My little girl is going to be 1 on Friday!!!!!! I can hardly believe it. This first year has gone by so fast and she has changed so much! She is such an amazing gift. I just love her 🙂
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It is everywhere. It’s outside, probably inside many houses, in some of the food we eat, even on some of the clothes we wear in all likelihood. In short dosages and over short periods there’s no real threat your body can handle it. But over long periods and in big dosages this all-natural item can truly be lethal. What is ‘it’? Mold. And it’s growing…

For at least the past several years (although probably much longer) my little sister’s room has had a peculiar smell to it. Now, we’ve always assumed it was just bc it was on the bottom floor tucked in a corner of the house. No big deal, just musty is what my family always thought. Well, this past summer my older sister came home from Alaska and really pushed my mom to get that room checked for mold. My older sister has been keeping up with the Fabry’s blog (Chris Fabry does a radio show for Moody Broadcasting). The Fabry’s lived in a house with mold for 8 years and are now in detox trying to rid the mold from their systems and survive. You can check out their blog and their story online at http://moldrecovery.blogspot.com/

Anyway, it put the concern in my sister’s head and she decided to make sure my parent’s were ok. Well, after getting the house tested for mold the results were less than good. A healthy dosage of mold for a home is 200-300 spores (not sure if per room or per house or per square ft) My little sister’s room had 170,000 spores and the rest of the house had 4500 spores and the numbers were rising. The man who came in and tested for the mold called my mom and said “get out right now or you will get very sick very quickly.” So, my parent’s moved into our house while we were gone. When we came home they moved into a Condo and in another week they’ll be moving into someone’s cottage. God is providing for places for them to stay – thank the Lord.

The next step is to bring someone in – find the mold and figure out how bad the situation is. Best case scenario – God does a miracle and completely removes the mold and nothing needs to be done. Worst case scenario – the house and everything in it can’t be saved and my parents have to walk away from EVERYTHING and start over. Then there’s every potential in the middle. Completely tear down and rebuild Jen’s room and just get rid of her furniture, destroy the whole house but keep the furniture…

It’s hard to think that we may loose everything, pictures, books, movies, clothes, furniture… My wedding dress is there. But I guess if anything it will teach us to hold things lightly.

So, now we’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen next. We’re not even sure where the mold is or how this happened. As for my parent’s they are doing amazingly well. They’re really at peace (for the most part) and just keep saying “God is in control, He’ll take care of us.” Thankfully they’re not as sick as they could be (I think it’s partly bc God has encouraged them to become super healthy eaters the last few years) but there are some health struggles and now we’re wondering if it’s from the mold.

As we talk to more people about this we’re hearing more and more stories of this happening to others. Apparently this happens more than we care to realize. DON’T IGNORE MOLD! And depending on how it happens or when and where insurance very easily may not cover it. My parents likely will get no help from their insurance unless they can find the specific leak that started this whole thing 🙁

If you are concerned about mold a couple things that can help – baking soda and white vinegar. Bleach just helps the spores to spread but baking soda and white vinegar can be used in laundry, on dishes, walls, carpets, and potentially furniture to do destroy the mold. If you’re curious or not sure – I say get it checked. Better to be safe than sorry. I’ll keep you updated on my parents as things progress..