Jamie's shoulder...update

Well, he went to see the doctor a couple of weeks ago.  He has been having some weird thumping in his shoulder and the doctor is concerned about it.  He thinks one of the screws for the anchors is coming out of the bone.  Ugh!  So we are patiently waiting for workman's comp to approve an MRI.  We anticipate this taking a month.  In the meantime, he isn't even allowed to do any physical therapy.  Once the doctor can see if the screw is in place or not, we'll have to move on to the next step which could be to go back in for surgery to correct the problem. Please pray about this as Jamie is anxious to have this over with.  He started limited duty about a week and a half ago so, at least, he's keeping busy.

So, I guess it's safe to say that my husband has a screw loose. :)

Happy Birthday!

I met Erika in 2000 while I was a dancer on a cruise ship in Alaska.  She was a fitness instructor.  She was also a Christian and so we instantly connected.  We attended a weekly Bible study at midnight on Tuesday nights with a group of beloved Filipino guys.  Erika and I spent many lunches at Starbuck's in Vancouver, hiking Skagway, we even took a helicopter tour to a glacier one day, KMart runs in Juneau, and you should see the old west picture we have together (there are other secret memories we have that are confidential-teehee!).  2 weeks before Brandon was born, I flew to Tulsa to be in her wedding.  About a year later, she was pregnant and miscarried at 5 weeks.  It was a terribly devastating time.  Since then, they adopted a little boy from Taiwan named Raphael (Jehovah Rapha means the Lord, my Healer).  I was able to see them when they were on a layover in L.A. on their way back home.  Erika has always been so dear to my heart and I treasure her so dearly.

I woke up this morning to a text from Erika letting me know that she was in labor (her hubby, Nick, was texting me from her phone) and about to deliver their precious daughter, Blythe.  I didn't realize the due date was 8 weeks away.  She was born this afternoon at 2:18 p.m.  Weighing 3 lbs, 6oz., 16 inches long.  She is in the NICU.  And Erika had to undergo an emergency surgery afterward.  Please pray for this precious family.  I will post a photo just as soon as I can.  This is a Jesus-loving family.  Please pray that Blythe will thrive and be able to be in her mommy's arms very soon.

Today is Blythe's birthday.  It is also my birthday.  Little Blythe is absolutely the most fantastic birthday present ever!
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an update as of 3/29/10:
Blythe is off oxygen, though she will remain in NICU for an undetermined amount of time.  However, all things considered, she is doing well.  Pray for this little sweetie!

Erika & sweet Blythe

My Bible

I have a pink Bible that I treasure with all my heart.  It is worn and written on and cried over just as the words I will copy below describe.  I can hardly open it because some pages are just too fragile to touch and entire sections fall out.  I have loved this Bible so deeply and it has brought me through the depths of heartbreak.

This is an excerpt from Beth Moore's Esther study that just touched my soul so deeply that I have to share them with you.  In fact, I may just pause at these words tonight and reflect on them, letting them melt into the depths of my heart.  What a treasure we have in that precious book that we hold so freely in our hands.  May that freedom never be taken from us.
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From Beth Moore's Esther study, page 143.:

Author Patricia Raybon described a time when she sought the presence of God in a hospital chapel while her husband underwent life and death surgery.  "I picked up a Bible, I waited for that nice rush that comes from holding a worn, loved copy of the Scriptures.  Bibles like that have their own heat.  They've been prayed over, cried on, sung with, stroked and gripped and loved so hard they just emote-- just by being touched-- that human loam and steam and hope that faith gives off."
Don't miss the point by looking for the doctrine in it.  Steep yourself in the emotion.  Glance over at your Bible.  Think what you've been through with God in those pages.  Think of the hope, guidance, assurance, and affection you've sought.  Think how thankful you are that God wrote something you can hold to your chest, rocking back and forth, when your heart is shattered and your sight too blurred to read.  Every Bible is the Word of God, but with no ears to hear it, hearts to love it, or hands to warm themselves by the fire of it, man is tragically lost to it.
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What beautiful words about the most beautiful Words ever written.  I think I will meditate tonight on how thankful I am that I have my precious Bible that God has spoken so often to me through and comforted me time and time again.  His Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

I Can Only Imagine

My sweet friend, Joyce, is still battling cancer.  In fact, she is in her third bout with it.  She just finished 3 weeks of radiation treatments for a tumor that had appeared on her spine.  We are waiting for the results of her latest tests to know what her current situation is.  

3 weeks ago, I was helping at the youth group and the youth band played "I Can Only Imagine," which always makes me think of Joyce since it is a dance Miriam has performed for a few years that she has loved so much.

I was overwhelmed with the thought of gathering together all Miriam dancers (past & present), the Youth Missions Club for Girls (which Joyce has supervised), and the children in the congregation whom Joyce has such a love for.   I wanted to see these groups come together to present a special gift of love through dance to Joyce.  I also thought it would be special to have the Undespised Youth (our youth group) band play the song as we dance it.  And I felt an urgency to put it together very quickly to be a surprise for Joyce.

I asked my Monday morning women's Bible study to pray about the idea and they loved it.  So, I sent an invitation to the dancers via email and text.  Almost everyone was available.  My pastor agreed that we should try it and do it as soon as possible, so I held a one-day/5-hour rehearsal Saturday, February 27th and we danced it the next morning at our Sunday church services.  Joyce was present at the 2nd service to see it.

I wasn't going to post this on my blog for the most ridiculous reasons: I am embarrassed that it isn't as polished as it would be had I had more time (no fault of the dancers- they are amazing to learn this so quickly and do such a marvelous job)...and the most silly reason, I am not as thin as I once was.  Ugh!   Why is that such a struggle!?  So please forgive me for not sharing with you earlier this God-blessed gift for our sweet Joyce because of my stupid vanity.  (I hope you don't mind my transparency in sharing this secret of my heart with you.  Maybe others will be encouraged to know that I struggle with my vanity and weight too!  I strive for contentment with my appearance.  I am God's work-in-progress.)

Ok, a funny part of this crazy Joyce-dancing week was that when I sent the mass email to the dancers...I ALSO SENT IT TO JOYCE!!!!  AAAAAAHH!  Of course, the instant I hit "send", I realized my enormous mistake.  So, I panicked, called Milo (Joyce's husband) immediately and begged him to chisel his way onto the computer and discreetly DELETE my email.  He, of course, got a great laugh at my expense...and deservedly so.  Haha!  So, needless to say, Milo was in on the whole thing and I'm glad he was because Joyce was not feeling well that Sunday morning and he practically dragged her to church because of the dance for her.

The video link is below.  You will see Joyce on the house right side dancing with her hands right along with us.  May we always "bear one another's burdens" and "edify the church", "giving to one another as they have need."

Please keep Milo and Joyce in prayer.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2QA9AtPnGM

a discouraged mom

I am on an unofficial Wholeheart (ministry of Sally & Clay Clarkson.  See www.wholeheart.org) yahoo group.  And I recently received an email from a girl who is discouraged.  I think most of us moms feel this way sometimes.  Thought I would share our correspondence.:


My name is Melinda. We are homeschooling our 3 boys 8, 7 & 5. Mostly I am delighted to be schooling them. I couldn't see it any other way. However, I noticed I'm feeling really discouraged in my choices lately. It seems as though every mother around me is homeschooling plus, meaning they are working part time at some other job. Or have 5 plus children and working outside the home would prove impossible.
We're not planning to have any addition children.
I'm needing to hear from mom's who have decided to make this job of mothering full-time and why they feel it's important. I feeling like I should be doing more, working other than schooling our children. Somehow on this journey I'm clouded up and can't see clearly right now, at one time in my life I was so sure that mothering and homemaking would be my purpose in life, no I'm not sure anymore. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Hi sweet Melinda!

Gosh!  Don't we all struggle with feeling like we aren't doing enough?  I do all the time.  And then I have to stop and remember that God fills in all the areas I miss with my kids.  I attend a Mom's group weekly where we go through Sally's books.  We were discussing this very subject a few weeks ago and a story Sally shared once came to mind.  She saw a scope & sequence and realized she hadn't taught the children what bodies of water were and so she started to beat herself up over it.  Then, she quizzed her kids to see if they knew.  They were so well-read that in their reading, they had learned about bodies of water.  Also, Sally shared at her last conference that she had to send Sarah and Joel off to take their SAT's and she knew she hadn't taught them all they needed to know for the test.  But God was there and they passed with flying colors.  We are all so inadequate.  But, God is our help.  His strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

I have 2 boys and can't have any more.  (Unless the Lord calls us to adoption...)  And I am a full-time, stay-at-home/homeschooling mom.  My boys are 4 & 5 so not as old as yours.  I struggled the first years of my boys life with feeling like I should be doing more with my life, that I should work, that I should do something other than look at the 4 walls of my house.  I used to call my life "Groundhog Day" because everyday was exactly the same and I was depressed.  But the Lord has transformed my perspective (Thanks to Sally) and now, I treasure my time at home with my boys and we are learning so much together.  I have found a new passion in schooling my boys and, for me personally, a deep passion and love for my country as we study our founders, the American Revolution, etc.  It is so cool how the Lord takes the mundane tasks of our days and starts to open ministry/generational opportunities from them.  God has a great plan for your life!  And shaping the hearts of your children is of utmost importance.  Don't be discouraged by what you see in others around you.  

Looking down depresses us.

Looking around distracts us.

Looking up delivers us.

(I know that isn't originally how I heard it but you get the gist. heehee!)

For me, right now, I feel so passionate and commissioned to raise godly children who love God, love our country, know the truth of our history and God's hand in it, and will grow into men who defend the truth, stand up for righteousness (especially in a culture that is plunging into despair, immorality, and selfishness), and love their own families one day.  They will learn all of that from me and my husband.  What a very important job we have!  Our children are the future leaders.  I hope you are encouraged at the incredible importance of your influence on your boys.  3 boys!  Awesome!  We need godly men.  And there you are, with 3 in your own home.  Keep on keepin' on, girl!  The enemy would love to discourage you because you have influence over the minds and hearts of these boys.  Bless you for staying home and serving them.  In that, you are serving HIM!!!!

I do hope you are feeling better, Melinda.  It is so hard being a mom...especially in a culture where we practically have to be Wonder Woman to be perceived "worthy".  Mom is the hardest job in the world.   And the most important!

Love you!

Kori 

Jamie's shoulder

For those of you wondering...   Jamie is still recovering from his shoulder surgery he had in November.   He is not back to work yet and is doing physical therapy 3x a week.  His range of motion is improving as well as strength.  Thank you for your prayers.  It has been wonderful having him home.  I don't know how we will ever adjust when he has to go back to work.  Please keep praying.  He is starting to get anxious about returning to work and feels like he isn't carrying his load regarding his co-workers.  A quick healing please!!

Love you!

Destiny

Last week my precious friend, Anne Collins, and I ventured up to Irvine to attend Sally Clarkson's Mom Heart Mom's Conference.  It was wonderful, as usual.  We are so grateful for the hospitality of my dear sister in Jesus, Jeannie, who welcomed us so warmly into her home and cared for us so well while we ran back and forth from her place in Huntington Beach to the conference location in Irvine.  It was a fun, tiring, and inspirational time.

Sally seemed to explode with a new boldness at this year's conference (this is the 4th year in a row I have attended).  I am also participating in the Beth Moore study of Esther at my church.  That study and my newfound passion for patriotism (our founders, and returning to the roots of our great nation), seemed to go hand-in-hand with Sally's exhortation that God has designed us for great purpose.  We have the hearts of the next generation in our hands.  What will we do with these precious hearts?  "Who knows whether you have come to (influential motherhood) for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14-paraphrase mine...please insert your own role.)  Really, we all are placed in our exact role, social standing, job, geographic location for a purpose.  "Bloom where your planted."  "Wherever you are, be all there."  The future is in our hands and in our homes if you have children living with you.  Impress on their hearts and minds the truth of scripture and history.  Our nation is on a steady decline, but GOD!!!!!  He is so able!  We are watching our economy go beyond the point of no return.  Morality is practically non-existent.  Sally often says, "In the absence of Biblical conviction, our children will go the way of culture."  Culture is media-focused, selfish, and God-denying.  Do you want your precious child to go that direction?  It leads only to destruction.  We must place Jesus before them and set an example of following hard after Him.

During the time of King Xerxes, a decree is made for the genocide of the Jews.  The Jews are mourning and wailing in the streets of the land, but Mordecai (also grieved) takes his plea to the queen...who also is a Jewess (Esther 3-4).  A year ago as I watched to economy hit an all-time low and our government move so unabashedly toward immorality & possible socialism, I felt like the helpless Jew on the street.  Wailing and waiting for destruction to come.  But, in the last year, we have seen town halls and tea parties and the Glenn Becks and Sean Hannity's not be silenced...and it is making a difference.  Now, I feel there is hope for this great nation because we are Americans!  Would George Washington or John Adams have cried and been helpless and defeated. NO!!!  Nor should we!  Stand up for what is right.  Raise a Godly and patriotic generation!  The future of your children and mine is at stake.  Do we want to leave them in a God-less world?  Do we want to see their freedoms withheld?  The answer is easy.

What & who do you have influence over?  What are you going to do with it?