The Heart and The Body

Well, let's start with the body. Mine is upset today. It all started when I arrived home from work yesterday. The evening was not so pretty. It disrupted date night a little! And by 9:15pm, I was in bed for the night. I had some disruptive wake-ups in the night with a very sore stomach. By 5:30am, when my alarm was going to go off for me to arise for a day of work, it was still in bad shape. I don't want to give any bugs to the moms and babies and don't want to be in the position where I can't go to the bathroom when I need to, so home it is for the day. I like work so it was a bit of a bummer!

As for the heart, it is fairing well. There is something peaceful about a rainy day at home in pjs. I got a ton of sleep last night, read my Bible this morning, read a good book in the bath and tried to see if my stomach would mind some toast. So far, so good!

Here's a part of the book that ministered to me this morning:

"Jesus knew human experience. He knew monotony. He knew the day to day. He was acquainted with the common and not a stranger to the trivial. Truly, in all ways, He is our Brother. When we are cleaning our houses, mowing our lawns, playing with our children, driving in our cars, He is deeply and intimately near and familiar - inviting us to follow His example in loving God extravagantly amidst our present obscurity.

By Jesus' embracing of the human plight, He made way for each moment of monotony to be a doorway of fellowship. There is nothing too small, no circumstance too trivial that we cannot bring to Him in love, having conversation with Him in the midst of it and consecrating it unto Him as something done in love. He reaches to us in our boredom, in our ordinary and routine aspects of life, and invites us to love Him in all parts of our day, all through the ordinary activities and obscure tasks of necessity. If we seek for Him here, He is present to be found by us. And as we are faithful to offer Him these things, doing everything as unto the Lord, even the smallest cup of cold water given will have eternal reward (Mark 9:41)."

If you haven't read the book Entirety by Dana Candler, I'd recommend it! It's all about living wholeheartedly in our love for God! A good read!

Dreams...

I'm thinking about the kind that happen when you are sleeping. Generally, I like to dream. Shane and I pray for prophetic dreams (Acts 2) just about every night before we sleep.

I am a pretty logical and black and white kinda gal and so my favorite kind of dreams are the ones that stir me emotionally and feel real, along with the meaning being very obvious. I love the directional or correctional kinds of dreams. I don't enjoy interpreting them!

I woke up pretty encouraged this morning after dreaming last night. I dreamt a few different things and don't know exactly what they mean, if anything. But, as I woke up, I was praying the themes that the dreams represent to me. It's fun when your dreams aid in your intercession!

So, I'm praying this morning for complete healing for people in general, the restoration of broken relationships, life, protection from the Enemy and God's leading and guidance!

So, turn a dream around and pray!

The first day since August...

Today is my first full-on 8 hour shift since August 10, 2007! Crazy that it has been so long! I'm doing most people's normal day length today! That's a milestone in the whole process! I still have to get to 12 hour shifts though, so the process isn't complete...

If you think of me this week, pray that my wrist does well. It has to endure three 8 hour shifts in a row and has been a little more sore than usual lately!

Thanks!

The latest...

So, I'm working the wrist these days and it's a little sore at times but not too bad. Sometimes I wish I could forget about it entirely =) Hopefully soon!

I saw the doc on Monday and I'm doing 7 hours shifts this week! I did 6 hours the last two weeks and used my wrist a lot more than the first 4 weeks of my back-to-work. I felt it but not too bad!

Then, instead of 2 weeks of 7 hour shifts, we're already going up to 8 hours next week! We've still got a ways to go to 12 hour shifts, but I really hope my wrist doesn't mind the extra hours! I've been enjoying work!

Another bonus is that with more work hours and doing more things around home, I don't have to do any of my exercises at home anymore! That's great, as I have been doing my home program for a very long time! Instead, I'm supposed to play more piano and guitar! I'm excited!

I did a devotional at Sanctuary on Monday and was planning on playing 30 minutes. Well, I thought I'd keep going a little longer.....and managed to do the whole hour (on piano)! Yippee! We're headed in the right direction! It was a little sore after, but I didn't pay for it later which was really nice!

Today I'm headed to the hospital to do the second part of the testing to renew my NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program). It should be fun! I'm not nervous. I'm just looking forward to being done and knowing that I don't have to renew for another 2 years after today!

Then I'm going to find something to do with my favorite guy and enjoy the beautiful weather we're getting today!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

To my mom who never reads this because she never goes online and my mother-in-law who does! Hope you have great days! Thanks for being great moms!

A lovely date with my hubbie!

Shane and I were pleasantly surprised at the beginning of April when we found out that we would be getting a tax return! At that time, we decided that a nice date was a priority with some of that money!



Yesterday was the big date! We started out at 3pm doing some window-shopping. Then we had an early supper at The Keg...yum! Shane absolutely loves red meat and so The Keg is very special for him! I love it too! Especially those virgin strawberry margaritas!




After a nice meal, great company and relaxing conversation, we headed for a drive in the area, looking at the beautiful houses. I've always had a love of beautiful homes, probably related to the fact that my dad builds them! I would love a beautiful home one day!

We then decided to make a quick stop at Shane's parents' house as we were killing time before a movie. We got to cuddle, coo at and squish our niece for a few minutes and say hi to the family. I'm glad we got to say hi! If we weren't on a date, we would have stayed the evening!

Then off to the cheap seats for a movie! I think the last time we went to a movie together was on our anniversary! That was a year ago next month! I was pretty excited to be there! I rarely go to the theater so the big screen, candies and such made me pretty happy =) We saw National Treasure....not too bad. We actually saw a movie that isn't a cartoon! Generally we stick to the animated films because we try to be really careful what we see!

Then we headed home for some relaxing time together...reading, tea and snuggles. A really nice ending to a really nice day together! Boy, those dates really are important! I encourage all you married ones that read this blog...find a way and take your spouse out on a date!

Some of favorite babies...

Mr. Eli....such a smart and sweet boy! Son of Johan and Corrie, good friends of ours! I had the honor of being at his grand entrance into life outside the womb back in May of 2006! And a sibling is joining his family in August! Yippee!


Justice...the newest addition! Son of Joe and Jacquie, more friends of ours from Sanctuary. I had the pleasure of being at this little guy's amazing birth in March.


Our beautiful niece, Raign Elizabeth, Shane's sister Dawn's daughter. She is so squishable! Unfortunately, I missed her birth, stuck in a rainstorm in Kansas City back in December!


Kenya, who is now a 5 months and such a happy little girl! Daughter of Amy and Russ, friends of ours from years ago!


"Behold, children are a hertiage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward....happy is the man who has his quiver full of them" Psalm 127:3,5

Update

Well, I'm off to work in the next 5 minutes for my last 5 hour shift. I did 2 weeks of 4 hour shifts and then 2 weeks of 5 hour shifts. Next week, I graduate to 6 hour shifts!

I could use prayer this morning. I have a progress meeting with a number of people involved in the back-to-work process at 10:30am. These meetings aren't always the most comfortable, depending on who is all present.

Thankfully, I can report that 7 out of 9 shifts were appropriate for a back-to-work. Unfortunately, 2 weren't and that is really frustrating. I will have to bring this up and some people don't want to hear it, while others do.

I had a neat experience at work yesterday which I may have to blog about a little later....

I'm pretty tired this morning, and it's continuing from yesterday. I was super tired yesterday afternoon and evening. I was in my pjs by 4:30! And went to bed by 9:17! I'd love to crawl back into bed, but I'll just have to take a power nap when I get home!

In general (minus those 2 days), work has been good! It's good to be back and I'm getting refreshed at all kinds of things! It's awesome to serve people in this way again!

Christening the new warmer seasons with the first bonfire of the year!


Shane and I getting the party and fire started before Steph and Shaun arrived


Shaun and Shane hanging out and enjoying the smokies


Steph having a refreshing drink


I was cold and borrowed a jacket....I looked like such a hick!


Oh the cheese in this picture! I love my family!

I'm so excited for warmer weather! In the last few days, the weather has been perfect for me! I'm looking forward to BBQs, bonfires, camping, the beach, and many walks!

It honestly pays off to be honest.

This week, one evening, as I was returning home in the van, I had an unfortunate event take place. I opened the van door, turned to grab my stuff and by then the fierce wind had already taken my door before I could stop it, slamming it into the side of my neighbor's fairly new car. Ah!

There is no other option than to go knock on his door and inform him. I didn't look forward to that. As I'm walking to the apartment, this external voice throws out, "you wouldn't really have to tell him...it may have happened in another parking lot by someone else". I immediately rebuked that darkness and knew that honesty was the ONLY way.

Honesty is huge to me. There are no such things as little white lies. Lying is a serious matter. As a child, I remember such a high standard of honesty being taught to me. My mom also feels very strong about honesty. I would even tattle on myself if I did something wrong, even if I knew I'd get a spanking out of it =)

So, I knocked on the neighbor's door and tried to communicate what happened to him and his wife. He hardly speaks any English, so thankfully his wife was present! I apologized for the accident and they were so sweet about it. He goes down to look at the damage, saying that if it is just a little scratch, he'll fix the paint.

He returns to explain it is also quite the dent, which I was aware of. That wind was so strong that there's no way there wasn't a dent! That he could not fix and would need to make a claim.

So, I called MPI and told on myself once again, booking an appointment for later on that week.

When I got to the appointment there was a mixed up on my file with contact numbers, and the woman I was to meet with was trying to get a hold of me before I arrived, so that I wouldn't have had to make the trip down.

Great news! It was the wind. The van was parked. You don't require a driver's license to open a door. So, I assumed responsibility by calling in, which waived my neighbor's deductible. But, because of the wind situation, I didn't have to pay my deductible or have a surcharge on my license!

Honesty truly paid off this time (though in the area of the heart it always pays off)...neither of us have to pay anything and he gets his car fixed. Had I decided not to be honest, I would have had sin on my plate and guilt on my conscience, but wouldn't have paid anything. My neighbor on the other hand, is leasing the car and would have had to pay for the damage himself.

Sometimes it is inconvenient to tell the truth and assume responsibility for something going wrong, but it really matters. It matters to the Lord and it matters to the maturity of our hearts and the intimacy we can have in our relationship with Jesus. We need to be tenacious in our fight against sin in our lives.

Mmmmm....studying!

In the past 14 months, I've developed a deeper love for my study time. I have usually enjoyed my experiences as a student. I have fond memories of being a student in elementary, junior high and high school. Then after grad, I decided to take the year off and change gears from the student life. Well, one year off was enough for me, and I was ready to go back to learning again! I really enjoyed my university experience for my 4 years at the U of M.

So, I'm not surprised that I've grown to love my spiritual study time more and more over the years. I love to learn! Sometimes I've felt physically hungry for knowledge when sitting through a great teaching. It can feel like a physical craving =)

I've also felt many moments of frustration because of my limited knowledge. I wish I knew so much more than I do in so many different areas. Sometimes I want to learn so many things that it just seems so overwhelming and I don't know where to start!

I have a number of study topics and books on the go presently. I'm focussed on two main topics that fall under two main categories. I'm studying the book of Joel which I would say falls under "Urgency/The End Times" and I'm studying the book of Song of Solomon which falls under "Intimacy". I love the balance of studying both topics! It's very life-giving!

I am also reading Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem and it is really touching the hunger for deeper knowledge in my heart so far. I'm still working on Healing by Smith Wigglesworth and The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W Tozer, which are coming slowly. For my more relaxing and heart-warming reads, I'm rereading The Rewards of Fasting by Mike Bickle and Dana Candler and Entirety by Dana Candler. Such good stuff!

I am so thankful for the lessons that I have learnt in the past 14 months about time management, spiritual disciplines and communing with the Holy Spirit wherever I am. I know that God strategically used this time of my life to teach me valuable lessons. I'm so glad that I had the increased time to dig deeper into study, prayer and relationship with God this past year.

I'm thankful and ready to learn!

I'm happy that....

- it's Saturday!
- I had a date with my sister last night!
- I have a wonderful husband to spend the day with!

I'm in the mood to...

- eat cinnamon buns...I woke up with them on my mind =)
- go on a warm vacation
- relax and laugh

I'm going to...

- look at my cinnamon bun recipe
- eat my favorite cereal for breakfast
- give my husband a huge morning hug!

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Things I like about 5:30am Wake-up....

- the apartment is dark and quiet
- I have enough time to do things in a relaxed time frame
- the shower is nice and warm and I can start the day praying
- I have time to do my computer stuff in between getting ready
- showering and doing my hair means I'll look nice for my patients =)
- I can sit down for a nice breakfast of Vector cereal! Yum!
- I have time to pray and read my Bible
- I get to take a nice walk from my parking spot to the hospital....then parking is free too!
- I have time to sit and relax with co-workers before getting out on the floor
- There seems to be a lot of time to pray in the mornings!

So, far I'm finding a lot of nice aspects of waking up so early!

Oh, and by the way, I got to have a delivery yesterday! I'm hoping for another one today!

Work Update

So, last week was the official start to my Back-to-Work Program. I was a little nervous, and excited! It went well! My body didn't seem to mind the 5:30am wake-up 2 days in a row and the ward was really slow, which was probably a good start to a BTW program.

It was really nice to be at work again. It was good to see coworkers (I even was greeted with 2 big hugs Thursday morning and many questions). It was nice to be with laboring patients again and to learn that some of my role comes second nature and it will come back quickly.

I have yet to be in a delivery, so maybe this week. I may have to use my wrist a little more when there is the urgency of a baby appearing! I'm looking forward to a delivery!

This morning, I'm back to work for my first stretch of 3 shifts. Last week my wrist was extra achy after work, so I'm praying that this week is better!

The Day has Come....

The first day of work in 8 months has finally arrived! I'm looking forward to the day! The night was rough, but the 5:30am wake-up wasn't too bad today!

If you think of me between 7:30 and 11:30am, please say a prayer! Thanks!

Tomorrow's the Big Day

Tomorrow morning I'm starting my back-to-work program.

It's 9pm and I'm ready for bed! I've brushed and flossed my teeth, washed my face, and prepared my clothes and bag for tomorrow.

9pm is a very early bedtime, compared to my usual 11pm or 12am bedtime for the past many months. But, 5:30am wake-up is much earlier than my usual 9am wake-up!

I've been more excited than nervous in the past week and a half since the meeting, knowing the exact place of when I'd be returning. This afternoon and evening, the nerves have built up a little. I've been a little on the nervous side.

So, to combat nerves, I took a relaxing bath and read a chapter of a great book (Entirety by Dana Candler). Now, I'm headed to bed!

The Plan

I had my back-to-work meeting this morning. It went well! My union rep is totally supportive and I have a great boss. I made my concerns clear and I hope this round of back-to-work goes better and gets me back for good!

I am heading on to the ward for the first time in 8 months next Thursday, April 3rd! It's been a long time since I've been at work. 8 months since I was on my last back-to-work program and 13 months since I've been officially off on a medical leave! This has been an incredibly long process.

There are things I'm going to miss and there are things I'm looking forward to. I have mixed feelings about another changing of seasons.

So, that's the latest on the wrist saga!

The latest...

Thanks for being patient! Life has felt busy in the last few days!

So, for the latest on the wrist...I saw the surgeon first on Monday. He gave the thumbs up for a back-to-work (BTW) program but insisted that I go REALLY slow and be very careful! He doesn't want me dropping anything! Then I saw the sports medicine doctor who agreed to begin the back-to-work process, but agreed to go really slowly.

So, I have a meeting on Tuesday at the hospital to arrange the BTW schedule. I'm dreading it a little. I am remembering the frustrations regarding a BTW that I dealt with in the summer when I did one. It was exhausting emotionally, constantly defending yourself, the program not going as it should and feeling unsupported by your employer. I'm not looking forward to this.

But, on the flip side, I am looking forward to being in my workplace again. I have to recertify my NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) and have started the readings. It brings me interest and excitement to be learning and using my knowledge of this area again! I'm looking forward to having the honor of being a part of births again. I'm looking forward to ministering to people as I care for them in such a special way again. I'm also interested in seeing how my coworkers are doing!

I have been impressed by the support that I feel from my doctor and my physiotherapist. They have been wonderful! I'm going to have to think of some way to thank them when this is all over. I am thankful that these ones who know my wrist the best (besides my Creator!) are supportive of doing this process slowly. If I was all better, we could do it quickly. The problem is I'm coming back and almost nothing has changed for the better, despite the surgeries and time that has passed. Bummer.

So, some days this whole thing makes me sad. I had a good cry on Monday. Other days, I realize that this too shall pass and I have a resurrected body in store that will have no pain at all! Whether my wrist is totally healed on this side of eternity or not, I will have complete and total healing one day!

What a doozey!...how do you spell dousie?

That headache last night was terrible. I thought sleep would be the cure so I got ready for bed early. Well, it was so bad that it wouldn't let me sleep. Then I found that I had to lie on the side that the headache was, otherwise it was more painful. Suddenly, my physical body decided that it was time to cry...maybe that would relieve some pressure.

My wonderful husband who has dealt with these headaches regularly was very supportive. I finally suckered into taking something for the headache. I hate taking meds!

After crying, meds, prayer and about 30 minutes had passed, I finally fell asleep. I was going to get up early and exercise, but I was worried about my head so I slept another half an hour.

So far, so good. Boy, I feel sorry for people that have migraines! They are terrible!

A busy week in store...

Well, I suppose today is the beginning of the week. I tend to think of Monday as the beginning, even though Sunday really is according to the calendar. I have a busy week in store and unfortunately am starting it off with a wicked headache.

I've had a headache on the right side of my head for the majority of the day. Man, does that hurt!

Tomorrow is a big day. I am seeing both the surgeon and my sports medicine doctor to find out the next step in the wrist saga. I expect to hear that it is time to head back to work. I still have pain just about every day, some days being better than others. The fact that my wrist isn't better makes me sad but there isn't anything else the doctors can do supposedly. So, this means we continue to persistently pray for healing.

I'll have word tomorrow on the time frame ahead. Life is about to change. It is going to be quite different being back at work again.