Friday, December 30, 2011

Listen


I blogged about my new 2012 theme on Wives of Faith this morning (a post that took me awhile to write, because I'm not home and I'm still on my operation vacation).

My theme for 2012 is Listen.

Now, I have not gone into detail much online, other than a whittled-down list of folks on my Facebook page who are my prayer warriors, close friends and family members. But I had major ear surgery last week at Fort Lewis, Washington. I had a growth that distorted my eardrum, destroyed much of my temporal bone all the way up to my brain, began to expose my facial nerve, damaged a taste nerve, and destroyed two of the three bones needed for hearing. I now have a new reconstructed eardrum, no disease, and my facial nerve, perilously close to being exposed and damaged, is getting some steroids for strength and protection. I still have hearing in my ear--it's all sensorineural, as those parts are still in working order. My hearing loss will be able to be fixed next year (should the disease not return) with the insertion of a titanium implant replacing the two destroyed hearing bones, connecting my new eardrum to the stapes bone.

I am alive, I have no facial nerve damage (seems I'm past the window of danger for that as well, although the steroid med course continues for another week), I have no brain damage, and no terrible side effects from the medications or the procedure.

God is so good.

On Christmas Sunday, four days after my surgery, we sat in the lovely sanctuary of Chapel One at McChord Field, listening and enjoying the worship service. My heart was full. I was not seeking my theme, I was just trying to enjoy the fact that I could hear the music and the Scripture being read (the same passage which, incidentally, I had posted to my Facebook status not an hour before).

And I heard that familiar, comforting, Still Small Voice say, "Listen. Be still and know that I am God."

"Lord. Really?"

"Yes. Listen."

I had to laugh a little inside. Really? Listen. With what I thought at the time was half my hearing, He wants me to listen? It's going to be HARD. I've been a very healthy girl most of my life. Sure, ear trouble as a kid, and intermittent hearing issues the past year, but not a full-fledged disability. A handicap, really. A medical condition requiring monitoring and being careful.

This year, listening will have to be a conscious effort. It will be work. It is going to make home life harder and work life a lot harder (how in the world am I going to do a VTC class starting in Feb. if I can't hear that well?).

But I'm here. I'm alive. I'm 9 days out from surgery and managing my pain and discomfort pretty well. It will only get better from here.


Past Themes: Brave, 2009
Focus, 2010
Grace, 2011

Listen

I blogged about my new 2012 theme on Wives of Faith this morning (a post that took me awhile to write, because I'm not home and I'm still on my operation vacation).

My theme for 2012 is Listen.

Now, I have not gone into detail much online, other than a whittled-down list of folks on my Facebook page who are my prayer warriors, close friends and family members. But I had major ear surgery last week at Fort Lewis, Washington. I had a growth that distorted my eardrum, destroyed much of my temporal bone all the way up to my brain, began to expose my facial nerve, damaged a taste nerve, and destroyed two of the three bones needed for hearing. I now have a new reconstructed eardrum, no disease, and my facial nerve, perilously close to being exposed and damaged, is getting some steroids for strength and protection. I still have hearing in my ear--it's all sensorineural, as those parts are still in working order. My hearing loss will be able to be fixed next year (should the disease not return) with the insertion of a titanium implant replacing the two destroyed hearing bones, connecting my new eardrum to the stapes bone.

I am alive, I have no facial nerve damage (seems I'm past the window of danger for that as well, although the steroid med course continues for another week), I have no brain damage, and no terrible side effects from the medications or the procedure.

God is so good.

On Christmas Sunday, four days after my surgery, we sat in the lovely sanctuary of Chapel One at McChord Field, listening and enjoying the worship service. My heart was full. I was not seeking my theme, I was just trying to enjoy the fact that I could hear the music and the Scripture being read (the same passage which, incidentally, I had posted to my Facebook status not an hour before).

And I heard that familiar, comforting, Still Small Voice say, "Listen. Be still and know that I am God."

"Lord. Really?"

"Yes. Listen."

I had to laugh a little inside. Really? Listen. With what I thought at the time was half my hearing, He wants me to listen? It's going to be HARD. I've been a very healthy girl most of my life. Sure, ear trouble as a kid, and intermittent hearing issues the past year, but not a full-fledged disability. A handicap, really. A medical condition requiring monitoring and being careful.

This year, listening will have to be a conscious effort. It will be work. It is going to make home life harder and work life a lot harder (how in the world am I going to do a VTC class starting in Feb. if I can't hear that well?).

But I'm here. I'm alive. I'm 9 days out from surgery and managing my pain and discomfort pretty well. It will only get better from here.


Past Themes: Brave, 2009
Focus, 2010
Grace, 2011

Saturday, December 17, 2011

2011 Reading Challenge

2011 Reading Challenge
Pattie has completed her goal of reading 110 books in 2011!
hide

Fall Into Reading Wrap-Up 2011


For participation info, click here.

I am proud of myself...I finished ALL the books on my list. Usually I end up not finishing one, but this time? Oh yes, my friends, this time I finished.

I have included the content of my original post, with hyperlinks to the reviews I have posted elsewhere on my blog.

Special thanks to Katrina of Callapidder Days for allowing me to send her the link to my wrap-up early; I'm headed out of town for ear surgery.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My List:

Books I Also Read But Which Are Not On the List:

Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK by Betsy St. Amant (NetGalley on Kindle)

  • The Shakespeare Manuscript by Stewart Buettner (Kindle)--did not really like all that much.
  • Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (library find)
  • Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook (library find)
  • My Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure (This was my first library loan on my Kindle! What an awesome program!!!)
  • Murder by Mocha by Cleo Coyle (10th Coffeehouse Mystery book--original ones recommended to me by my Nattie, back in the day...)
  • All That is Bitter and Sweet by Ashley Judd (it was okay, difficult read)
  • Delivery by Diana Prusik (disliked the book until the very end....)
  • Give it All, Give it Now by Annie Dillard (short gift book)
  • Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos
  • Harsh Pink by Melody Carlson
  • The Pioneer Women, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story by Ree Drummond
  • One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
  • Lucky Baby

    Meredith Efken's novel Lucky Baby is quite different from her previous novels, which were more comedy. This novel is deeper, more multi-faceted, and much more of an emotional journey than I even anticipated.

    Synopsis:

    Meg Lindsay has everything a woman could want except happiness. Can an adopted Chinese child bring her what she lacks?
    All her life, Meg Lindsay’s mother told her what a disappointment she was. Try as she might, Meg never measured up, and the emotional bruises still hurt as an adult. In Meg’s opinion, no one could be a worse mother than the woman who gave birth to her—that is, until Meg has a child of her own to care for.

    Two young girls lived in an orphanage in China. Unwanted because of a deformity and the lack of family registry, Little Zhen An was destined to spend her childhood in the orphanage. Her only friend was a slightly older blind girl, Wen Ming.

    After Meg and her husband, Lewis, adopt one of the girls, Meg’s love for her new daughter grows daily, but the tension, fear, and uncertainty of motherhood drive Meg to the brink of despair. Fearing that she is becoming the kind of mother she hates, she fights circumstance, rebellion, a loving but at times tense marriage, setbacks, and the native selfishness that lives in all of us.

    Meg’s journey is a magical one as East meets West and as imagination aligns with reality. Lucky Baby spans the world, bridges the gap between heart and soul, and shows that the greatest power on Earth is forgiveness.

    I enjoyed the novel, but not in the same way I thought I might. It was a very emotional book for me, and I found myself setting the novel aside more than I usually do for novels. It touched my heart in a very deep place, the place where my mother-self resides. The place where my wounds are the deepest and the sweetest.

    Sunday, December 04, 2011