Feeling drawn to post

Hey there everyone. Long time no post! LOL. I have been going through some stuff (good stuff) here and I am feeling led to post about it. In 2001, 2 months after John and I were married, we found out that I had a brain tumor. A rare, non cancerous tumor called an Acoustic Neuroma. We cried for about a second and then went to work finding the best doctor to remove it. We found him in California. So, we packed up and headed out to LA for a 3 week long journey. Before we left, a few friends of mine from New Hope gave me a journal for the trip. I still have it and read from it sometimes. I have never shared it with anyone. It was a scary time for me. It took us 2 days to get there and I wrote with passion about, what I was sure, were the last few days of my life. It is sad stuff. I was just beginning my journey at that time and was not strong in my faith. The day before the surgery, after some testing, the Dr told us that he would have to remove my auditory canal to completely remove the tumor, as it was larger than they thought it was. There was no chance that I could hear again. I thought that this was a small price to pay. Over they years following the surgery, it has become something that I prayed and prayed that there could be an answer for. Talking to Dr. after Dr. the general thought was, "Get over it, it is not that bad. It is just a slight inconvenience." Well, my guess is that they all can hear just fine. About 2 years ago, I found out about a hearing device called a BAHA that was made for people just like me. It was an exciting thought, but at the time, people who wanted it had to pay for it. Things changed with the device and insurance companies were starting to pick up the cost, so me and John looked into it. We started out, last year, fighting our insurance. We were at the point in December, where our next step was court, when we found out that we were changing insurance companies. Well, we were upset for a moment, but I trusted that God had it in His hands. Sure enough, my new insurance is willing to pay for the surgery and hearing device. It is an amazing answer to prayer! We are going to Columbus on the 26th of this month to have the surgery. We will come home a couple days after and go back for 2 2 week apart follow up appointments. At the last one, the Dr. will decide how much longer we will have to wait before fitting the actual hearing device. I cannot wait for that day! We are feeling incredibly blessed! Praise the Lord!

Common Men, Common Calling

"God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there's never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world. It's not the man; it's the truth of God ans the power of God in the man."

I have read and reread this paragraph. What are your thoughts about this? I cannot even begin to tell you what this makes me feel like. Mostly humble and foolish. Humble to think that God could use ME to change this world. Foolish to EVER take ANY credit for the things I do here.

Who am I?

I have been questioning lately, if I have what it takes to be strong for Jesus and work with others to help bring God's Kingdom to Earth. As I am reading this book (slowly as it might be) the thing that sticks out in my mind is how quickly this whole chapter of life takes place. The time that John baptizes Jesus until His death is only a few years. He calls His disciples, who were no one really, taught them, and set them off in that short time. They were not scholars; they were not priests. Is that why He called them? We have been learning on Sundays, that Jesus seemed to like to shake things up. He challenged what the Jewish people KNEW at that time by telling them that He was the way, He is the light, He is the vine. He turned it upside down. Look at the amazing things these men did. I mean, we know them. We know their teachings. Their lives have changed the world forever. But, they started out as nothing, no one, they started out like me. They trusted Jesus. The followed Him. They emptied themselves. So, why do I question myself so much....when I can see myself in them, those who were directly chosen by Him.

Twelve Ordinary Men

I am going to start reading this book today. I felt like it would be a great book to read during the Disciple sermon series. Hopefully, you can read along, or if you have already read it please join in. Even if you have not read it, I hope that I can share some interesting information from it. Thanks!

Back to normal

Life is officially back to normal this morning. Kaileigh, Dylan AND Tyler are now back in school. The tree is down, though it never got decorated this year. I would say the decorations are down, but they were never up. John is back to work. And I have some time alone in the house after a very rough Christmas season. I don't know about you all, but I have not even had time to THINK about reading lately! But, a new year is here and things are settled down now. Time to get back on track. So here is the big question of the day: Should we continue to blog about Shaping of Things to Come? Should we start a new book? I know that most of the people who were reading Shaping are probably way farther ahead than I am. Plus, I am having a hard time REALLY getting into it. But, I guess it is up to you. Hopefully I can get some suggestions. I have some ideas, This Beautiful Mess (from Paul), the second Brian McLaren book (in the New Kind of Christian series), or I found a book that sparked my interest called 12 Ordinary Men which might tie into this sermon series? Maybe something different? Share your thoughts........

Friendship

OK, so not exactly from a book, but more from a chapter of my own story: Can we talk about friends? What is a friend? Do we use the term too loosely? What are your thoughts?

Childhood

What were your favorite books when you were a child? What are your childrens favorite books? Although kind of hard to see the picture, mine was a book called "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" by Richard Scarry. It is a cute book, and there is a little golden bug on every page that we used to huddle around and try to find. My kids love all of the Veggie Tales books. Tylers favorite books, when he was little, were Pokemon books. What great memories!