Wednesday, November 26, 2008

pastels


life

I don't have time to blog anymore! And I miss it!
Life will calm down eventually. It has to.
We've all been sick for the last week or two, blech...

And I'm having serious back/neck pain, lately. But I'm seeing a PT and it's helping. Haven't had my consult with the neurosurgeon yet, so I don't know what he's going to say.

The pain is totally knocking me out, and killing Jake. Cuz he's covering for me with laundry and dishes. I can't do either of those with my back the way it is. Bending over and filling the dishwasher knocks me out for the rest of the day.

I feel so old!!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Pioneer Park Bazaar

This Saturday & Sunday (November 29-30), Beth & I will be at the Pioneer Park bazaar. It's held in the Civic Center at Pioneer Park (or as most of us actually from Fairbanks call it still, Alaskaland). We will be selling our jewelry. Sadly, we once again got on the second floor, instead of the bottom floor- so go all the way up! Keep going! There's lovely stuff up there. :)
We are desperately hoping we don't end up next to the candle guy again. We were next to him last year, and his candles stink. Not only do they stink, he's probably the pushiest sales guy I've ever met. Yes, even compared to used car salesmen and the nice Kirby guy who came over and vacuumed our carpet.
Here's the schedule and the official website: http://www.co.fairbanks.ak.us/ParksandRecreation/PioneerPark/

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Beth's surgery

Follow up on Beth's surgery last Friday:
Beth's doctor removed a baseball sized cyst from her ovary. There was so much internal scarring and damage that the dr. ended up performing an hysterectomy. Beth had approved this before, if the dr. could tell it was necessary, and it was. Beth prayed and prayed about it, and the level of pain she was in was CRAZY. I don't know if I can explain how bad it has been. She's been downing ibuprofen and her prescribed pain meds like they were water. When the dr. got in there and saw how bad it was, she couldn't believe Beth was functional. The dr. told us she was incredibly strong to be able to do anything with the level of damage going on inside her body.
Beth is in some pain from the surgery, but has described the pain as very different than what it was before...

Knowing Jesus

This is my absolute favorite verse, I think. There are MANY others that stand out for me, but this one is a recurring theme in my life.
I'm so not perfect, and I hate making mistakes. And every day I mess up. Every day I make selfish choices that I'm fully aware of, plus I make unknowing careless choices that separate me further from Jesus. I love knowing that Paul felt the same way... That he couldn't count on himself to be made right with God by obedience. That the only thing Paul could count on was Christ making him righteous through faith. I want to be right with God, but on my own it's impossible.
And frankly, nothing else is worth much compared with knowing Christ. I love my husband, but as a human person I'm gonna screw it up. Every time. I love my girls and would die for them, but as a messed up, sinful mom I'm gonna mess them up. Even when I'm making the right choices. Only by knowing Christ, resting in Him and pressing on to know Him, will I be able to love my family perfectly.

Philippians 3:7-14
I once thought these things (Paul's referring to his knowledge of scripture, and his position as a pharisee) were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things (Paul's referring to absolute righteousness and knowing Christ perfectly) or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Praying

Just waiting to hear how Beth's surgery turned out...

Elevate, Jr

I'm getting some more opportunities to write!

I've been contacted by Elevate, Jr (also from Fellowship Church in Grapevine) to write some sketches for their next series. I'm excited about it. Delighted to be considered.
It's good material- Biblical, age appropriate, fun. I watched some of their clips, and both my girls immediately surrounded me and were completely absorbed. They both got excited to know what was going to happen... But we could only watch bits of the stories. :(

My point is that the curriculum worked: It grabbed Deborah & Abigail's attention like nothing else- My kids got excited about God. They wanted to know what happened next.

Just 'cuz it's good stuff, Here's the link: http://www.creativepastors.com/category.php?id=2003

I'm excited to get the opportunity to write for them.

Worries

Got two things going on right now.

1) My sister, Beth is having surgery today. She has endo like me, and had a 12 cm cyst. She's been in horrible, horrible pain for a while. She tried some meds, and it didn't make the cyst shrink. So she's having major surgery today. I'm praying it goes well.

2) I'm looking at surgery on my neck. I got my MRI results back and saw my doctor yesterday. Since the last MRI we did about a year ago, I've had significant and severe deterioration of the vertebrae around my spinal cord in my neck. The discs are bulging and pressing on the nerve roots that go out from my spinal cord and down my arm. I've had significant loss of sensation in my left arm and hand, and the next step is to talk to a neurosurgeon.

I DON'T want surgery. I DON'T want to do this. But I'm in constant pain- and it's not minor pain... She's got me on 3 meds to deal with the pain and stiffness. I don't want to take that much medication.

My doctor couldn't say for sure that the vertebrae deterioration was from the car accident, but she did say I've had a major change in one year.

To add to the fun, there are no neurosurgeons in Fairbanks. So I will have to travel to Anchorage to have a consultation, and if I have surgery, I will have to travel & stay there. Someone will have to come & stay with me... I've got all these worries: Who will take care of the girls? How can I take care of them after having surgery? Who will come with me to Anchorage?

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Request

Please pray for Jake & me- we are going through a tough time right now.
I can't say what all's going on, we're just not okay.
Thank you.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Our New President

Nope. This is not a political post. Don't get all excited/worried/emotional. :)
I believe that God is in control, and that He is the one who has placed our leaders in their position. Sometimes He does it for judgment (think Assyria taking over in the Bible), sometimes He does it because the people want it (think Saul as king). Don't hear me judging why God has placed Obama as president! That is NOT what I said here.
Regardless of why God has chosen to place Obama as president, He is still in control. My responsibility is to support the leader of my country and obey the laws of the country (again, unless it is absolutely impossible, think Hitler). I also have the responsibility to pray for that leader, whether it be Governor Palin or our new president.
*****
That said, here are some ways we can pray for our new president, (and our old one):

PRAYERS FOR ANY LEADER
Ephesians 1:17-19 – “…that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of their heart may be enlightened, so that they may know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward those who believe.”
Colossians 1:9-11 – “…that they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every work, and increasing in the knowledge of God (the Word), strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.”
James 1:5 – That God would give that person supernatural wisdom.
I Corinthians 2:16 – That they would have the mind of Christ in every situation.
Proverbs 21:1 – That the heart of the leader is in the hand of the Lord, and that the Lord will turn that leader’s heart whichever way He wants.
Proverbs 2:9 – That they will discern righteousness, justice, equity and every good course.
Proverbs 2:10 – That wisdom enters their heart and knowledge is pleasant to their soul.
Proverbs 20:28 – That loyalty and truth will preserve that leader and that his/her office will be upheld by the people’s loyalty.
Proverbs 28:2 – That they will endure long because they are leaders of understanding and knowledge.
Psalm 32:8 – That God will instruct them and teach them in the way they should go, and that He will counsel them with His eye upon them.
Proverbs 3:5-6 – That they trust in the Lord with all their heart and that they lean not to their own understanding, that in all their ways they acknowledge Him, and He shall direct their paths.
I John 2:20 – That God’s anointing will be on them and that they will know all things.
Isaiah 58:11 – That God will guide them continually.
Ephesians 1:8-9 – That God will make known His will to them in all wisdom and insight.
Isaiah 11:2-3 – That the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon them, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. That they will delight in the fear of the Lord, and they will not judge by what their eyes see, or make decisions by what their ears hear, but that they will decide with fairness through being sensitive to the Lord’s guidance.
Psalm 1:1 and Proverbs 2:20 – That they will not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but they will walk in the way of good men.
Thanks to a lady on FB for this long list of prayers for leaders.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Oh, my...

I laughed and laughed at this one... Couldn't stop laughing. Don't know why it hit me so hard (you try explaining humor), but here it is. From: http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/

Weird Snow Prints

I found the weirdest set of prints at the side of our house the other day...
Trails of cat foot prints and 3 or 4 places where a large bird had landed and spread out their wings. Looks like a very strange cat & bird fight. No blood. Just lots of tracks.
There are several LARGE cats who go outside almost all winter in our neighborhood.
I doubt you can get a proper impression of the size of the birds wingspan from the snow prints- the ravens up here are HUGE. The wingspan on this set of tracks was at least 3 feet wide. Ravens are the largest of the songbird family, and can grow 3-4 feet high... They primarily eat small mammals up here, though they also thrive on carrion and garbage. So, I don't know who ended up getting the worst of the fight...

One of my favorite raven stories was told to me by one of my best HS friends from Fairbanks, Angie Whitaker.
She looked out the window one morning to witness a raven lumbering/flying off with a bag of trash before the trash collector had arrived. She started laughing 'cuz the bag he was carrying was used cat litter! Must have thought he had a treat! Blecch!

Happy Halloween!

I hope you had a lovely Halloween! We certainly did. :)




















My Birthday

Here's a couple pictures from my birthday...
We all went out to Brewster's (a local burger place), and then came home and had cheesecake. My family is so sweet! :) (Doesn't Deborah look old in this picture? I'm not ready for my baby to grow up! She's only 5.)


I also am sharing a picture of my largest present- a new lap-top!
Woo-hoo! My husband decided that I've been spending so much time on the computer lately that I needed my own. :)
So, yes, he gets as much benefit out of it as I do, but it means I get to put all my pictures on the computer. I'm the one with TONS of pictures. And video clips (mostly of the girls).
You also get a glimpse at the birthday card from my love, both the outside and the inside, 'cuz I thought it was so fun/sweet.
You don't get to see what he wrote to me, though. ;P

Snow in October


So, this is our backyard... I took this the day before Halloween as the sun was setting.
The fun thing about the setting sun up here, is that it can take an hour or two. We're so close to the top of things that the sun doesn't even really get up directly over head now.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Halloween 2008 Pictures

My girls were both Tinker Bell this year. We've experienced the 'same' revolution lately. If one child ends up with something (i.e.- a toy), or as something (i.e.- a costume), then the other child must have exactly the same thing. Or chaos ensues.
Our large, contemporary church didn't have a 'Fall festival', costume alternative thing on Halloween. (Isn't that weird?) So we took the girls to the church my family used to go to when I was in high school and college- University Baptist Church.
They had some great stuff and some pretty lousy stuff.
Lousy- a 15-30 minute 'sit-down-thing' where they shared the gospel through an allegory about a pumpkin with a flame inside it. Don't they know every kid there wanted to get to the candy??? Plus, the average age represented was 5-8. Kids that age aren't really into allegory, ya know? They need straight forward, non-abstract stuff. And my kids were going crazy in the pew... Heavens, my husband and I were going crazy sitting in the pew for that long!
Great- The flower balloon bracelets one lady made for the girls- those rocked and are actually still inflated and wearable.
Cotton candy! cupcakes! sugar kool-aid! And candy, candy, candy!!! (okay, each of these was great on their own, but all together, I'm not sure...) Anyway here's the shot of the girls after we got home.... They were quite literally bouncing off the couch, and the floor, and my husband.