have including Myasthenia Gravis and Sjogren’s Syndrome. Having the opportunity to promote myself and to pass along information about these rare diseases was a dream come true.

If you’re interested in learning more about anything we discussed on the show, or that I’ve posted here feel free to contact me. I did forget to mention that I do reviews on both blogs for eBay stores, websites or individual products. Just click here to get more information.

Continuing from my last post having the children remain throughout the church service went extremely well. So well in fact that the children are looking forward to next week’s service.

We called the area where they sat, the “Kid’s Zone” and hearing them sing loudly gave me goosebumps. Peanut felt proud in being able to sit through the service and even learned some of the routine of our service like the Lord’s Prayer comes after the Pastor’s Prayer but before the Offering.

I brought her “church notebook” with some questions in it because we know in advance what the sermons will be. I went a bit overboard with my questions but it was better to have too many than not enough. Peanut even asked me about some of the things she didn’t get to answer. Now that’s amazing!

Parenting in the Pews by Robbie Castleman gives some great advice on how and why to keep your children in church instead of hide them away in a darkened room or in a program like we had, Children’s Church. Of course babies can attend a church nursery if the baby is fussy or crying. Sometimes parents want to put their full attention into the church service.

Our Pastor recommends starting your children in church at the age of four. Again this depends on your child. A younger child may be able to be in church if their personality suits being quiet and still for a while. I kept both Peanut and Lady Ali in church as infants, put them in the nursery around the age of one but then brought them back into church around three. They were able to not only be still but to entertain themselves so there were no issues with them being too noisy.

I’m enjoying this change in our church. I pray that our members understand that children are part of our congregation and that Jesus wanted children around him even when his disciples thought they were annoying Jesus.

Tomorrow we’ll be starting Sunday School. Our church is going through some changes, all for the better. We haven’t had Sunday School in years because we didn’t have enough children to attend. We’re growing now that we have our new Pastor. So we’re going back to Sunday School and the children staying in church throughout the service.

We used to have Children’s Church run by our Children’s Ministry Leader but now she’ll be teaching Sunday School. Peanut isn’t very happy about this turn of events but I’m sure she’ll get used to it soon.

I have to make an effort to get to sleep at a decent hour so we’ll be on time tomorrow. I’ve already helped Peanut choose her clothes for church so she’s got her things organized including her Bible.

I don’t do well in the early morning. I hurt all over but I’ll be sure to sleep well tonight and start off the morning with prayer and a very positive attitude. I’ll be going to Sunday School too. I’ve missed it. So a new journey begins for me too.

Hubby works hard, really hard at his job. He works overtime and has a long drive to and from work. With me being sick a lot of the time and having two daughters our bills can get overwhelming even with our best intentions.

We’ve never needed to look for  payday loans but we’ve been close. I know if we’d need to do something like this to get by I’d want a place where it’s easy to apply and where the company sends your application out to several lenders so I don’t have to do all that work. Because if we’ll need money we’ll need it fast.

Christian Faith Financial has a site that I would consider. I like that they even have Scripture at the top of their website. “Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21″  We would be able to overcome some difficult times with an emergency loan.