Overlooking Coincidences, Seeing Miracles

I wish I had the time to explain in detail all the amazing miracles, yes, literal miracles, I have witnessed in a week's time.

Last week it had to do with turkeys (262 turkeys to be exact). Yesterday, the rest of the Thanksgiving meal (150 of them). Today a check for $200 to provide a family with Christmas gifts for their kids. I knew immediately who should receive it.

Even though the above mentioned miracles weren't direct provisions for me, they greatly influenced me. I was able to watch God working through His people. Because they were obedient. Because they listened and heard His voice. But I didn't have to wait long for my own personal miracles. Mine came today.

I needed to make a phone call. Didn't want to. It would be uncomfortable. Besides, the person is impossible to reach. I'll just wait to see if I bump into him this weekend. Not ten minutes after having this conversation in my head, HE called ME! We got everything accomplished in a 10 minute healthy conversation. Awesome conversation. Yeah God.

Shortly after that, I checked out our planning website to see who I would be serving alongside of this weekend. I noticed a name of someone who had wronged me and had never asked for reconciliation. As I saw his name I realized that I didn't feel an ounce of negativity towards him. I had no hard feelings and I had totally forgiven him and didn't even realize it. This was an absolute first for me. Totally not in my nature. NOT TEN MINUTES LATER (I'm not making this up!) HE CALLED ME! To apologize for the situation! I was able to tell him what had just happened when I saw his name and that I had NO hard feelings. I told him that he probably had to make this call more for HIS sake than mine. I don't think I've ever experienced such a hands-on picture of grace. What was even more shocking is that it was extended by ME! Because extending grace is certainly not on my resume.

Oh, speaking of resumes, I'm working on mine. For this.

It Was a Sign

Seven years ago I told my Dr, "I can't breathe out of the right side of my nose. At all!"

After saying this repeatedly to previous doctors, this one finally believed me and sent me to an ENT. The ENT couldn't even get his instruments into my nose. A benign tumor had filled every sinus cavity on the right side of my face. Here is the fast forward version of the next seven years...

• Surgery #1, April 2003...didn't get it all
• Surgery #2, July 2003...didn't get it all
• Surgeon says he needs to cut open my face to access it...I say "no, thank you" and "goodbye!"
  
• Surgery #3, October 2003...Hopkins ENT accesses it through my mouth and guts everything in my right cheek.
  
• Annual follow-ups...at the five year mark I'm declared "clear" but still have to have annual check-ups for life.
  
• Check-up, April 2010...recurrence. sigh.
• Switch to a new Hopkins ENT who specializes in the tumor and begin surgery plans.
  

So he's giving me his routine run-down of risks of this surgery and says, "damage to tear duct." I stop him and say, "Could this be why my right eye constantly tears?" He got a strange look on his face and says, "It sounds like it has already been damaged." But I think about the timeline and say, "But my eye was tearing before I even knew I had the tumor." To which he replies, "Then the original tumor probably caused the tear duct damage. We need to find out if your duct is damaged so we can have my ophthalmologist colleague join me during the surgery to repair it."

Fast forward once again:

• See an Oculoplastic surgeon...duct is slightly narrowed
• She opts to do a minor procedure...a silicone tube is inserted in the duct to keep it open.
• If the duct is too narrow and she can't insert the tube...come back for another surgery to go through the bone and perform a drainage bypass.

NO THANK YOU! I've lived with a leaky eye for 15 years what's another 20 or so?

Surgery is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 16th. Merry Christmas to me! Don't judge me if I put up my Christmas decorations next week. That only give me five weeks to enjoy them.

Moral of the story?
If your eye leaks, it may be a sign of an underlying bigger problem that should be address immediately. Whonnu?

Small Town, USA

Things I love about Hampstead...

• Snickerdoodles
• The bypass
• Rita's
• Bulk trash pickup
• Santa on the firetruck
• Mane Street Manor Salon
  
• Roundabouts (yes, I like 'em)
• Being within walking distance
  
• The church bells playing hymns on the hour
• That there's nothing to do here
  

Thanks for the Tag!

I usually hate these "tag" things but I really wanted to blog today and didn't have any idea what to say. Now I don't have to think about it thanks to Lauren! Well, I guess I kinda have to think but these were easy.

1. What is one "little thing" you have to do for yourself occasionally to keep from going insane?
Put away every misplaced item in my house.

2. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I have so many I don't know where to begin.

3. Where would be your dream place to live, and why?
Somewhere in a mountainous area that is year round cool but still gets a taste of all four seasons. Not asking for much, huh?

4. What is your favorite movie, and give us a summary of it and an explanation of why it is your favorite.
Ever After: the TRUE story of Cinderella. The score is beautiful, the acting is awesome, the storyline is timeless, the setting is gorgeous.

5. What is one thing you would like to change about yourself? Not about how you look... something about who you are.
That I'd be less self-centered. This has been on my mind a lot lately.

Things I Did Because Mama Did 'Em

We all know that we model our parents and "learn" how to do life by their example. But over the last few years I've realized that some things I do have no logic to them. I simply do them because my mom did them that way. Allow me to explain...

1) Storing cooking oil under the kitchen sink with the cleaning supplies
For many years I did the same. Until one day I made the logical choice to store my oil with baking supplies. It just made more sense. I'm going to give my mother the benefit of the doubt and claim that she stored it under the sink because it's a tall bottle and won't fit in most cabinets. This past year, I helped my sister move and had to smile when I discovered her oil next to her 409.

2) Storing pancake syrup in the refrigerator
Now for this one, I have to admit I did the same until my sister-in-law pointed out the oddity to me. "Why does your mom put the syrup in the fridge? It doesn't have to be refrigerated and it just makes the pancakes cold." Hmmm...good point (as I snuck home and removed my syrup from the fridge).

3) Leave the cleaning sponge on the edge of the tub
Now this is actually not a bad idea. The sponge is handy and ready to use at any time. But I found that is just stays slimy from soap running into it and it collects hair. And then there was the time my 3 yr old nephew was taking a bath and I found him sucking on the sponge. Ewwwwww!

Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks

“How do we tumble down a hill? A foot placed incautiously on an unsteady rock or loosened turf, an ankle twisted or a knee buckled, and all of a sudden we are gone, our body lost to our own control until we find ourselves sprawled in indignity at the bottom. So it seems apt indeed to speak of the Fall. For sin, too, must always start with but a single misstep, and suddenly we are hurtling toward some uncertain stopping point. All that is sure in the descent is that we will arrive sullied and bruised and unable to regain our former place without hard effort.”

Things I Can Do From the Couch

• smell the Fall air
• make phone calls
• pay bills
• pray
• computer tasks
• read
• take pills
  
• worship
• write grocery lists
• facebook
• shop online
• watch TV
• obsess over indoor and outdoor projects that need accomplished
• type with one hand (with tea in the other)
• drink tea (while typing with the other hand)
  
• sleep
  
• think encouraging thoughts
• think discouraging thoughts
• lead group Bible study
• bird watch
• smell my Fall scented candles
  
• text
  
• plan menus
• email
• hear my neighbor screaming at her 2yo
• watch the leaves fall
• visit with friends
• play games on my phone
• watch dust build up
• talk to doctors
  
• listen to sermons online
  
• trace and cut scrapbooking paper (for women's retreat)
• listen to acorns fall on my neighbor's deck
• update and organize phone apps
• think about Christmas
• view pics and videos of Maks and Teo!!!
  

Rubies of Wisdom

In her book, "A Lifetime of Wisdom," Joni Eareckson Tada shares lessons she has learned about pain and suffering. She calls these lessons "rubies of wisdom" based on Job 28:18, "The price of wisdom is beyond rubies." They were so meaningful to me that I wanted to document them so I can refer to them often. Scattered among the "rubies" below are other great truths from the book.

Ruby #1: "Your imagination about God - especially in the midst of tragedy - isn't reliable. We must run to the true portrait He gives us in His Word."


Ruby #2: "If you find yourself in a confining situation, it is God who has confined you. He is the One who has surrounded you and hemmed you in."

"Paul wasn't fixated on his chains, he was focused on his Savior."

Ruby #3: "Just knowing He's with me give me peace, hope, and comfort. I may be confined, but I am not cramped. I have freedom to move when there is no freedom to move. I have breathing room when I'm about to suffocate. I stand in a wide, spacious place when I'm impaled by a thorny, encircling hedge of pain."

Ruby #4: "When nothing seems to be happening, when loneliness settles over your spirit, when pain and grief and anxiety conspire to push you to the edge of despair, remember God's mighty deeds in your life. Remember His kindness, His special, tailor-made graces that fell out of the sky like a gentle spring rain."

Ruby #5: "There is no more important moment in your life than this one."

"If our enemy can keep us occupied with our past or with our future, we lose the grace, blessings, and opportunities in the NOW. And when you lose the present, in a sense you lose everything. Why? Because now is all we have."

"To live with your 'thorn' uncomplainingly - that is, sweet, patient and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak - is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace." J.I. Packer

Ruby #6: "As we wrap out hands around a problem and in faith press on, strive, and stand firm, divine energy surges through us. We experience the fullness of His grace."

"When I speak of a person growing in grace, I mean simply this - that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive and his spiritual-mindedness more marked." Bishop J.C. Ryle

Ruby #7: "My enforced stillness has led me into a deeper firsthand knowledge of God through prayer.

Ruby #8: "We don't wait to live. We have to keep living while we're waiting. Wait patiently and eagerly. But in the meantime get busy with what you know to be your responsibilities."

Ruby #9: "God hasn't promised me happy endings to every life situation, but He has assured me of greater faith. And that's the best ending, anyway."

Ruby #10: "When God denies your dearest desires, get ready to open up your heart even wider, for He will become that desire Himself."

Ruby #11: "What He has taken back in one currency He has given back - a million to one - in the currency of heaven."

Ruby #12: "It isn't thinking about a Place that will lift your heart and make your sorrow easier to bear. It's a Person."

Ruby #13: "God deals with His children as He wills."


Ruby #14: "A faithful response to affliction and hardship and pain accrues a weight of glory."

Ruby #15: "Why does God allow some of His deeply loved sons and daughters to go through trials of body and spirit? Because if they receive that suffering with faith and joy, that supernatural "chemical reaction" (suffering = joy) will supercharge the message of His Son's love."

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Wow...what a productive blog day! THREE fellow bloggers updated in one day. That's unheard of! So I felt the pressure and decided I should, too.

There.

(Sorry, I don't have a...son turning 20, a 3yr old with a bottomless stomach, or a 2yr old who looks like Elvis)

The List...

• bald on top
• crammed in the back seat of a car with multiple Jr Highers
• left in the woods on a flatbed trailer
  
• shopping for something bizarre with Willie Lieberman (don't remember what it was)
  
• Jayden Fullen fighting against her timeout
• a six foot bald eagle
  
• mini monkey-like people crawling out of a giant red velvet bag while I was rolling it in a grocery cart

...just a few of the things I've dreamt about in the last few days.

No, I don't eat before bed.