A JOYFUL NOISE

A couple of weeks ago, we were in Richmond to celebrate my nieces' 6th birthday.  We left late morning because we wanted to go to the Chesterfield Mall to look at some things.   Mom also needed to get some stuff for dinner for the long weekend (Fri-Sunday), so we decided to head over to Costco over in Richmond; we decided to head to the food court to eat some lunch there.   Mom and I were looking at the menu (well, she was because I had already decided on the salad since that's really the only gluten free thing there); a little girl came up to me, barely 3 feet away from me and started to stare at me.  I usually ignore these things, but it gets annoying to a point, especially if someone starts to following you around to continue to stare.   Then, another irritating thing is when the mom of this child knows her child is staring and she does nothing about it until my mom says "please stop staring, it's not nice".   Even, when that doesn't work, it gets more a...

There are various albums from the reAwakening album from Christ Community Church in Tennessee that I listen to quite often (there is 2 reAwakening and one called "We Will Worship You).  I put the CDs on my iPod so that it is portable for me so I can take it wherever I go and I can listen to it whenever I want to/need to it.  I listen to it when I do my daily tasks around the house, during my quiet times, or just when I need some heart encouragement.  I also use a lot of the words to many of these songs to give encouragement to many of my friends. One of my favorite songs on the reAwakening 2 CD is "I Wait for the Lord", which is based on Psalms 130: 5, 6.   Do you ever get those "ah-ha" moments?  You know, you understand the verses but then, at that point, you see it in a whole new light?  That is what happened to me the other day when I had listened to this song.  I didn't pick this album to listen to, so I wasn't antic...

For the past several weeks, I have had quite a few nights of restlessness.   I would lay in bed and can't sleep.  I would give in and take my Klonopin and nothing happens.  I try to lay in my bed with my eyes closed, occasionally soft music in the background, prayers in my heart.  Nothing happens.   I'm restless, not necessarily from pain (although probably 2/3rd of the time it probably is from the pain; but I can't do much about it because the doctors are being really careful about what medications/how much narcotics I'm given, which is NOT much AT ALL.).   So I sit up in bed, turn my lamp on, and try to read a book.  I do a lot of reading these days, so you can image the amount of tangible books I have as well as e-books I have on my Kindle (including the Bible).  I'll read a chapter or two.  Sometimes I use that time to collect my thoughts about what to write on my blog or take time to pray for others. Other times,...

...are felt and feared NO MORE!    Disclaimer: this has been a long thought out process for about a while, and I have eluded to these thoughts from time to time in my previous points.  I hope these words encourage you.  God has really been teaching me a lot over the years through His Word, through prayers, through support of family, and through much support from many of my church family. ----------- On Thursday, (1/2/14), I had a small invasive procedure done at Augusta Health.  My new pain management doctor, Dr Lee decided to try to do an abdominal block.  This required an ultrasound machine and an injection of a mixture of medication to see if the medication can relax some of the muscles in the abdominal muscles.  I was nicely sedated, so I didn't really feel a thing, which was a totally different experience from when the UVA residents/fellows tried this.  Again, I do know that doctors start somewhere, but I also agree with Dr. Le...

For all of you who knows me well (that is knows me since I was a child), know that I have always had health issues since I was born and have had countless surgeries since I was a year old....I think my doctor looked it up and told me I probably had at least about 55+ surgeries in my life. For those of you who keeps up with me on my blog, email, or facebook, knows that for the past 4 years, I have battled with severe health issues (technically, these issues started when I was in high school, and slowly progressed to getting worse).  I'm not going to go into details because it is all on my blog.  You can read it yourself or re-read it yourself.  I haven't been able to work since 2010, yet the Lord provides as I continue to need to see doctors and medical procedures. As you can read, re-read, remember, or whatever.....or I can quickly refresh your memory, I've been through so many doctors, tests, procedures, etc.  It gets "old".  It gets "tiring."  It...

Yesterday, for some reason, I sat down on my bed and suddenly thought of this person:                                           His name is Warren "Granddaddy" Johnson.  He passed away back in '95.  He and his wife Erma "Grandma" has been part of my life for as long as I can remember and has been to the hospital every time I had surgeries. Erma passed away last year.   Warren would carry me to the prep room, he would hold my hand whenever the nurses would have to do any kind of "thing" to me.   I remember getting surprises after I woke up from surgeries; I remember getting visits.....they both were part of my life.    Yesterday, I just had a sudden meltdown.  ME? at 34 yrs old having a meltdown!!!???!!  YES!  He's k...

These past weeks, (meaning Thanksgiving week and this week) has been filled with medical procedures and doctors visits.  Our family had a pretty laid back Thanksgiving due to my not feeling well at all.  My pain level was sky high and I was extremely worn out all day long, and actually mostly all the rest of Thanksgiving week.  Anyhow, this week, I had THREE UVA appointments.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get all of them in one trip, but I got two of them in one trip. Wednesday, I had my usual check-up with my surgeon, Dr. Gampper, to look at my facial tumors all over my head as well (he decided I needed another CAT scan to determine if the tumors are spreading around the interior part of my head, so this is scheduled on Tuesday.....so tired of medical tests!!) Thursday (Dec 4th) was the longest day of my life (felt like it). I had a 9:30 appointment with my Neurologist, Dr. Leone  It was such an incredible and encouraging visit....