Pastor's Appreciation

11/9/07: As you can see, I'm a little behind on my posts... so here's what I was up to before my Gma got sick and I made 2 trips to Kansas...

My friend Chantelle and I got roped into helping out with the entertainment portion of Pastor's Appreciation weekend in the beginning of November. And although, it meant numerous trips to the church for rehearsals for 2 weeks straight, it also meant working with kids, (which I'm always a sucker for) and some of them were in my very first class of Kindergarteners, my first year as a Master teacher. They're almost as tall as me, and in the 6th grade now. Dang.

Anyway, here's a few pics of the P-A-S-T-O-R kids...

Thankful

It's definitely not easy to "praise Him thru the storm", but I think one of the keys to doing so is finding the blessings in the rough. To open your eyes and see God's hand at work... whether it's in the big things or the small things. After my Gma fell, and when she had us scared because she wasn't coming out of the anesthesia... I was consumed with prayers for her healing and complete recovery. But as I look back, I'm truly amazed at how He was at work in some of the smallest of details!!! His provision is constant and it's because He loves me and cares for me so incredibly much!! Some might try to call it luck... but I know without a doubt, that it was my Father in heaven, working all things out for the good of those that are called according to His purpose. Rom. 8:28.

Below are some things I found to be thankful for in the midst of the storm.

I'm thankful...

* that I am blessed with awesome managers that allowed me to leave so unexpectedly and for my wonderful co-workers that took care of all my accounts in my absence.

* for the great customer service at the airport that made sure my luggage made it to Hays, even though my flights were on 2 separate airlines.

* that God put the Insleys (my high school youth group leaders) on the plane with me from Denver to Hays so instead of depressing thoughts and sadness all the way to Hays, I had great conversation and fellowship and was able to greet my family with smiles instead of tears!

* for the great nurses and therapists that took wonderful care of my Gma and were patient with me and all my cousins with all of our continuous requests and questions.

* that God allowed us to see a small bit of progress every day to give us hope!

* that He answered my prayer to hear her say "I love you!"

* that He granted Matt's wish to wheel her around the hallway in her wheelchair!!

* that even though my phone had stopped working 2 weeks prior to my trip... He allowed it to start working again at the hospital, so I could keep in touch with my cousins and the folks back in Ptown to keep them updated.

* For the fact that every single one of the kids AND grandkids made it to Hays to visit Gma! And for the time that I was able to spend with my cousins... in and out of the hospital! And although it was unfortunate circumstances. it was wonderful to see the family together again!

* for our church family in Hays for all the prayers, visits, flowers, Arby's sandwiches, casseroles and continued support for my grandparents and family during Gma's recovery.

* for our pastor's and their wives for their faithfulness and love for the people in their congregation.

* for the community of local pastor's and their wives that came up to my Gma's room and sang Christmas carols to her one evening... and the chance to be there to sing along and experience it with her and the rest of my family.

* for the masses of people that were willing to lift her up in prayer and the churches that put her on their prayer chains... whether they knew her or not!

* for the chance to see just a small portion of the many lives my Gma has touched and what an example of Christ's love she has been to so many people!

* for the ability to praise God thru the tough times and the chance to see His glory and healing touch!!

* and for traveling grace. Although my flight was delayed almost 3 hrs. out of KC, I'm thankful that they had me booked on a new connecting flight before I even stepped off the plane for my layover and I'm extremely thankful that the delays happened on the way home... and not as I was rushing home to be by my Gma's side.

Luck and good fortune? I don't think so... Thank you Jesus!!!

Grandma update!

First, I just want to say THANK YOU!! I cannot even begin to tell you how much your prayers have meant to me, my Grandma and the rest of our family!!! God heard our cries and has graciously answered our hearts desire!! Tuesday night when I asked for your prayers, I was trying my best to focus on the positive, the small signs of progress in my Grandma’s condition, afraid to think of what the future could hold. Wednesday morning, as my mom and I drove to the hospital, we were preparing ourselves for another long day. When I stepped into the room, I said “Hi Grandma, I love you!” and she softly answered “I love you!” back. Tears of joy began to stream down my face… and all I could do was say “Thank you, Jesus”!! My mom and I were so excited!!!! My Grandpa, on the other hand, wasn’t convinced that she remembered him. To hear him reminding her that he’d been living with her for over 60 yrs. yet couldn’t get a nod out of her when he asked if she recognized him was simply heartbreaking. Mom told him to put his glasses on, and as he was still jabbering about how she didn’t recognize him, we heard Grandma whisper “I do to!” with much attitude. Mom and I bust out laughing… she was back, spunk and all!!

As of last Wednesday, she was still very weak, her voice was quiet and raspy, she could barely move her arms, but she was definitely coming back to us!!! By the afternoon, she was telling the student nurses that they were doing a great job, that praise was offered where praise was due, and she wished another one a happy birthday… here she was, caring for others and letting Jesus shine through her in the midst of her pain and extreme discomfort. She is truly an amazing woman.

Each day, we’ve been blessed with more signs of progress. She’s slowly but surely getting stronger. As of last Saturday she was able to sit in the wheelchair for about 30-45 minutes at a time, and we even wheeled her out into the waiting room the other day so she could have a change of scenery. When mom and I were up there on Sunday, she had enough strength back in her right arm to feed herself which was very exciting! They will start hitting the physical therapy and occupational therapy pretty hard now. They were limited to what they could do because of her taking so long to come out of the anesthesia and being so weak. They got her up on the parallel bars on Monday and moved her to a new room on the physical therapy ward on Tuesday. She was excited b/c it had a view with trees (past the parking lot, of course) and Gpa was super excited b/c it had a bed that pulled out into a bed! No more sleeping in a recliner for him!! She’s not too excited about the hard work ahead of her, and gets tired easily, but she’s a fighter and determined to get her independence back.

I have to say, it’s been really cool to see, not only the provision of God, but also the body of Christ in action these past few weeks. My Grandma has so many people praying for her, it’s crazy! And she’s had a constant stream of visitors, which can be tough at times because she doesn’t get much sleep. But between family, church friends, old co-workers, and even a couple of ladies that used to babysit my mom and her brothers back in the day… it’s been a true testament of how many lives she has touched and how much she’s loved. Her children and grandchildren came from all over… Colorado, Oregon, Michigan, Kansas City… and we were all pretty protective. We’ve been joking that the nurses will be glad to see the grandkids gone… we were running into the nurse station about every 30 minutes. All Gma had to do was moan and we were out the door in a flash to make sure she was taken care of! Our church family has really been a blessing, too… stopping by to say hi, bringing us food, praying and reading scripture to her. Both pastors and their wives have been up about once a day to check on her and pray for her. One night, they went out to dinner with about 5 other local pastors and their wives, and they ALL came up to sing Christmas carols to her. She LOVED it!! Between them and my family, we had about 15-20 people jammed into her little room singing… it was awesome!!

She has a long road ahead of her, and can still use your prayers for continued recovery, but I just wanted to let you all know that she is doing better!!! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get the update out to ya, but last week was a whirlwind of long days at the hospital and time with family. I headed back to KC with my Uncle Wayne on Monday, stayed with my sister and bro-n-law and flew back to Portland on Tuesday. Knowing that she’s improved so much made it a little easier for me to leave, not to mention I’ll be back in 3 weeks for Christmas, so that seemed to help, too.

So thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for all your prayers and support!!

Praising Him thru the storm...

The night before Thanksgiving, my Grandma fell on her way to the car and broke her hip. She had several small strokes back in August, so they had to take her off her blood thinning medicine before they could do surgery. She was finally cleared for Saturday, and they performed the surgery that morning. They said the surgery went fine, but unfortunately, she's not coming out of the anesthesia. She has been responsive at times... she smiled one morning, and she can move her head towards voices, but her eyes are pretty glassy and we're not sure if she can really see yet. She's squeezed our hands, and wiggled her toes, but she cannot talk, which has to be the most frustrating thing ever... both for her, being the social butterfly that she is, and for us, because we don't know what's she's thinking. We know she's in pain, because she will nod her head when we ask, but we don't know what hurts or how to fix it. They were trying to take her off the morphine so we could see if she was coming out of the anesthesia... but Monday was a rough day and she was in a LOT of pain, so they had to put her back on it, which means she's pretty drugged up all day and out of it. So it feels like we've taken a step back. I was in Portland up until Monday. My mom called me at work that morning around 9am, and by the grace of God I was in Hays by 9pm that night.

I need your prayer. For my Grandma, my Grandpa and my family. I don't know what God's plans are, but I know what our desire is... a miracle. I serve a mighty and powerful God... One who has raised people from the dead and healed people just by them touching His clothes. I know all things are possible for Him, and that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains... and my faith is much bigger than a mustard seed.

Casting Crown's has a song 'Praise You In This Storm' which is not an easy task... it's hard to praise Him when you're feeling so crushed and helpless. It's hard to praise Him when my heart breaks with her every moan... when I see her lying there in pain... and frustrated as she tries so hard to communicate, but we just cannot understand. I don't know why things have to be this way.

But I can praise Him because I have peace knowing that my Grandma is in His hands. I can praise Him because I know He doesn't want her to be in pain either. I can praise Him because her grandkids have rallied and come from all over just to visit... just one testimony of her influence in our lives. I can praise Him because when all is said and done, I know without a doubt that she will be in Heaven with Him... probably chatting His ear off, talking about old times when she lived on the river!

So I'm asking for your prayers. My Grandma needs your prayers. I cannot stand the thought of her being in pain for the rest of her life. I believe she has more people to tell about the love of Christ, and I don't think her job down here is done yet. But like I said before, my plans aren't always God's plans. So I'm asking for His will to be done. I do need His healing hand to touch her where it hurts and take the pain away. I want her to wake up so I can hear the story of when I was born one more time. And I want her to know it's me when I say 'I love you.' My Grandma needs healing and comfort, my family needs comfort and strength. And I need to get through a day without crying... but that's just a bonus prayer, if you have the time!!

Thank you for listening... and if you're the praying-type, thank you for your prayers. You can never have enough!! God is working through it all, and I know He will receive all the glory in the end.

I'm a flippin' Israelite!

The other night I was doing my devotions, and I was reading in Deutoronomy 8, where Moses is talking to the Israelites and this verse struck me pretty hard...

Deut. 8:2 - Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

I never really thought I could gain much from the New Testament, besides the classic stories... I never really thought any of it could apply to me. For instance, the Israelites. It drives me nuts how stupid they are... they saw all of these miraculous events, their rescue out of Egypt, He parted the Red Sea for them, He even provided mannah for them as they were in "time-out" for 40 yrs. in the desert!! How did they always seem to forget His love and provision and keep turning their backs on Him? How stupid could they get?? That's when I realized that I was one of them.

I'm 30 and single... been single for a LONG time. Tried to force some relationships that were definitely NOT in His will. Made some mistakes along the way, said I'd never do that again, and find myself in the same predicament a couple years later. Hmm. I'm a flippin' Israelite.

But thankfully, God's more gracious and less judgmental than I am. And He's been teaching me a lot lately about different things, and He's been doing it gently. Here's what I got out of this verse. My singleness is my desert. And although He's known the condition of my heart all along... I didn't really know how unhealthy it was when it comes to relationships. This summer, God really allowed me to see how dark it was, and it was kinda scary. Funny thing was... I got this glimpse at the beginning of the summer and got back on track. But it wasn't until recently, when I read this verse that I was truly humbled. He opened my eyes and allowed me to see my past relationships, and how I failed to keep His commands... and how He continued to test me, not because He needed to find out the condition on my heart, He already knew... but He was waiting for ME to find out the true condition of my heart. He has patiently waited for me to figure it out... and it took me long enough to do it.

My prayer now is that I continue to break the strongholds of my past... the old habits, the unhealthy thinking and low self-esteem. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made... He said so, so I need to believe it. My mind knows it... I've just got to make sure that heart of mine figures it out as well!! :-)

This devotion came about the same time as my One Hit Wonder date (previous post) where God gave me a glimpse of what I'm waiting for in a hubby!! I'm excited for what He has for me... and of course, there's always going to be those hi's and low's of singleness... but I'm willing to wait on His timing!! He's been pretty fabulous at working things out in the past, and has track record to prove it... so what do I have to lose!!

Clear as day...

So I feel like I’ve been hearing God’s voice a lot more lately, which has been pretty darn cool! I don’t remember ever asking to hear Him more clearly… I think I’m just finally taking the time to listen. My children’s church lesson from Sunday, was about Elijah when he was hiding from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in the cave. At one point, a strong wind came and knocked some rocks off the mountain, but God wasn’t in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake. Then a fire appeared, but God wasn’t in the fire either. Next was a gentle whisper and it was God speaking to Elijah. That made me think… usually when I’m struggling with something in my own life, that’s when I’m famous for reaching or calling out to God, desperate to hear His voice, whether it’s for comfort, peace or guidance. However, like my lesson showed, I shouldn’t be waiting for “drama” in my life just to hear God’s voice…especially b/c it’s usually self-induced drama. He’d much rather just whisper. Like a father would to his child, snuggled up on his lap.

The coolest thing about hearing His voice lately, is the fact that it hasn’t been due to a personal struggle... it's been casual chats, between old friends... and I know it's because I've actually been still long enough to hear Him!!! He's been gently nudging me about things, teaching me from my mistakes, giving me wisdom in certain areas and renewing my love for Him... and it has been awesome!!!

21st Ave. Pub Crawl

Friday night, Sara invited me along to a pub crawl on NW 21st. It's sort of a practice run for the big one in the spring, when over 100 people participate and raise money for Cystic Fibrosis, in honor of the guy that started this fabulous tradition, and unfortunately passed away 6 yrs. ago. It was SO much fun!! They traveled to a new bar on the hour, every hour. We joined in at the 3rd spot and quickly found the head guy to get our name tag, and our name for the night. Without giving him any info. he came up with Kentucky for me and Lady Jaye (from G.I. Joe) for Sara! It was a nice night, chilly, but no rain... thank goodness!!! After the Gypsy, we hit 4 more spots before calling it a night. I had such a great time!!! The coolest thing is you have such a great opportunity to meet a ton of different people!! Everyone gets mixed up each new place you travel too... it was very cool!!!!

"Kentucky"

"Lady Jaye"

Me & Chris (Sara's boy)

Me, Sara & Chris

Harvest Festival 07

We took the Literacy Club kids to our church's Harvest Festival for Halloween, which is always fun for me, because I have both my LC kids and children's church kids running around at the same time! I was also pleasantly surprised to see Ania... my graduate from last year!!! She was there with her bro, so we were able to hang out for a bit!!! :-)

Happy Halloween... DM style!!

Down to the very last detail... Go Amy! Or should I say Go Chris!?

See what commuting from Ranier for 12 yrs. will do to ya!

A delightful bunch, don't ya think?

Amy... showin' us how it's done!

After attempting to twirl it around her bottle... Peggy attempts using the paper cone...

... and when that also failed, she just used her arm!

And of course, it's not a real party without our dear friend!

Currently up to $26... do I hear $30?

This table saw fierce competition all afternoon long...

And then the afternoon took a turn for the worse...

And yes... even I got into the action of whispering sweet nothings...

No comment.

Lord, help us...

Roloff Farms here we come!!

I've converted a few more Sonic-lovers!!

Not sure if any of you watch TLC, but they have a show called "Little People, Big World". It's about a family of "little people" and their farm out in Hillsboro, OR (suburb of Ptown). Well, one of my co-workers absolutely LOVES them!! So, it was only fitting for us to have a "team building" event out at their farm for his birthday!! :-) Sonic was conveniently on the way so we stopped there for lunch, before heading to the farm. Chris was overjoyed to see Amy (the mom) signing autographs, so him and Auna jumped in line and got their picture taken with her! Then we took a tour of the farm and ended up at the pumpkin patch and gift shop, because you can never have enough jars of Roloff Dirt!!

* s t a r s t r u c k *

Holy rollers? Or roller coaster? Not sure...

Group pic outside the saloon... fitting, don't ya think?