Change is the Only Constant......

excepting the Lord of course: He never changes. Good thing, I mean, who wants to put their trust in a God who constantly changes? As I was helping friends pack for a cross country move, I couldn't help but think, here we go again--things are changing. Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not greet change with excitement. I can say that the Lord is fully in control and knows exactly what He is doing, even if I can't grasp it. Besides, He knows what is best for each one of us and who would want anything less than that? But is doesn't always make it easier to deal with at first hearing of the change to come. I think it is more comforting after the news has had time to sink in and the Lord has been at work in the receiver's heart. After all, it is exciting to see where the Lord takes people and how He uses them.

On a less spiritual level, I've finally gotten to the point where I am ready to change & reorganize some of Grandma's things. I'm trying to downsize and declutter, as well as finally go through the rest of my stuff from the apartment that hasn't been dealt with. One of those things is the living room. Grandma's dvd player is starting to go, so tonight I finally got out my tv and dvd player to switch it out with Grandma's. Moving forward! Being a person who doesn't even watch tv, it will be nice to have my small tv replacing a rather large one. For your perusing pleasure, the before and after shots:


Before

(The lovely tv stand was made by my brother-in-law.)
















After!


(Big sigh of relief)

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to
the Lord and not to men, knowing that
from the Lord you will receive the
reward of the inheritance; for you serve
the Lord Christ."

Colossians 3:23-24

Found this verse in my e-mail and thought I would post it. It is hard to keep this in mind when the daily drudge catches up to you. But it is definitely a good reminder.

Friday Night

My bed and I have become good friends as I have now spent the better portion of three days in it due to some nasty neck pain which is making me quite loopy. Went for an MRI today and my doctor should have the results on Tuesday. Some reasons why this is a problem: (1) waiting in pain for 4 days doesn't sound like fun (2) Monday morning I need to be able to conduct my orchestra rehearsal because (3)Tuesday night is our concert. I haven't been driving over the past few days because I've been so out of it...so Monday could be a problem if I don't show any improvement. So I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

In my online reading this evening I came across this article, one I wish I had been privy to about ten years ago when I got saved. A great article, but humbling. Very appropriate in a day and age when many of us are easily drawn towards visions, signs and miracles.

Friday Night

You know it's time to go to bed when, on a Friday night at 8:30 pm you discover that you put the ice cream away in the refrigerator, and later realize that you don't even recall putting the ice cream away.

Other scenarios from this past week that indicate the need for sleep include trying to use conditioner to wash my face and trying to make coffee without the filter in the coffee maker. Needless to say, that day I visited Starbucks for my morning coffee.

On that note, while it is still 8:30, I am going to try and make it safely into my bed for a (hopefully) good night's sleep.

A Rainy, Restful Day

So I had to cancel both of my things that I was supposed to do today because I seem to be coming down with a head cold. Not so fun, but at least its a Saturday. Well, that's the quick update, now I'm off to take a nap.

Work: It does a body good.

It's officially been well over a month since my last post, although I must confess that it feels like a year. In that time I've moved from my apartment into a house and started teaching in two schools (my regular school and a local Christian school who hired me at the end of March). Change seems to be the buzz word in my life lately. Not a bad thing, just new and different--getting used to new routines. Moving, starting a new job and attending a new church is more than I bargained for, but it has been good. The Lord definitely knows my needs better than I do. Life is never boring around here, that's for sure!

So I got home from work feeling rather discouraged. Things at one school are chaotic and depressing in a variety of ways and I'm rather bummed about only having four private students at this point. I was hoping for 7-10. One of the downsides about living alone is that sitting and stewing over a matter is becoming a regular pastime. Thankfully my mom was coming over to do some yard work, so it forced me to get outside and cleaned up all the branches from the weekend's storm. It's really a duh! thing, but I am forever amazed at how doing simple manual labor type tasks can bring a body out of a funk. I am very thankful for that.

Plants on Steroids

I've been meaning to post this picture for awhile, but in the midst of packing and getting ready to move, I've neglected to do it. This is my Gerber daisy, my lovely plant that has actually lasted for almost four years. When I first got it, it bloomed once then decided it was done for a few years. Since I started feeding it the fertilizer that my Mom gave me, it's done some pretty amazing growing. Granted the plant is looking slightly wilted in this photo, but I wanted to capture it while it was blooming away.

Huh?

As I was sorting through my Bible study and Christian living books, I came across this passage in an introduction to the Layman's Bible Book Commentary, Volume 3, "It is based on the conviction that the Bible speaks to every generation of believers but needs occasional reinterpretation in the light of changing language and modern experience." Personally, I find that a very scary sentence. So...is it telling me that I need someone else to reinterpret the Bible for me? Yikes! What happened to the Holy Spirit speaking directly to each person as he or she reads the passage?

I think we need to be very cautious of thinking that the Bible needs rewording in order to speak to the present generations. If God is who He says is, isn't it presumptuous of us to assume that He is incapable of speaking to the current generations through His Word?

On a slightly different note, I do wonder what the author is referring to when he speaks of "modern experience."

An Uncluttering Day

Not too much to share, except this has been the first time in over a month that I've been able to attack some odds-n-ends and pack a few boxes for the great move. All in all a productive day, which is always a blessing.

In teaching news, the last day is next Friday, at which time I may just throw myself a party. Professionally this has been a great year; personally, it has been a school year that I never thought would end. I was ready to retire back in October! Lydee wrote about retirements in her building as being the "end of an era." We have four key people either leaving or retiring this year, people I've taught with for the past six years, and unfortunately, they are all a part of the small handful of sane people in the building. Definitely the "end of an era" on my end as well.

So many changes have taken place in my life since the school year has started that I'm not dreading the change as I would've if the rest of my life wasn't turned upside down in some ways. But I can't complain, because the Lord warned me and gave me the desire for change--I just wasn't prepared for how many changes have or will be taking place. :-)

Saturday...

10:00 Saturday morning. The last thing I want to do is work on my paper, but if I don't, I will be up a creek so to speak. But before I start I do need to do my ankle exercises and read my Bible, so I suppose I should get started. Perhaps I'll post a real post later.

New Camera!

So I received a digital camera for my birthday and was playing with it the other day. On the left you can see my lovely blue cast, which is complemented quite nicely with the Merrell sneaker on the right. Since my Merrells are practically brand new, it is my hope that the Vibram soles will prove their weight in gold and not get worn out from the crutches





Wednesday I was the height of fashion as I was able to coordinate my shirt with my cast. It was rather humorous as I didn't realize how well they matched until one of my esteemed colleagues pointed it out.


Yesterday I went back to the doctor for the two week check up. I made the mistake of going by myself and was sorely lacking in need of a second brain as I was feeling quite poorly and was not quite with it. I told the doctor that I was still having pain and that I had lost my balance Wednesday and as a result came down pretty hard on the bad leg. At first he said if there was still pain then we needed to leave the cast on. But when he found out that the pain was in a different spot, he decided to take off the cast. Then he gave me an aircast and said I needed to go in to therapy. But he never mentioned the new pain that I was experiencing, and I didn't think to ask again. So I got home and was in the most incredibly pain which last all of yesterday.

A friend took me back to the doctor, but by the time my doctor returned my phone call I had to go to the afterhours clinic. Well, it was probably not the most constructive use of our time, as she proceeded to tell me that what I was experiencing was the result of my sprained ankle. According to the orthopedic I hurt my peroneal tendon and sprained my midfoot. He never mentioned the ankle to me. So it sounded like she was trying to tell me that I sprained my ankle while I was in a cast, which is the strangest story I've heard.

But then as I was looking over my physical therapy prescription this morning, it says my diagnosis is left ankle and mid foot sprain, along with peroneal tendinitis. Go figure! Sometimes I wish I could get a straight story. So if that truly is the case and I did sprain my ankle when I fell and got the other two injuries, then I probably aggravated the ankle sprain Wednesday when I lost my balance getting out of the tub. This is my guess because my ankle is now more swollen than it ever was and is rather painful. My doctor said that if I still needed crutches by the middle of next week that we would have to recast it. My hope is that I will be able to get in to see the physical therapist (a person who has seen me before) soon and get a story that makes sense. I sprained my ankle pretty bad in 2004, so I really don't want to be messing around and not having it heal correctly. Well, that's the foot update for now. I'm signing off!

Pain and Frustration

I almost made it through 3 full days of work. It sounds strange, but I would've never guessed how much working with an injured leg would take out of me. I left an hour and a half early because I just couldn't do more teaching. Thankfully I moved a lesson earlier this morning to accommodate and ended up only missing one group. Ever since last night I've been in a lot of pain. Probably overdoing it, even though I've been keeping my leg up every possible moment while teaching. I think the problem is that because of orchestra rehearsals both Tuesday and today, I went from 6-9:30 with my foot down. Anyways, pain and frustration is the name of my game right now.

But it has been a good week of doing lessons and it has been a blessing seeing all of my kids. I'm incorporating the "building bricks" from Orff into orchestra and the kids are thrilled about it. Yeah for exciting teaching moments.

A Blessing

Since I already posted on my other blog, I thought I would write over here. After three half days of work this week, I woke up today absolutely worn out. Yesterday as I was leaving school, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it home because I felt so bad. I'm supposed to go back to full days next week, but to be honest, I'm not sure how that will work out. I need to give it a try Tuesday and we'll see after that.

So I stayed home today and it was just a nice blessing to rest. I was able to get a few things organized and work on my grad work. A friend came over for dinner and it was nice to interact with a live human being! While I haven't been sitting around all day every day this week, I have been sitting around all afternoon every day this week and it is quite a change from my normal schedule. Anyways...my bed is calling. Goodnight!

Woohoo!

I tried on some of my work clothes and it turns out that practically all of my dress pants and khakis have wide enough legs that my cast will go through them. That is a huge praise (and load off of my mind.)

The Sprained Ankle That Never Was

A week after I fell and hurt my ankle, after a week of various doctors appointments coupled with incredibly intense pain, I finally got around to seeing an orthopedic who correctly diagnosed what was going on. The other doctors kept saying it was a sprained ankle, but I had my doubts because of the type of pain i was having, and the fact that it was going up my leg. So it turns out I damaged a tendon and sprained the top of my foot! All because of an accidental slippage as I stepped into the apartment building!

The results: Wednesday the doctor sent me home with a boot that was supposed to immobilize my foot but allow me to walk. I got home and realized it was too big and my foot was slipping. The next day I went into school with it and it was absolutely horrible...more pain than before. Left school early to go back to the doctor who realized the mistake and gave me a smaller boot. It was definitely an improvement, but it still was painful to walk. So...the last option was to cast it and today I had it done. The receptionist and I are now on a first name basis and I am finally feeling relief from the pain. I am so glad I decided to get the cast. Twas a bit strange because the doctor and an assistant actually tried to talk me out of it. But anyways, for the next couple of weeks I will be stylin with my blue cast and fashionable cast boot. Since blue is my favorite color and most of my wardrobe is built around that bit of info., I will probably be more fashionable now than I have been in months.

The next challenge will be figuring out what clothes I can and can't wear to work over the next couple of weeks...must fit over the cast, but be modest enough so that I can keep my leg up while teaching, and..oh yeah, I have to be able to play cello in it. But that will be tomorrow's adventure (along with getting back to my grad work). God bless and have a good night!

When it Rains, it Pours

As I write from my bed, this is day 3 I've been on my back and off of my foot. I spent Wednesday, 1/2 of Thursday and 1/2 of Friday, as well as today sprawled out on my bed. Contrary to my normal self, I've been trying to be diligent in keeping it up, icing, ibuprofen-ing myself and so forth. Yesterday I attempted to go into work for a meeting in the morning. I started off well--kept up my foot during the meeting, but soon had to take my sneaker off because it hurt so bad. Guess that was clue #1. We went out to lunch and I literally went downhill from there--pain to the point where I couldn't move my foot and having trouble speaking coherently. By the time I got home, my whole body was in pain from using the crutches. So back into bed I went and have been ever since.

It's amazing how little you can do when you are supposed to be off of your foot and you live practically alone. Let's see: I keep alternating between crutches and no crutches. If I use the crutches, I can't carry anything. If I don't use them, my foot hurts worse. Getting food is a challenge and don't even mention standing in the kitchen to do the dishes afterward. Needless to say there is a pile gathering dust as I write. Showering--forget it. I was going to attempt it today, but the foot just hurt too bad. While none of these things are life threatening, it is an interesting perspective for someone to experience who normally is very self sufficient.

Mom spent the yesterday in the emergency room with my grandmother and she is now up in a regular room. She has pneumonia. I'd greatly appreciate prayer for her and my parents. I'm especially praying that this would not trigger another round of hospital & nursing home stays.

Lastly, I found out this morning about the unexpected death of a friend's brother (and another friend's cousin). And at that point you just loose your words and start grieving for the family. When you realize that the person who died is the same age as your brother, you start praying all the harder as the reality that we are here only as long as the Lord would have us to be sinks in. So I would also ask that you be in prayer for that family--that the Lord would minister to each person and bring healing where it is needed.

Here We Go Again

So yesterday as I was getting home from work I slipped. On the way down I sprained the same ankle I sprained five years ago...The good news is that at least this time I won't be on crutches for a concert, and it is the beginning of the school year. The disappointing news is that this was my first week of orchestra and seeing the beginners, and now I am out for the rest of the week. It is not as bad as the last time I sprained it, but still quite painful. Projected recovery time: 2 weeks.

All in all, a blessed day

Who knows why the Lord had me take the 2 year old today, but it was nice to be over at my parent's and not be trying to get work done. It was nice spending that time with Grandma and B. I do believe she was blessed by it, and my parent's enjoyed having B. there as well. It amazes me just how much the Lord blesses my time with B. He is an extremely mellow child when he is with me, and it allows me to take him places without too much concern. We went for a walk around the block and he was perfectly content just to sit in the stroller and watch things, pointing out a car every once in a while. I was slightly concerned about when he woke up from his nap, because he is normally very cranky, and when a kid is not in his normal surroundings, one never knows how he is going to react. But the Lord was gracious and he was clingy, but not cranky. Even his mother was blessed to hear that.

It was interesting as the Lord showed me what it was like to take care of a kid "on my own turf" so to speak. Usually I am at the 2 year old's house, taking care of him and the girls, but this time I was at my parent's house and had brought some work to do (in case he took a nap). This may seem oversimplified, but it is amazing how you are not able to get anything done except taking care of the kid, when you are taking care of the kid. Not that I was chasing him around the house or anything, but even when he is playing by himself, there is a certain part of your attention that has to keep an ear or eye open to what he is up to. Not the sort of environment that lends itself to serious study. So..just another interesting experience.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord has had me minister to this family, and how He continues to work, teaching me new things and drawing me closer to this family. And even the fact that the 2 year old's personality fits together with mine so well. And then to think that the Lord knew this all ahead of time, orchestrating things so that we would end up where we are today. Even when you take into account the trials and "bumps in the road" of getting to where we are today, it is still pretty amazing how the Lord works.

Ok, I'm rambling on way too much, but it will be interesting someday to see just how the Lord uses all this for His glory. And I do pray that the more my parents and grandmother get to know my friends from church, the more the Lord would use them to be a witness. Who knows, perhaps it will be a 2 year old or a 4 year old who tells them about Jesus and leads them to Christ.

Saturday aka Life Happens

Guess my plans for today were not what the Lord had in store for me. My plan was to get up and go to Eastman for the morning, then go over to my parents and Grandma sit. Well, at 8:45 this morning I received a slightly frantic call from the 2 year old's mother asking if I could come over and watch the kids because her husband needed to be taken into the doctor. So the long and the short of it is that I ended up bringing the 2 year old over to my parent's house while the girls went to another family's house. Needless to say, no work for Eastman has been accomplished, but we have spent time with my Grandmother which for right now is probably a more worthy pursuit in terms of lasting value. There is a part of me that is like, "Oh Lord, I really am trying to get this done...." but I guess this is the point where the rubber hits the road as far as trusting Him to help me finish the grad work. The 2 year old did finally fall asleep on the couch at 4:45 and by that time I was ready for a nap myself!

Passion and Purity.

So I have recently finished reading Elisabeth Elliot's Passion and Purity. While I've started reading many Christian type books over the past few years, this is the first one I've completed. A friend of mine and I have been both reading it and discussing it as we go, which has been a huge blessing. It amazes me how many things she talks about that I've thought about, but never heard anyone else verbalize. At one point towards the end of the book she talks about how "the custom of 'going steady' is another form that impatience takes" (p.153) and says that "unless a man is prepared to ask a woman to be his wife, what right has he to claim her exclusive attention?" Since college I've not been into the whole dating thing and have had a "wild" idea that it would be great to skip the dating phase and go straight from friendship to engagement. So it was pretty awesome to hear someone else echoing a similar thought.