Top Ten

I'm doing a 30 day devotional from the book Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Today I'm writing a list of my top ten spiritual blessings. Nancy says, "Since a whole lifetime isn't enough to say thanks for these blessings, the next time your mind is troubled by sad or worrisome thoughts, pull out your top ten and consciously transfer your focus from whatever is weighing you down, and start giving thanks for the things on your list." Excellent suggestion.

My top ten I wrote in my journal:

1. Salvation
2. Beautiful world to enjoy (take a minute to watch my slideshow!*)
3. God's promises
4. God's protection
5. Family - immediate and extended
6. God's personal leading in my life, Psalm 139:16 "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Normal, Illinois: Christ Church, campus ministry opportunities, Peoria clinic, wind energy, home-school community and great Christian schools

7. Health and medicine
8. Missions/ missionaries
9. Books - number #1 being the Bible and then all the rest
10. Friendships and Community

* slideshow on This is the Day if you're reading the automatic feed into Facebook Notes

Home-schooling

Now why would I address this topic? I home-schooled for ten years and then stopped. I have one child who has never been officially home-schooled and probably won't be, unless God makes it clear that she should be.

Here's why it's on my mind. For one, I just spent a longer night than usual doing homework with Samantha, so it felt like home-schooling. Second, I took Samantha this afternoon to a rehearsal for a ballet performance she's going to do later this week for our church home-school group's end of the year show. Her teacher happens to be a teenage home-schooler and is having the class perform as her contribution to the show. Also, this morning when I volunteered at my other daughter Katrina's school, I was inspired by the lesson the librarian taught to the 5th graders, reminding me of how fun it is to teach, especially about the Lord and things we're passionate about. (She shared some stories from the Jesus Film Project.)

I still have most of my home-school materials and plan to reference them over the years as I give extra help to Samantha at home. I guess the main thing I want to convey is the conviction I've held all along, that parents are primarily responsible for their children's education, whether they do it themselves or oversee others doing it. There's a new policy at Katrina's school that I really like. They require students to bring home all their tests to get signed. In Samantha's case,instead of grades, she gets up to three stars on her work. When she only gets two stars, her work gets sent home for me to correct with her. I feel that not only are both of the schools doing a great job spiritually and academically, but they are involving the parents and value their input.

Last week, we were able to attend Katrina's science fair and see all the great projects done by the 8th graders. Tomorrow night, we have another fair at Samantha's school to see the posters they did for earth day along w/ other projects by older students. There's no way all these projects could get done w/o help from the parents, although the kids do the bulk of the work.

All this to say that even though I'm not officially home-schooling anymore, I'm still schooling. You may be wondering why I haven't mentioned anything about Bryan since he's still in school as well, and a public one at that. Well, it's true that we don't have as much involvement there; I think we would be more actively involved if other circumstances in our lives were different. But we still give him input as needed and are basically pleased with how things have worked out for him. The fortunate thing is that he makes it a priority to get spiritual input from many other sources - friends, two churches, youth group, and several Bible studies a week. He also packs up his stuff often and heads out to have his quiet time at coffee shops.

Home-schooling is wonderful and has many many advantages. I totally support anyone who continues to do it. At the same time I want to advocate that it's not the only way to effectively educate your children and teach them to follow Christ. Of course the choices we've made require additional finances, and God has made that possible for us, for which I'm thankful. Poor Samantha would be up a creek if she didn't have a classroom setting to motivate her to learn. Katrina would feel marginalized because of my own illness and having to be on call with Ethan. Not to mention that I'm a total failure when it comes to science; the experiments I had my kids do almost always flopped.

Ouch!

The last four days I've come to realize how much progress I've made physically because I'm back to square one on pain. My leg has been incredibly stiff w/ a lot of stinging. I've also had the weird buzzing thing in my knee. My lower back is aching a lot, mostly on the left side.

So why is this happening now? Probably a combination of all of the following:

- my trip to Chicago last Monday
- cutting back on one medicine
- exerting myself because I thought I was well enough to do so (did some extra arranging in our house because of getting new furniture, entertained, did extra cooking for church events)
- less frequent chiropractor visits

I really forgot how bad it was in the beginning. I haven't gotten quite that bad; at least I don't have electrical impulses going up and down both legs, like tiny mice running up and down, to quote a friend. That's what landed me in the ER in September '08. I was trying to eat dinner and my "good" leg went all haywire - it wasn't physically jerking but felt like it was.

I called the chiropractor yesterday to see if I could get in early but he was booked. So I'm just going to take it easy till I can see him tomorrow. I'm also going to go back on the full dose of medicine I wanted to eventually totally cut out (it interacts w/ another med I wanted to go on for another problem).

I'm also trying to decide what to do about my garage sale, which was going to be my focus this week and next.

Update on Chiropractor Appointment

I have decided to continue w/ chiro treatment under Dr. Bly for another 12 weeks, once a week. He reviewed several things with me today - my exrays from last week and all my neuro testing. From the exrays I saw that my neck is almost 100% better and my mid and lower back have both improved but still need a little ongoing correction. One of the things he offered to do was manual adjustment to my hips along w/ the pro adjuster machine. This seemed to be the "answer" I needed when I was considering trying a different chiropractor. I didn't mention anything to him about manual vs. machine; he just offered based on the progress I was making. He actually went ahead w/ an adjustment including the manual today, and I was pleased w/ the method he used, similar to my physical therapy. Time will tell if I experience extra relief, I'm hoping so!

The neuro testing showed that I had moved from 9 positive tests for disc and nerve pressure to only 2, and moved from 10 areas of hypo-mobility to 3.

I have also been experimenting w/ inserts in my shoes for arch support and am finding some things that are working. I had seen a podiatrist and am using one that he recommended, along w/ a couple different kinds that work better in other shoes. I now know that if I relieve pressure off the heel of my foot it puts me in the proper stance to move freely w/ minimal pain.

My Christmas books

I'm currently working on the following four books, all of which I received for Christmas. I keep one in my car and read while waiting for Samantha's school to let out or take it with me to appointments. I use one as a devotional, one as my fiction novel, and the other for extra moments.

Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss This book is amazing!!!! It will definitely be one that I long remember and keep on my top list of life-changing books. No matter what happens to us in life, we can always find proportionately more to be thankful for as believers. Life itself, spiritual blessings and a promised future in heaven, and on and on. Even bad health is something to give thanks for because it helps us see our weakness and dependency on Christ. I highly recommend this book!!!

Falling in Love with Jesus by Dee Brestin and Kathy Tracolli
This book grew on me the longer I read it. The highlight of the book is taking a look at Mary and Martha of Bethany. They were definitely 100 percent in love with their Lord; Jesus showed His love for them in such unique ways. I would highly recommend this book for singles. It's also a good read for married women, to remember who our first love should be.

All the Tea in China by Jane Orcutt I have just started this one, and so far, so good. I'm looking forward to seeing how this young British Victorian woman gets used by God in her dream to serve God in China. Her gender limits her from being a foreign missionary unless she's married, but she finds a way.

Stories Behind Women of Extraordinary Faith by Ace Collins
This is a compilation of great women including Harriet Tubman, Mother Teresa, Lottie Moon, and Fanny Crosby. I had asked Dave for missionary biographies for Christmas and this was what he found. I'm learning a lot about these women but reading it through a critical lens because the author emphasizes more of human accomplishment than God's work. It's wonderful to learn the details about the subject's lives, however, and Ace is a wonderful writer. I think he falls into the trap of overtelling their accomplishments because he's so gifted. He also exalts the role of women, coming from more of a "liberated" viewpoint. I recommend this book for a light read.

This is the day

I'm changing the title of my blog and adding a few extra features. I hope to write about my life in general, what I'm learning through different experiences. "This is the day the Lord has made" has always been a favorite Bible verse, and the more I journey through life, the more I see its simplicity and truth.

I have to write!

Sometimes I write out of boredom or sometimes out of rambling thoughts I need to get out, but today a Bible verse compelled me to write. I was doing my study for my women's group at church and this verse popped out at me: Deuteronomy 4:9 "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."

As I read this verse, memories flooded back to me. Here are the things I want to remember and thank God for all my days here on earth.

1. When God called me to be a servant. I was a junior or senior in high school, and because of where we moved to, my father got asked to preach at a small country church up the road. I continued attending another church that had a great youth group. The small country church lost its organist, and my parents didn't pressure me to fill the position, but God convicted me one Sunday morning through a sermon that I should offer to do so. I didn't want to leave going to my church on Sundays and seeing my friends, but knew it was what God wanted me to do.

2. When God called me to leave my comfortable life at a Christian college and go to a secular one, knowing I needed more experience in the outside world. At the Christian school, I served the Lord through my music. I sang in a special touring group, along with the main choral group on campus and another smaller choral group. One thing that troubled me about the touring group was that although we were ministering to people in our concerts, we had no real life connection with them. We'd do our concert and move on. I wanted to "move on" in my Christian walk and have more interaction with people in ministry. At Temple, God provided that outlet for me through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. First, I could interact w/ the small group I led and help them discover truth. Second, I could interact w/ unbelievers in a couple different ways: ones I met in class, ones that visited our IV group, and finally ones that came to a special study I led for those interested in studying the Bible.

3. When God called me to international student ministry. I literally laid awake late at nights for about a week when God called me to serve him through teaching ESL. I don't ever recall being so excited about anything, feeling so alive and so connected to God before that time. This was HUGE for me. I finally "found it" so to speak, the thing I could do professionally that would have major spiritual implications. I worked on my degree and partway through started teaching full-time. I was able to share the gospel through tutoring one on one for school requirements, teaching about religious holidays at my job, and sharing w/ students who lived with us through the hosting program.

4. When I was sure God had provided for Dave with the job at ISU. This is more his personal story, and it's a wonderful one. I'll just briefly say that he got many rejection letters and only one interview, but I told him "it only takes one" and when he visited campus he knew he was going to get the job here. This was a fulfillment of a dream for both of us, to be on campus and have an impact in the lives of students, just as we both had been blessed during our college years. Dave came to Christ during that time and I grew into a real disciple. Just recently, a Chinese student approached Dave and said, "is there a Bible study I can attend?" The Bible study he led for several years prior to this started the same way, with one student, and then it died out. God may be reviving it.

5. When God called me to home school. Okay, true confessions here. I want you to see the reality of my heart. My goal before was to have my kids as close together as possible, "get through" the younger years, and get them out of the house so I could have my freedom again. Ha! Freedom was my idol. God has "freed" me from my idol of freedom! As you know, I'm a teacher, so the teaching part wasn't what worried me. Being that I've struggled w/ impatience w/ my kids, I couldn't see how I would be able to survive with them home all day. Quite the opposite happened when I home schooled. They started getting along really well with each other and I enjoyed watching them learn and being a part of that. I especially enjoyed watching them start to develop their creativity, in writing, music, and film-making. I cherish those years and love my kids all the more because of them.

6. When God called us to adopt. This had been a desire from our early married days, but never really developed into anything substantial until God touched my heart one Sunday through a pro life sermon. The rest is history. Samantha has been extremely difficult to raise, and has tried everything apart from physical violence, but she is an amazing kid. I love her with all my heart, not just because I know she's mine, but because she truly has an incredible character that I'm trusting will be used mightily by God.

7. Ethan's leukemia. The most stretching experience of our lives!!!!! And the thing God has used to teach me the value of life. Not just living, but every little mundane thing in this life. For example, being able to cook a meal in my own kitchen. Ronald McDonald House is a wonderful place, but it's not home. I also learned through the crisis points in his treatment to let go. He's not mine, he's God's. Nothing can happen to him that will threaten his future, which is ultimately to be with His Lord in heaven. When he was four, he came to Christ after asking me questions about heaven. I have no cause to fear because his future is secure.

8. My chronic leg problem, which is what this blog is mostly focused on. God has taught me to take nothing for granted, NOTHING!!!! When I first started seeing a physical therapist, I was supposed to limit trips on stairs, not push a grocery cart, not carry laundry, not twist when putting a wet load of clothes into the dryer, not bend over for any reason, not to mention that it hurt incredibly to walk and stand. I haven't been able to travel comfortably. Every day I feel symptomatic when I drive to my girls' schools. It goes on and on. So while Ethan's leukemia taught me to appreciate every little thing, my leg problem has been teaching me not to assume I can always have certain things. It's been quite a hard pill to swallow. But God has been faithful in opening up new opportunities for me, one of which is this blog. I told someone recently that "this is my writing season." I am a writer at heart, always have been, from when I kept a diary through getting my degree in journalism. So it's been wonderful to be able to get back into it.

Well, that's all for this post. I got it out, what I needed to say. As the verse says, my eyes have seen many things, and God has given me much through them all.