Monday, September 28, 2020

God Is,,,

And I'm back.  I haven't forgotten to share my writing from My Unedited Writing Year, I just haven't had anything that seemed blog-worthy over the last 10 days of exercises.  But today, my friends, is the day I finally felt bloggable again.  So, bloggable may not be a real word, but oh well - I'm a CREATIVE writer, not a journalist.  😉  

Anyway, back to the task at hand. Today is day 20 of this journey, and the prompt for today was to write a "God is" list using metaphors, characteristics, etc.  Just a little disclaimer - since this is a writing exercise, I was shooting for more creative ways to describe God rather than verses that already describe God.  And now that all of that is out of the way, I present my God is list.

- God is more beautiful than the most heavenly sunset
- God is the architect of all, with designs so grand our imaginations could not capture even a sliver of them.
- God is my knight in shining armor.  He rescued me from the tower of darkness and showed me that light existed.
- God is a greater father than all earthly fathers combined.  
- God is mind-blowing and unpredictable.
- God is intensely personal - He sees us bare and unkempt and does not turn away.  He sees the minute details of our lives and cares about them.  He sees our fragile hearts and holds them gently in His hands.
- God is the original creative mind - designer, author, painter, sculptor, composer, and everything in between.
- God is the friend we are designed to need, but the friend we don't invite out with us.
- God is not our life raft - He is the ocean, powerful and consuming.
- God is the champion for the underdogs.  He lifts them up when the world beats them down.
- God is our ultimate defender.  He will fight for us when nobody else does.
- God is infinity - and beyond.  (Okay, so I had to toss a funny one in!)
- God is the joy in our successes and our struggles.
- God is exceedingly patient with us, the petulant children who regularly disobey and ignore Him.  Imagine if our children disobeyed us with the same frequency with which we disobey God.
- God is the ultimate thrill ride.  He leads us from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, upside-down, backwards, and back again.  The ride is terrifying in the moment but leads us to the greatest exhilaration we will ever know.  

And that is all for now.  I hope you have enjoyed today's episode of As the Blog Turns (Ha!) and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.  

Monday, September 14, 2020

The Funny Thing About Clean Slates

My Unedited Writing Year Day 6 

What you may know about me already if you've known me for a while (and you may not know if you don't know me well) is that God occasionally gives me songs.  I am an average singer and I cannot play any instruments beyond a difficulty level of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which makes this all the more amusing, because I am literally the only person who knows how the songs sound.  I hear snippets in my head with full instruments and such, but I cannot possibly express any of that - only the lyrics.

So - for today's writing prompt if was just a "word of the day" (or "phrase of the day") with no additional guidance.  I originally started a story and couldn't think of anything that wasn't really cheesy, but was writing the first sentence when this song came to me.  I will warn you, it's probably really bad because I usually just get a snippet and I'm left to fill in the rest, but I actually like the premise (which was one of the snippet I got).  Second warning:  Some of this came to me in my head as a rap - I'm not sure why since I'm usually not a huge rap fan, but none the less, that is what I heard.  So, without further ado the unedited rough rough rough rough rough rough rough draft of this song that came to me about the phrase "clean slate."

The Funny Thing About Clean Slates

(Rap)

I once was a slave to my sin 

Then I found a new way, a new friend

But I just keep messing up again and again

And I can't figure out when my new life begins

(Sing/Chorus 1)

The funny thing about clean slates

Is there's always a trace 

Of the past you can't face

The funny thing about clean slates

Is that you can't run and hide

From the fears you've denied

(Rap)

I know that God has shown me his love

But I can't help but feel that I've never enough

For our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven above

And I can't stop trying to prove that I'm tough

(Chorus 1)

Because the funny thing about clean slates

Is there's always a trace 

Of the past you can't face

The funny thing about clean slates

Is that you can't run and hide

From the fears you've denied

(Bridge) (x3?)

You have a purpose

There is true meaning

You will get through this

Sin is defeated

(Rap)

I can't run away from the pain that I feel

But I've learned over time that God will heal

All the wounds I've kept hidden when I finally reveal

What I've been pushing away, refusing to feel

(Chorus 2) 

The funny thing about clean slates

Is that God shows His grace

Through what we try to erase

The funny thing about clean slates

Is God using our hurts

To bring others new birth

The funny thing about clean slates

Is that God leaves us our stories

To help bring Him glory


That's it for now.  If you've read this far, I can only say THANK YOU for putting up with what is probably the worse rap you've ever heard/imagined.  Tune in next time for another episode of my journey through My Unedited Writing Year.  


Saturday, September 12, 2020

A New Adventure

 Hello Friends!  Long time, no see!  I am fully aware that I have been completely neglecting my blog for quite a while, but recently an acquaintance from church posted on Facebook about a book that seemed like a good opportunity to get me back into the groove of regularly writing.  The book is called My Unedited Writing Year: 365 Invitations to Free Your Creativity and the Writer Within.  (By Hope Lyda)

The plan is to use this as a springboard to get me back into a regular writing practice now that I have dealt with many of the things that have been holding me back these last several years.  I will share some of the more amusing writings here on my f blog (which will be mostly for my sake since I'm pretty sure that nobody reads this anymore) and hopefully I can power through it even when life is pulling me in seven different directions.  I have a tendency to give up the things that are important to me when somebody close to me needs something.  I have struggled with boundaries and I am working to try to care for myself so that I can be stronger and more energized to care for others.  So let's kick this thing off with a few affirmations that I just need to keep reminding myself of (cue cheesy inspirational music):

My dreams are important to me.

I was made for this.

I will honor my commitment to myself

I will finish this journey one step at a time.

Alright - that's enough of that.  Cut the music.  Let's get this show on the road.  

Today I will be sharing the writing I did in response to the particularly cheesy prompt offered up for day 3.

Ding-Dong Special Delivery?

A miniature poodle is sitting on your porch.  On her forehead is a sticky note which reads: "Read me, then feed me."  A scroll is clipped to her jeweled collar.  What does it say and what happens next?

I was just returning home from my afternoon run, eager to get a cool drink of water and sprawl out on the couch.  As I approached the front door, I noticed something white and furry on the second step of my porch.  I advanced slowly to see what it was and when I was about three feet away, the fluffy bundle suddenly leapt to its feet and charged at me.  I let out the breath I had been holding, and eyed the creature before me.  I was temporarily relieved when I saw that it was only a miniature poodle - then I remembered that I strongly dislike miniature poodles.  Not because I'm afraid of them, but I certainly didn't want it hanging around in my neighborhood.  All that yapping and squealing.  No way.  

And what was up with the note on it's head?  Or perhaps I should say HER head, because only a SHE would wear that hideous bejeweled collar.  And what's that clipped to her collar?  A scroll?  Oh heck no.  I will not let this annoying creature weasel her way into my home, no matter how sweet she looks.  I crouched down and crept closer to this intruder and when I was close enough, I reached out my front paw and smacked her.  BAM!  Right in the nose.  As I slinked away from the scene of the crime I could heat her whimpers growing quieter and quieter as she scuttled away, surely off to find another unsuspecting family to fall for her pathetic cute and cuddly act.  

As I rubbed against the bottom rail on my way up the front stairs, I noticed that she had dropped her scroll as she ran away scared.  I managed to unroll it with my front paws and inside I found only three words - YOU'RE NEXT, CAT!

Sunday, October 08, 2017

Hidden in a Flesh Suit - My Battle with P.C.O.S. Part 1 - Oh, Bloody Heck!

Each of the common issues associated with P.C.O.S. has it's own stigmas and inconveniences associated and I'd just like to share a bit about each of the issues I've experienced so that people I know (and hopefully people I don't know) can have a greater understanding of how difficult it can be.  There are certainly much worse conditions to have to deal with, but there are a lot of sneaky major health problems that can also be related to P.C.O.S. that people just don't realize.  My goal is to bring some of the challenges that women with P.C.O.S. face into the light and to hopefully eventually help other women who struggle like me to find hope and encouragement in their battles to remain healthy in spite of the challenge.  Sometimes dealing with P.C.O.S. and trying to find the treatment (or treatments) that work best for you can make you feel like a guinea pig for the doctors, just trying things out and see what works.  Doctors can also be quite insensitive about it and many family doctors are not knowledgeable about the condition.  I have met doctors who did not even know what it was despite the fact that is believed to affect 20-25% of women in the U.S.  Regardless of how many medical professionals view the condition, I would encourage anybody facing this condition to fight for what works for YOU and don't be afraid to find another doctor if yours doesn't take your concerns about the condition seriously or understand the difficulties associated.

So as I mentioned previously, one of the problems associated with P.C.O.S. is irregular menstruation.  This was the first problem that I experienced that was even noteworthy, so it is the first I will discuss.  If you are a man and not comfortable discussing or reading about women's menstrual cycles you should check out now, though if you have a woman in your life who experiences this condition, it may be helpful for you to understand how difficult it truly is.  I will share some of my personal experiences related to this particular issue to make it more personal.  If you are a woman or a man who is okay with hearing about the ways a woman's body works, this is where my real story with this condition begins.

I was a bit of a late bloomer as far as puberty goes and I was 14 years old before I got my first visit from everybody's least favorite aunt (Aunt Flow).  I went through high school without many visits from this dear aunt, probably no more than a few a year.  I knew that this wasn't "normal" but I also had learned that it's not uncommon for it to be irregular for the first couple of years.  When I had required physicals for sports I was told that it's not uncommon to have a delay in becoming regular in athletic females, and since I played soccer almost year found for most of high school, there seemed to be nothing to worry about.

Once I graduated high school and no longer played soccer year round, the irregularity of my monthly (or perhaps semi-annual would be more appropriate) visitor began to become more of a problem.  Once I no longer had the same level of activity, I gained quite a bit of weight very quickly (which I will talk about in another installment) and my breasts grew approximately three cup sizes the year I was eighteen.  From what I've been told, this was likely because my hormones were no longer suppressed by extreme level of activity I had been doing, though I was still relatively active, so this allowed my "normal" to kick in quickly.  When I say my "normal," there is actually nothing normal about it. 

My periods were still equally irregular as far as how often they came, but once I no longer had the intense activity, they started to hit hard and the length of time that they would last became quite irregular as well.  I would have some that lasted for only three days that were barely noticeable like they had been in high school, then I had others that would last for 20 days that had a few moderately heavy days, but nothing horrible.  The worst of the worse were the periods that lasted a more standard six to seven days.  When these came, the second and third days would hit so hard that I could overflow a tampon and a maxi-pad in just over an hour for two solid days.  By the end of the first day, I would be exhausted, feel sick to my stomach, weak and dizzy.  My co-workers often commented during these visits that I looked like a ghost because I was so pale.  The worst part of it all, was that I never knew which version I was going to get.  So it could start off and seem fairly light, then I could be out and about, at school, work, hanging with friends and all of a sudden I could be at the point where I started overflowing frequently.  I learned to be prepared no matter what, but at first it was quite a hassle, never knowing when I would need to have feminine hygiene supplies available and in what quantity.

Aside from the obvious inconveniences that are associated with never knowing when you might menstruate, there are also certain stigmas and emotions associated with it as well.  I have had many times where I have felt as though I'm not a "real woman" because my body does not do what a woman's body was designed to do.  I have viewed myself as broken or dysfunctional because I can't tell when my period is coming.  I have sat longingly listening to women speaking about how their cycles synced with one another because they spend so much time together and wished that I could experience that.  I've heard time after time after time how "nice" it must be to only have three or four periods a year - because if you haven't experienced a twenty day long period you can't possibly understand how quickly you would trade it for the consistency of a regular period.    But all of these emotions and misunderstandings are NOTHING in comparison to the stigma and general misunderstanding of P.C.O.S. in the medical community.

When I was 21 years old, I finally decided that seven years was plenty of time for my body to regulate itself and for my periods to become regular and since they still weren't regular, it was time to get it checked out.  I talked to a couple of friends and found a female OBGYN that was supposed to be nice and I scheduled an appointment.  The actual MD was out on maternity leave, but her nurse practitioner was still seeing patients, so I went to see her.  I was extremely nervous since it was my first time visiting an OBGYN and since I knew that something wasn't quite right.  The nurse practitioner did the Pap and well woman exam then after we discussed my concerns.  I honestly do not remember anything about the exam because all I remember is the conversation afterward.  I told her that I was kind of concerned because after seven years, my cycle had still never become regular.  She started off with the general questions about sexually activity and I told her that I had never had intercourse.  She kind of rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.  She asked what was the longest I had ever gone between periods and I told her 9 months.  "And you didn't have a baby during that time?"  I repeated that I had never had intercourse.  She asked me how long it had been since my last period.  I told her it had been four months and she looked at me and asked, "And you're sure that there is no chance that you're pregnant?"  I repeated again that I had never been sexually active.  She looked me right in the eyes and said, "You know if you're not honest with us then we can't help you." Then she proceeded to tell me how unlikely it is to still be sexually inactive at 21 years of age in modern society.  I repeated again that I was not sexually active and she told me that she was going to prescribe birth control because even if I wasn't sexually active, it would regulate my periods and if I was (which I probably was) then it would keep me from getting pregnant.  I left that office so embarrassed and ashamed that my body didn't work right that I cried in the car on the way to the pharmacy to pick up the birth control, which wasn't even covered by my insurance!

I was never extremely thrilled about taking the birth control, but I did it for a year the first time.  I finally knew exactly when my period would come.  I knew that I would have a ridiculously heavy day that almost made me pass out on the second day every month (which was AWFUL).  I knew that I would have an emotional meltdown the day before it arrived every time (I was emo on steroids!) The P.M.S. was horrible with the birth control, but at least I knew what to expect and I could finally commiserate with all of the other women who had a "regular" cycle without hearing how "lucky" I was that it only happened a few times a year.  Once that first year was up, the pharmacy called the doctor's office to see if they would renew the prescription and the doctor's office had closed.  So if I wanted to get another prescription, I would have to go see another doctor.   I had absolutely no desire to relive that experience again, so I just decided to see what would happen without the birth control.  I went back to the irregular, unpredictable mess that had been my cycle before birth control and the positive that came with it was that the crazy emotional day each month disappeared. 

It took me FIVE years to build up the courage to go back to an OBGYN after that first experience.  I got fed up with the unpredictable nature and the sometimes 20 day long visits and I was getting close to the age at which I had always thought I would have kids (though I was still waiting for a husband, too) so I wanted to make sure that there would be a possibility if/when the time came.  I checked my insurance for a female OBGYN and just picked one.  I figured whoever I ended up with couldn't possibly be any worse than the first woman I saw, though I was still extremely nervous.  I made a great choice - the doctor I selected at that time was the one who diagnosed me with P.C.O.S. initially and also the one who would eventually care for me during pregnancy.  My second well woman exam ever was considerably less painful (physically and emotionally) than the first.  After the exam we discussed my issues and she wrote an order for blood work and I scheduled a follow up.  The next visit, I was old that the bloodwork was inconclusive but not necessary to diagnose P.C.O.S.  She told me that losing weight would be helpful but difficult.  She told me that it is important to not go an extremely long time between periods because it increases the risk of uterine and endometrial cancer.  She told me that even for people who are not sexually active birth control was the most reliable way to regulate menstruation.  I was once again not excited about the birth control, but by this point I was rather adept at internet research and I discovered that this was the most commonly mentioned "treatment" for P.C.O.S.  It turns out that it's not REALLY a treatment of the condition, just of that single symptom.  My primary concern with it at that time was that birth control often causes weight gain, and I really needed to NOT gain weight.  Fortunately, my doctor listened to me and prescribed one that was supposed to have a positive effect on weight loss. 

This new birth control was even more miserable than the one before, though the weight loss component did deliver, so that was a plus.  But instead of one EXTREMELY heavy days each month I had TWO.  It was at least predictable but extremely unpleasant.  There were no CRAZY emotional days before a cycle, but I began to have migraines before my period almost every month - and I'd never had a migraine before in my life.  This was a rough season but I really enjoyed the weight loss, so in spite of the negatives I continued it for nearly two years.  I stopped taking it in 2007 when I had a breast reduction because my cup size had increased to an H by that point and it was inhibiting my ability to lose more weight and to keep off what I had already lost.  I was advised to stop taking it a couple of weeks before the surgery (since I still wasn't sexually active) because of the increased risk of blood clots.  After the surgery, I did not start it back up again because I was afraid that the estrogen in the birth control would cause my breasts to grow again.  I returned to the ridiculously irregular cycles. 

Over the next couple of years I experienced some other medical issues as well as an injury and had some tests and x-rays on different occasions.  When I went for one x-ray, as per the standard practice they asked if there was any chance that I could be pregnant.  I told them that there was not because I had never been sexually active, so of course the next question was "What was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?" and of course it had been several months and so I was informed that policy dictated that I needed to have a pregnancy test before the x-ray just to make sure.  The guy on this occasion was nice enough but it was still somewhat frustrating to have my honesty called into question AND to have to pay for a pregnancy test when I KNEW that there was zero chance it would be positive - all because society can't believe that people still wait and because I have a medical condition that causes me to go longer than usual between periods.  The hospital employees at least apologized for that one since they had to by policy.  I had a much worse experience with a primary care doctor who was aware of my P.C.O.S. and was seeing me for some digestive issues I was having.  I had been having nausea and frequent bowel movements and other related tummy troubles.  Of course he asked how long it had been since my last period and of course my answer was probably somewhere in the three month neighborhood.  He asked if I could be pregnant because that could cause digestive symptoms as well as the absent period.  I told him that if I was pregnant that it would only be the second time in the history of the world that something like that had happened since I'd never had intercourse.  I told him that the absent period was because of the P.C.O.S. since I wasn't on birth control and he seemed to be fine with that.  He said he would draw some labs for my well check and take some urine to make sure I didn't have protein in my urine.  He went to check the urine in office and came back.  He told me that there was no protein in my urine.  Then he paused and said, "Oh, and you're not pregnant, either." 

The belief in the medical community that women cannot be Bible believing Christians who save themselves for marriages was quite disheartening and caused me to have an extremely difficult time trusting many doctors.  As a result, it is now 9 years later and I STILL have not found a family doctor that I've felt comfortable enough with to trust for my general medical care.  I have tried, but I have found a general lack of understanding of what it's like to be a woman with P.C.O.S.  Fortunately, I have found extremely kind and understanding OBGYN's or just GYN's.

When I returned to my OBGYN the year after my surgery, I told my doctor that I had stopped taking the birth control because I didn't want my breasts to grow.  I told her about the other issues I had experienced also.  She prescribed me a different birth control that was low estrogen to ensure that wasn't a problem.  It also only had placebo pills every three months because she said that's all I needed to shed enough uterine lining to prevent the cancer risk.  It seemed to work well for me, the cycles were not particularly unpleasant.  What I didn't realize until my prescription ran out was that it had made me more emotional, angry, grumpy on a low level basically all of the time.  I had called to schedule my annual appointment about a month before my prescription ran out, but they were scheduling three months out.  My doctor at that time had suggested previously that since I wasn't sexually active, it might be good to see just a standard GYN who was not an OB until I was sexually active ready to think about having kids because they would be easier to get in to.  I really hadn't wanted to do that.  But when I came up on the three month wait, I decided it might be time to give it a try, so I did not schedule an appointment.

I got kind of lazy (and busy) and wasn't so emotional (though I hadn't noticed yet), so I waited almost six months before I tried to find practice with gynecology only.  I ended up getting a recommendation from the gastroenterologist I had seen and really liked.  The first time I saw the nurse practitioner at the gynecology only practice she ordered a transvaginal ultrasound so that they could find out the extent of my P.C.O.S. and what my ovaries looked like and scheduled me to come back for a follow up in a month.  By that time, I had been off of the birth control for a while and had discovered how much BETTER I felt not on it. 

During my follow up I was told that my ovaries were both filled with empty follicles which are normally released with an egg which indicated that I had not been ovulating and so my ovaries were enlarged.  The nurse practitioner told me what I already knew which is that birth control is the most common treatment and I told her that I REALLY didn't like how I felt on birth control and asked if there was any other way.  She actually listened to me and she told me that what is effective for women who are trying to get pregnant is Metformin, which is generally a diabetes drug and a ten day course of Provera every three months or so IF a woman's period has not come on it's own.  She said that the downfall is that it would not prevent pregnancy but understood that wouldn't be an issue for me.    Once I started that, I took the first dose of Provera and only had it once more three months later.  With the help of Metformin and eventually weight loss, I never went more than three months again until I got pregnant with my daughter.  For two years prior to my pregnancy I finally had regular periods without birth control every 5-6 weeks. 

After pregnancy, I have yet to return to having a regular cycle.  I have not returned to taking Metformin because I would prefer to avoid any health risks that could be caused by taking high doses of the drug for such a long period of time.  I continue to work toward finding a solution to regulating my menstrual cycle without causing any longterm health issues or concerns.  It can be challenging, because it feels like there will always be a struggle - but if my struggle can reach just one person, then it will all be worthwhile. 

Thursday, October 05, 2017

Hidden in a Flesh Suit - My Battle with P.C.O.S. - Introduction

I've been pondering writing about this for quite some time but I have put it off repeatedly.  Partially out of pride, because it's kind of an embarrassing thing to talk about.  Partially because I wanted to fully wrap my head around what I wanted to say because it's an emotional topic for me, also.  And partially because I've been afraid - afraid that nobody would be interested, or even care, afraid that I would put myself out there to only hear crickets in response, afraid that people will think that I'm whiny or making excuses.  But today is the day I need to stop being afraid and stop caring about all of those things.  Because I feel like this is a struggle that God has put it on my heart to share.

For those of you who don't know what P.C.O.S. is, it is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  It sounds like a painful problem that would affect my ovaries, right?  But really, it is so much more than that.  It is a hormonal condition that is generally caused by an imbalance in the male and female hormones in a woman's body.  It can cause irregular periods, "cysts" in the ovaries that are actually empty egg follicles because ovulation does not occur regularly, weight gain and difficulty losing weight, elevated risk of diabetes due to insulin resistance, facial hair, acne, sleep problems, depression and anxiety and infertility.  So the name is a bit misleading because as you can see, it impacts a WHOLE lot more than just the ovaries.

So what I will be sharing is my experience with the condition as well as the stigmas associated with it.  It truly feels like a losing battle some days because no matter how much work I put in, it's not going away.  I look forward to sharing more and I hope that you will come along on my journey!

Monday, April 10, 2017

Sounds Like Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays

I know that Monday is in and of itself not capable of inflicting harm. It's a concept and nothing more. But this Monday lived up to every cliché about Mondays you have ever heard.  It started off with Linnea waking up very early this morning right before my alarm went off at 4:50 am.  She wanted to be cuddled which was probably the best part of my day even if it got me off to a late start.  When I finally got up, I couldn't find the shorts I wanted to wear.  No big deal - just find something else.

Next, I started work at 5:45 to find some less than pleasant projects with my name on them.  Oh well.  Just another day.  Head down and focus for a little while before physical therapy.  Ah, physical therapy.  That was another beast entirely.  It has been three weeks since my cast come off and I started physical therapy, so naturally I should be running marathons already, right?  Obviously not, but I am working hard to get back to my life and I had a bit of a breakdown at therapy today when the PT assistant got me set up o. The SAME THING I HAD DONE FOR THE LAST SIX APPOINTMENTS.  How can I possibly get better if I don't do more challenging things?!  Fortunately I have a very understanding physical therapist who graciously explained to me the standards for treatment of my particular injury.  He explained that he knew I COULD do more than I had done but they have to follow certain guidelines.  I wish I would have known that so I didn't melt down like a complete lunatic in front of my therapist.

Once I got home, things continued to go downhill.  Linnea was behaving like a typical two year old which resulted in some less than stellar parenting on my part followed by a less than stellar marriage moment which included me slamming the door.  Way to go, me.  Because that's how mature adults respond to conflict.  I was so worked up that my hands were shaking, so the logical thing to do was to start getting dinner ready to go in the slow cooker and chop an onion.  Smart choice, right.  Fortunately I narrowly missed cutting my finger but it was close.  Like so close that the knife actually touched my finger.  Clearly anger is SOOOO God for my decision making skills.  As I was adding ingredients to the slow cooker, I discovered I was short two cans of tomatoes.  Sigh.

I had to tuck my tail between my legs and go ask Josh to either watch Linnea or go get the tomatoes ASAP.  Once the tomatoes were home and added to the chili, things calmed down for a while until the evening when Linnea once again changed from Jekyl to Hyde and began throwing thing, including a miniature desk fan.  She had refused to nap which always leads to a bit of a meltdown in the evening.  But once she calmed down we had dinner and she cuddled with me while we took silly pictures on Snapchat.  Then she fell asleep on me before 8:00.  It was a fun and cleansing end to a truly MONDAY sort of Monday.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

I Wanna Be a Troll

Sounds weird, right?  Because who really wants to be a troll?  But I do.  I want to be a troll.  Not just any troll.  The pink troll from the Trolls movie.  We haven't seen the movie yet, but because I have a toddler, we have seen every trailer and song from the movie roughly 876 times.  One of the songs is called "Get Back Up Again."  In the video for this song, the pink troll comes across obstacle after obstacle.  She ends up puffing up like a balloon and getting so wrapped up in a web of junk that she looks like she's in a cocoon.  And she's still singing, "I will get back up again."

I want to be that troll.  I feel like I generally have the "get back up again" attitude.  I don't tend to wallow around in the more of what I have going on.  I am pretty consistent in trying to grow and change.  What I'm missing that this troll has is the joyful demeanor throughout the journey.  When I get knocked down by the troubles of this world, I want to get out, but I tend to complain first.  And I tend to continue until I begin to SEE the forward progress and the change.  I don't find joy in the journey until I'm far enough in that I believe that I will make it.

I want to be that troll who starts out on the journey with a joyful confidence.  I should have a joyful confidence, knowing that I can depend on God to guide me through any journey that he sets before me.  But most of the time I don't.  Most of the time I start out the journey with a "why me" attitude and part way through the journey, I look back and see all the times that God helped me through the journey and THEN I find my joyful confidence.  So basically, I'm a bit slow on the uptake.

Right now I'm starting out on a new journey and I want to start it out right.  I am recovering from my peroneal tendon repair surgery and it's time to begin the rehab process.  I have been so frustrated by being so inactive for so long, but I can't let that steal my joy.  I need to look forward.  My doctor said that it would be a "good goal" to be up for CrossFit and/or running in about six months.  Six months is a LONG time to avoid doing the only fitness activities that have ever helped me lose weight, but it is what it is.  So I'm looking forward to trying out some new things to try to fill that time and still get back to being active.  I've never been a great swimmer, but not being able to do much else will give me a great excuse to get better at it and to keep my eyes on God from the start rather than on the distance I have to cover.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

A Church Like That

I want a different kind of church.  I want to BE a different kind of church.  Let me rephrase that - I know that it's not what I want that is important.  I believe that GOD wants a different kind of church.  So many churches have become SO focused on programs that they've stopped seeing the people who are part of those programs.  But if you look at the early church, the one described in the book of Acts, there were no programs, just people.  People who knew each other.  People who cared for one another.  People who loved and were loved.

This is the community that the Bible described.  Acts chapter 2 describes a community in which people shared meals together and cared for one another's needs.  Did this happen because there were programs in place to take care of people's needs?  Or did it happen because people knew each other well enough to just KNOW each other's needs?  Based on the information we have, I would be inclined to believe that they we in relationship with one another every day and therefore knew what was happening in each others' lives. 

What would it take for the church (meaning the general church, not a specific church) to get back to that?  How much more effective would the church be if the relationships within the church body modeled the loving and serving lifestyle that we are called to have outside of the church as well?

Since I've been with Josh, we've been attending larger churches and I always feel like what I'm missing is the relationships.  All of the programs seem to just keep people in their cozy cocoons.  People don't have to be vulnerable or build friendships in order to serve and be served because there's a program for that.  In a large church environment with lots of programs they depend fully on "small groups" to establish relationships, but with the body as a whole looking so much like a business, it is sometimes difficult to find small groups that go deeper.  It also limits how much one can be cared for in a time of need.  Acts 2:44-45 says, "And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need."  This specifically says that all who believed were together NOT divided up into small groups.  They cared for those among them not just through the groups meeting and eating in homes, but as a complete body.

What would it look like to be a church like that?  I'd really like to find out.  I pray for the opportunity to love and serve like they did in the Acts church.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Farewell Normal - A Womanly Welcome

I wrote an essay back in September for Real Simple Magazine's Life Lessons Essay Contest and I have been holding off sharing it on my blog on the off chance I actually won something. The results were supposed to be posted to their website after the 14th and as of yet, still nothing, but at this point I'm pretty sure that it's safe to assume that I did not win anything.

Farewell Normal – A Womanly Welcome

I was thirty years old, but in many ways still a child when my mom was admitted to the hospital for a “simple” case of pneumonia.  I was five years past the age at which I had expected to be married.  My friends were all married or getting married and some of them had begun having kids already.  All had moved forward in life while I remained perpetually single and resentful.  In my loneliness, I had come to rely heavily on my parents to distract me and entertain me
The night my mom was admitted to the hospital, we stayed with her until she was situated in a room, then I went home with my dad for a few hours of sleep before visiting hours began again in the morning.  After a brief respite, as we were on our way back into town, my dad received news that my mom was not getting enough oxygen.  The rapid response team had been called and they needed his permission to sedate my mom and put her on a ventilator to help her get the oxygen she needed.   When we arrived, we were told that she had been moved to the Critical Care Unit, I remember thinking that things were more serious than I had initially thought, but I was confident that she would be fine in a week or so.
In the Critical Care Unit, my mom was only allowed to have two visitors at a time.   My dad, my brother and I took turns visiting her, along with various other family members and friends who had come to offer support.  Late in the morning, my sister-in-law and I were standing at my mom’s bedside, talking to her as we normally would, making jokes and light-hearted conversation despite the alarming labyrinth of cords and tubes that encapsulated her.  The tube coming from her mouth stretched perilously for the ventilator that was pressing air into her lungs.  We could see her chest rising and falling with the rhythm of the machine – a rhythm that was far more abrupt and robotic than the flowing rise and fall of the chest I had laid my head on for comfort so many times as a child.
Our banter was interrupted by a loud beep from the machine monitoring her vitals.  My eyes darted toward the screen and saw her heart rate slowly but steadily declining.  Simultaneously my heart rate skyrocketed in fear.  Because I was a Discovery Health junkie, I knew that if her heart rate got down to 30, they would call a code to prepare for cardiac arrest.  As it hit 35, the nurses in her room leapt to action, shoving my sister-in-law and me out of the way.  One of them turned to us and in a brusque tone, said, “You need to get out.”
I went completely numb as I stumbled toward the exit of the Critical Care Unit, barely able to catch a breath.  Just before I reached the door, I heard them call a code blue to my mom’s room.  I staggered out to the waiting room and collapsed onto the floor crying so hard I felt as though my lungs would burst.  My dad and aunt asked what was happening, but I couldn’t speak.  It wasn’t until a nurse came out a few minutes later that they were plunged into the fear and pain I was feeling.  
My mom had experienced a cardiac arrest.  Her heart rate had come back up with the help of some drugs but it would likely be at least an hour before she was stabilized.  In that moment, the reality that my mom might never leave the hospital pounded within me.  I had never considered that possibility.  Even the night before, as the doctor had discussed with her the importance of an “advanced directive” or a “living will,” I had shrugged it off as the neurosis of an overly dramatic doctor.  I had assumed that things would go back to “normal” in just a couple of days.
As we waited for the nurse to return with an update and to be allowed back into my mom’s room, I came face to face with my own selfishness.  The past several years of conversations I’d had with her flashed through my mind like a slideshow of my narcissism.  As my mom cooked me dinner, helped me clean, went shopping with me, the conversation was the same.  “Why doesn’t anybody love me?”  “Why doesn’t anybody have time for me?”  “Nobody even cares about me.”  It was an endless cycle – Why? Why? Why? Me… Me… Me…  I had wasted so much time COMPLAINING.  To her, to my friends, to my co-workers, to anybody who would would listen.  Even my blog was filled with complaining.  And suddenly, as the possibility of losing my mom, my best friend, loomed overhead, I realized that in comparison, NONE of the things I’d been complaining about actually mattered at all.
I was thirty years old, but emotionally I finally transformed from a girl to a woman in that waiting room.  I stopped being so selfish and started to focus on those around me.  I took up my cross and began to walk as a Godly woman.    Over the next 24 days as my mom remained in the hospital battling for her life, then slipping away, I learned to call upon the friends God had blessed me with to help me carry my burden so that I could take on the burdens of my family.  I made it a point to not cry in front of my family, particularly my dad.  I needed him to know that he could lean on me and I would not break.  I took on the responsibility of leading the family conversations in our meetings with the doctors regarding my mother’s care so that he wouldn’t have to.  It was what my mom would do, and so it became what I would do.
After several weeks in the hospital, my mom’s body had been making good progress toward recovery, but even after being taken off of all sedatives, she was not waking up.  An MRI found that she had suffered a “storm” of mini-strokes.  Her brain was riddled with blood clots and reflected no activity.  She could be kept alive on a ventilator, but she was essentially an empty shell.  My mom had always said that she would not want to live if only a machine was keeping her alive, and so we prepared to say goodbye.  We spent an agonizing six days essentially just waiting for her to die.  I sometimes wanted to run away like the selfish child I had been before.  Other times I wondered if we’d made the right decision, but that was selfishness, too.  We had chosen to honor the wishes she had expressed during her life and I reminded myself that God was big enough to overcome that decision if it was His will to do so. 
A week after we turned off the life support, my mom passed away.  I immediately threw myself into the process of planning a memorial service.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew that I NEEDED to honor her, to serve her memory with as much care as she had served me for so long.  Much of my family was busy mourning while I was fighting to keep her alive for this last little while.  They showed their love for her in different ways.  I wanted to make the celebration of her life GRAND - partly because I felt that I had failed her by not marrying and giving her grandchildren while she was still alive - but mostly because I really wanted to serve her the way she had always served me.  I wrote her obituary with the utmost of care.  I pored through every photo album trying to find pictures for the program and the photo board.  I dug through recipe books for her favorite foods because in life my mom had mostly cooked foods that others liked though she wouldn't eat most of them.  So for her service, I would honor her by serving only HER favorites.  
At the service, my uncle and I sang a song that my mother had sung to me as a child and I sang another one of her favorites on my own.  When the time came for my solo song, I stepped up in front of the gathering of friends and family and with a trembling voice sang out the words that spoke so true in that moment, “Que será será, whatever will be will be…”
Over the next several months, those words continued to play in my head as I accepted the “will be” and began to step into my future, each part of that tragic month contributing a piece to the woman I was becoming.
The time I spent helping my dad with the things my mom had always done helped to prepare me for the day I became a wife.
The sleepless nights I spent at the hospital and the planning I did for the memorial service has helped me to be more confident in motherhood.
And the lessons I learned about thankfulness in the face of difficulty have helped me to be a less selfish and more empathetic wife, mother, daughter, friend, co-worker, neighbor, leader and follower.  

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Generation F (as in fantasy)

Today while I was sitting watching cartoons with Linnea, I saw one of the most disturbing commercials I have ever seen.  Not disturbing in the graphic or violet sort of way but disturbing in the values it was promoting.  It featured a little girl who was really excited because she had graduated preschool and so her parents were taking her on vacation to Walt Disney World to celebrate her graduation...  from PRESCHOOL!  What?!  The commercial then proceeded to call this trip a "kindermoon."  What?!
There is a popular and nasty ongoing conversation about millennials and how they are the generation of participation trophies and entitlement.  The reality is that there are people like this in every generation.  But that really isn't the point.  The point is that it seems that as a society we're trying to create a generation of SUPER MILLENIALS.  Forget the participation trophy - that's not good enough any more.  Instead you must be rewarded for doing EXACTLY what all other children your age are doing.
I pray that Josh and I can do better for our daughter (and any future kids we may have) - that we can teach her to be a responsible citizen who loves God and loves others. I pray that she can learn the value of working hard and experiencing disappointment now and then.  I pray that she can learn to appreciate the value of even the small things.  And I pray that she doesn't expect to go to Disney World for a "kindermoon."