A JOYFUL NOISE

For several reason, every year ahead, March and April will never be the same for me again.  I'm sure there are some of you out there who experience the same thing as I do....that something somber, sad, hurtful, heartbreaking, etc has happened on a certain month that leaves an impression on your heart that last a forever impression. A year ago, this week, I concocted a surprise (EARLY) birthday surprise for my best friend, Gina. I purposely did this 3 weeks early because I know her well, and if it was done a few days before, she would have guessed something would have been up.  I got the Slaters involved as well her brother Jonathan.  I enjoyed doing this for her....it was fun to surprise her! After all the celebrations, cake, ice cream, etc, we had some fun time together just the two of us.   We were about headed to bed when my cell phone rang about 10pm.  My Mom called and told me that my grandmother was rushed to the ER with troubled breathing (she also had ...

A week or so ago, I transferred downloaded songs from my computer's iTunes as well as some of my CDs I have to my iPod mini.  I have/had an Mp3 Sansa player but it's about on its last leg and my brother in law gave me their iPod mini a couple of years ago to hold on to in case I would want it or need it.  I'm sure I'll find more Worship/Hymns CDs to add to my iPod!  I enjoy worship music and love listening to it and singing it.  I have collected a lot of those CDs along the years, before iPods came along or even MP3s became available! Listening to my iPod and the worship songs has become a big staple in my daily life right now.  It has become one of my means and ways of worship and devotion, especially times when I'm not feeling well physically and emotionally.  Today, I was listening to the songs on my iPod, when I heard a song come up....a song I know very well.  A song, I haven't heard for a long while, yet I know by heart....a song that brought b...

My blog has been quiet for almost a month.   In some ways, there really hasn't been much to update; in some ways, there are so many things I can share but I just don't know how to put it into words.   Since my last update, needless to say, there still isn't any answer to my increasing pain and new unexplained pains.  The tests are coming back negative and I'm being sent to an endocrinologist for further evaluation because my cortisol levels are low.   I continue to fight fatigue and pain everyday as well as continued discouragement and depression on a daily basis.  My last pain block did not help but just for two days for some reason; that was a huge disappointment.  It seemed as if the whole month of February was a "KA-PLUK" for me.  High pain levels....but not just that, I was also sick most of the time; I was restless most nights, woke up in night sweats, running low grade fevers, nausea, not much appetite, etc.  It was a loosing battl...

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...