Everything is good!!!!

Things are going great and sometimes when things are going great, it is hard for me to find time to sit down at the keyboard and get my thoughts in print. That is certainly the case right now.

Several things have happened since i posted last....

Doc did my (first) surgery to remove the webbing between my vocal cords. I was terribly sick after surgery again...bad reaction to the anesthesia again. Will NEVER again fail to tell them that I get terribly sick after being put to sleep. I was sick for 3 of the 5 days that I took off of work to recover, but did okay when I went back to work. Everyone at work is so used to this process by now...they take very good care of me while my cords heal. The surgery opened the webbing about half way and Doc says that is good for the first try. After being on complete voice rest for 22 days, it was not what i wanted to hear. Oh well, we plan on doing the surgery again in 6 months.

He did biopsy while he was in my throat during surgery and ALL THE BIOPSIES CAME BACK CLEAR!!! Now THIS news was totally worth 22 days of voice rest! I am so relieved to know for certain that the radiation worked and that we are starting over with a clean slate...sort of.

Went for my quarterly visit to see Dr Pak and got to visit with all the folks in Radiation Oncology. I am recovering well from the radiation and have very few lasting side effects. The Radiation scar on my neck is still fading. The skin on my neck is tight, but Dr Pak said I should stretch it like he told me to before (oops). The most obvious reminder to me is the dryness in my throat. I cannot express how THANKFUL I am that all the folks at UMC worked together to prevent my salivary glands from being damaged. I have no dry mouth. The mucosa on one area of my vocal cords was damaged, but only my vocal cords are dry. I am truly blessed! I am so thankful to be on this side of that journey. It is so nice to get to visit with the radiation oncology folks now. I'm sure they enjoy seeing those of us that are healed. Aside from the clear biopsies, I do FEEL better. It will be 1 year since my last radiation Treatment on August 31, so I am now 8 months Post Radiation. I have just recently started having many more good days than bad, but I do not hesitate to take a weekend nap if I feel tired.

Since I wrote in March, both my children have had birthdays and Calvin and I have celebrated another anniversary.

We are less than 2 weeks away from the Ladies Ministry's Spring Fling. This will be our only fundraiser for the year and I am so excited to see how different ladies have really stepped up and used the gifts God has given them to help pull this event together. My good friend Debi Green is going to talk to the ladies that day and I cannot wait to see how God will use the story of her life to bless others. My mom and grandmother will be traveling from Tennessee to visit with us too and I am over the top excited to be able to see them for a little while!

So, that's what's been happening.

My family is sleeping soundly and I think I will join them.

Good night!

Been too long!

I am amazed at how quickly time flies!
I have been trying to keep up with the FLO Blog for the Ladies Ministry and have totally neglected my time here! This is not a good thing, because writing here is like therapy for me. For some reason, writing has been a great outlet for me all of my life. Even as a girl, I kept journals. Getting my thoughts in print not only helps me be objective, but also allows me to keep a record of what God has done!

I have the journal where I recorded meeting Calvin and asked God to "please, please, please let him be the one". We have been married 15 years today.

I can look back over the posts here and see where God has done so many amazing things in my life over just the past three years and am thankful for the reminders that "God's got a plan and a purpose and His ways are ALWAYS best."

We have had revival at Pearson this week and I was truly sad to see it end last night. Although I know that true revival is ongoing in us individually, it is still sad to me to see the meetings end. I have looked forward to getting off work each day and worshipping with our friends each day. Our good friend Matt Jones was with us and it did our family good to visit with him. I enjoyed the dinner discussions with Calvin, Matt, and Gary and other friends after we left the church as much as I enjoyed the sermons. It is always interesting to me to hear Calvin and his "preacher friends" discuss things... their view of things is quite different from what I hear from others and is refreshing. It is nice to be able to rest in the assurance that Calvin surrounds himself with Christian men who lift him up and hold him accountable. Our friends influence us as adults just as they did when we were kids. I am very thankful to be married to a man who truly seeks God's guidance every day and doubly thankful that the men who he surrounds himself with do as well.

Tonight I will go home and do some MUCH needed house work and laundry! I have neglected our home terribly this week. Ha! I guess I will cook dinner too! As much as I have loved being at church every night this week, I am tired and ready for the weekend.

I know that I am rambling and that this post is rather pointless, but things are pretty uneventful right now.

So far as my throat is concerned, I am doing great until Doc tells me otherwise. I'll see him again on the 16th and we'll discuss another surgery to remove the webbing that formed between my cords and correct other danage that was done during radiation. I am really hoarse right now and not sure the exact cause of that. Probably just means that i need to consider going ahead with the surgery rather than waiting til the end of the year as I had planned. At any rate, I will be glad to let Doc look at my cords next week. It is reassuring to have him tell me that all is well.

Great things are going on at Pearson. Our friends are growing in their realtionships with Christ and THAT is exciting! Moreso for us than for them at the moment, because spiritual growing pains hurt our hearts just as physical growing pains hurt our bodies. BUT, on the other side of these valleys, they will be stronger, more mature Christians and THAT is cause for total excitement!

God has pressed me these past weeks as well. He has forced me to choose to follow Christ in more and more ways. During revival, we were challenged to ask what Pearson would look like in order to be "the talk of the town". Gary challenged each of us to choose to be "all in" and make God-Sized goals.

I am ready. I'm all in. I'm also ready for battle...because that is what usually happens when I ask God to let me do big things for Him. My idea of big things and HIS idea of big things are obviously very different. Still, I am all in, ready for Him to use me however He sees fit.

Til next time,
K

"SOAP" Bible Study Method - Luke 3

This is an example of the "SOAP" Bible Study method that we are doing in Sunday School.Like I said, it is really easy, but gives great opportunity to stop and analyze a verse that jumps out to me as I read a chapter. This verse is a reminder that how we live is important and is not covered up by claims to be a church member or a Christian. The saying "Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying" comes to mind!

Scripture: Luke 3:8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, "We are sons of Abraham," for I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up sons of Abraham.

Observation: Addressing specifically the Jewish Leaders of the day as a "Brood of Vipers". The religious elite. Jesus addressed their hypocrisy as well. NLT says "PROVE by the way you LIVE that you have repented of your sins."

Application: Like the Religious Leaders of Jesus' day, we often say "I go to church", "My family has been members of such and such church for x number of years" or "I am a Christian" and find great comfort in this affiliation. We also use these identities to overshadow a grievous list of sinful actions. This word still rings true...Prove by the way you LIVE that you have repented. Don't just call yourself a Christian.

Prayer: Father Good, Help me to realize when my actions do not speak of my servant hood to you. I do want to bear good fruit. I want people who know the way i LIVE day by day to know that I serve You and that You are Lord of my life without me ever having to tell them that I am a Christian.