First and foremost, I want to release another prayer request. A friend I met in high school has been through some tough times, climaxed by being diagnosed with skin cancer. She finished her first round of chemotherapy treatments recently and has a very weak immune system. Right now she has strep throat and has not been able to care for her little baby girl, Addie, in about two weeks. Her aunt and uncle have been taking care of Addie. Even though I haven't seen my friend in around two years, I've been deeply bothered by her trail of events and have been following her condition via email. Pray for her faith and immune system to strengthen, her health to improve, and for her ability to love on and care for Addie. Also pray for the endurance and faith of her aunt and uncle and the rest of her family. God's healing and sustaining grace will provide; God will answer our prayers for He is faithful. Thank you.
Now for a few paragraphs about Homecoming...
Homecoming chapel was in the gym, as usual, and four athletes shared their testimonies and life stories. It was good.
Homecoming was the best for me when Fiddler on the Roof began. Friday night's show was awesome! Everybody did great, and the musical was hilarious. I loved Jose Silva and Dr. Cox on the clarinets!
After the musical, my roommates and I took the seemingly long, bitterly cold trek to the gymnasium for The Perk. It definitely smelled good in there, and I enjoyed listening to my talented fellow peers.
Enough about that. Thanksgiving is only one and half days away! Turkey Day is one of my favorite times of the year--fun with family, great food, relaxation during football... oh, yeah, and the awesome church dinner!
Celebration weekend was last Sunday. My church family, Meadow Heights, just wrapped up the NEXT series with ImagineNEXT. (For more information, you can probably visit the site to the right.) Five hundred of us met in the high school gym to celebrate what God is doing in us and through us, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Plankrode Inn catered, and a group unofficially named the Giant Elves by Michael Goldsmith sung some Christmas songs after the feast. Mmm... fun times with MH!
That's all for now. With the good times and a bad time of the weekend and week, I have plenty to be thankful for. Praise God for His grace and mercy, my blessings, and how He is going to move in my friend's life!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
"Revive Me" and a Request for Prayer
Consider my affliction and please deliver me/Plead my cause and redeem me/Salvation is not for the wicked/For they don't seek your word/Great are your tender mercies, Lord/Revive me, according to your loving kindness/Revive me, that I may seek your word/Revive me, according to your loving kindness/Revive me, oh Lord/You give me understanding/According to your word/Great peace for those who seek your face/I long for salvation/My lips shall praise your name/I rejoice in the treasure of your keep/Chorus/For all my ways are before you/I let your hand become my help/My soul longs and adores you/Let my cry come before you, oh Lord/Chorus/Oh, Revive me/Revive me
This is the song that seemed to echo my heart Tuesday afternoon and this morning. Around four o'clock yesterday I called my mom to check up on her. She had an appointment that day with her arthritis doctor at Barnes Jewish Hospital. The appointment didn't go well.
September 30, 2005, my mom had surgery to remove a nodule on her foot. She contracted strep and staph infections in her foot, most likely from the surgery. She had surgery again on my dad's birthday, June 23. It has been an on-going saga--her foot isn't healing. Because of the arthritis medications she has taken over the years, my mom's immune system is ineffective for her foot. She's been passed back and forth like a hot potato between Appleman Pediatry in Cape Girardeau and a wound specialist in the Wound Care Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Nothing is being done! She is a tough case, I'll admit, but isn't there something they can do? She can't take her medication for rheumatoid arthritis now because it interferes with her foot's "healing," so without God's care, she'll likely be sore for the holidays.
Yesterday she found out that the hole in her foot is growing deeper, and she's supposed to get a second MRI done to check for infection in the bone. At worst, her foot would have to be... you know. After I got off the phone with Mom, who has maintained a fantastic and, for the most part, optimistic attitude about the whole thing, I filled my sister in on Mom's status. I then went out to the car and wept.
This has to be so difficult for Mom. Can you imagine the emotional struggle? She's been through so much pain throughout the majority of her life--and for her to know that her body isn't able to repair itself! At least in this situation anyway. She has a cold right now, and I'm confident she'll get over it just fine.
I'm deeply burdened over the whole thing and frustrated with how the doctors have handled Mom's situation. My aunt Cindy, a very good nurse, has done more than anyone, in my opinion. Many are praying for my mom, but the more the merrier, so please pray for her. God will answer in His timing.
In light of this situation, the events that took place this morning are not worth writing about.
"Revive me... Let my cry come before you, oh Lord."
This is the song that seemed to echo my heart Tuesday afternoon and this morning. Around four o'clock yesterday I called my mom to check up on her. She had an appointment that day with her arthritis doctor at Barnes Jewish Hospital. The appointment didn't go well.
September 30, 2005, my mom had surgery to remove a nodule on her foot. She contracted strep and staph infections in her foot, most likely from the surgery. She had surgery again on my dad's birthday, June 23. It has been an on-going saga--her foot isn't healing. Because of the arthritis medications she has taken over the years, my mom's immune system is ineffective for her foot. She's been passed back and forth like a hot potato between Appleman Pediatry in Cape Girardeau and a wound specialist in the Wound Care Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Nothing is being done! She is a tough case, I'll admit, but isn't there something they can do? She can't take her medication for rheumatoid arthritis now because it interferes with her foot's "healing," so without God's care, she'll likely be sore for the holidays.
Yesterday she found out that the hole in her foot is growing deeper, and she's supposed to get a second MRI done to check for infection in the bone. At worst, her foot would have to be... you know. After I got off the phone with Mom, who has maintained a fantastic and, for the most part, optimistic attitude about the whole thing, I filled my sister in on Mom's status. I then went out to the car and wept.
This has to be so difficult for Mom. Can you imagine the emotional struggle? She's been through so much pain throughout the majority of her life--and for her to know that her body isn't able to repair itself! At least in this situation anyway. She has a cold right now, and I'm confident she'll get over it just fine.
I'm deeply burdened over the whole thing and frustrated with how the doctors have handled Mom's situation. My aunt Cindy, a very good nurse, has done more than anyone, in my opinion. Many are praying for my mom, but the more the merrier, so please pray for her. God will answer in His timing.
In light of this situation, the events that took place this morning are not worth writing about.
"Revive me... Let my cry come before you, oh Lord."
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
"Christmas on Broadway"
Today, we MBU banders got our new music for the upcoming Christmas concert! Hooray! It's a medley of Christmas tunes from different Broadway musicals like Babes in Toyland and A Christmas Carol. We also got other music too.
We just had our first concert Friday, October 27. It went well. Dr. Cox threw in a joke or two about the World Series (Game 5 was that night), and all of us in the band were dressed in "concert black" playing the music we had been working on all semester. We had some flub-ups, but I suspect the audience did not notice all of them--at least I hope not! :)
I played the tough Chester overture possibly better than I ever had before, but Black Horse Troop was rough for me. I almost butchered the end--the part in which Dr. Cox wanted to feature the high woodwinds. Hopefully, Allyssa's piccolo helped lessen my rough time.
Anyway, the concert lasted about a half-hour. Everyone then cleared out and, most likely, rushed home to watch the ball game... Excuse me, I mean watch the Cardinals win the World Series.
We just had our first concert Friday, October 27. It went well. Dr. Cox threw in a joke or two about the World Series (Game 5 was that night), and all of us in the band were dressed in "concert black" playing the music we had been working on all semester. We had some flub-ups, but I suspect the audience did not notice all of them--at least I hope not! :)
I played the tough Chester overture possibly better than I ever had before, but Black Horse Troop was rough for me. I almost butchered the end--the part in which Dr. Cox wanted to feature the high woodwinds. Hopefully, Allyssa's piccolo helped lessen my rough time.
Anyway, the concert lasted about a half-hour. Everyone then cleared out and, most likely, rushed home to watch the ball game... Excuse me, I mean watch the Cardinals win the World Series.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Boullion Cubes! [Gag!]
Rachel has given me permission to tell this story...
So Rachel was going to make beef stroganoff (think Hamburger Helper) in the crock pot for our meal last Tuesday. We were having some friends over (read the last post), and Rachel was kind of nervous about how the food would turn out.
After sitting all day, Rachel and I came home to the apartment and checked on the beef stroganoff. That sucker was HOT! Even with a timer, the crock pot had been on too long. The real problem wasn't the steamy beef stroganoff but rather the one cup of boullion cubes Rachel had added (the recipe called for it). I decided I was game and tried a fork full of it...
"Rachel, can I spit it out?" It wasn't even worth swallowing. It was extremely salty and distasteful (not to mention it looked gross). Rachel had to make a mad dash to Schnuck's that is nearby to make a quick beef stroganoff on the stove. The crock pot sat to the side and soaked in water. It looked so disgusting--definitely not like food, if you catch my drift.
My mom's expertise cleared things up for us. Boullion cubes are strong and are used to make broth. You can put one cube into a glass of water and get broth. It is implied in the recipe to mix a boullion cube in water and pour one cup of the mixture into the beef stroganoff.
Now any time something is "inferred," we can compare it to the inferred boullion cubes (which will never make their way into our home again--hopefully.)
So Rachel was going to make beef stroganoff (think Hamburger Helper) in the crock pot for our meal last Tuesday. We were having some friends over (read the last post), and Rachel was kind of nervous about how the food would turn out.
After sitting all day, Rachel and I came home to the apartment and checked on the beef stroganoff. That sucker was HOT! Even with a timer, the crock pot had been on too long. The real problem wasn't the steamy beef stroganoff but rather the one cup of boullion cubes Rachel had added (the recipe called for it). I decided I was game and tried a fork full of it...
"Rachel, can I spit it out?" It wasn't even worth swallowing. It was extremely salty and distasteful (not to mention it looked gross). Rachel had to make a mad dash to Schnuck's that is nearby to make a quick beef stroganoff on the stove. The crock pot sat to the side and soaked in water. It looked so disgusting--definitely not like food, if you catch my drift.
My mom's expertise cleared things up for us. Boullion cubes are strong and are used to make broth. You can put one cube into a glass of water and get broth. It is implied in the recipe to mix a boullion cube in water and pour one cup of the mixture into the beef stroganoff.
Now any time something is "inferred," we can compare it to the inferred boullion cubes (which will never make their way into our home again--hopefully.)
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