Thursday, March 24, 2011

In-Laws In-Town

Kyle's parents are in town for a few days and we've put them to work! Kyle and his dad are completely remodeling our front bathroom. They finished demolition yesterday and are starting to re-wire all the electricity, fix plumbing, install a new toilet, re-tile the floor and tub, put up new drywall, paint, etc. Kyle's mom has already painted our changing table (that his dad made!), cleaned like mad, and is going to wash all the baby clothes so they'll be ready for Liam. What am I doing, you ask? I'm blogging. At work.

I feel bad that they come all the way here from Indiana just to work but they assure me that they want to do projects. They're good people.

We have a baby shower tonight that my parent's Sunday School class is throwing. I'm really excited. We planned it so Sandi (Kyle's mom) would be in town for it. We have been so blessed by baby showers. If I can figure out how to post pictures to the blog, I might just post some later this week.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Saturday!

I slept in until 8:30 today and it felt so good! I can’t remember the last time I slept ‘till 8:30. Now that I’m “old,” my body wakes up at 7:00am no matter what. Plus, I go to bed so early that I naturally wake up early. Being pregnant has been an excuse to go to bed early (I barely make it to 9:00 or 9:30 most nights!) but I’ve always needed to go to bed earlier than most.

I finished all my homework for my online class this morning, and that felt good, too. I’m taking the last class I need toward ordination with the United Methodist Church, even though I don’t think I’ll actually pursue ordination… Long story, but after I graduated from Seminary, there were three classes I still needed to take if I ever want to be ordained. My church has been so generous to pay for the classes and I am halfway through my last one! The only thing is, it ends on May 20th and I am due May 9th so I’m having to work ahead and complete my two big projects a month ahead of time!

Kyle and I are hopefully going to the movies today with some friends and grilling out afterward (depending on if one friend is feeling better today). I feel like we’re trying to pack fun activities before Liam comes, since we’ll probably be hunkering down for a while after he’s born. I love movies! I love grilling!

This blog seems to be more of a “dear diary” post than anything of real importance, but that’s what’s going on with me today.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Slow

Today is really quiet around the church. I knew it would be slow so I brought my exercise clothes and walked the track in the Youth and Family Center. Just a mile but at least it was something. I've gotten slower and slower and can't seem to do anything about it!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Healing

A topic that has come up in a few conversations over the last two weeks is healing. I think about physical healing a lot, since I have lived with chronic pain every day for the last 18 years.

This pregnancy has been much more difficult (physically) than I had ever dreamed and I had asked some people at our staff meeting to pray for my ribs and back. As I’m continually expanding, the muscles are pulling away from the ribcage and have caused nerve pain. I’ve never had nerve pain before and this is some of the most excruciating and exhausting pain I’ve ever experienced. Anyway, not the point of the story…

After I asked for prayer, a friend was telling me that his wife had a similar thing happen when she was pregnant and we started talking about healing. He mentioned that sometimes, we can be healed despite having a cure for what is hurting. As I’ve been letting that thought percolate in my head the last few weeks, I feel like this is a theme that has been woven into my life.

I have prayed for physical healing for more than half of my life. At ORU, I stood up at every chapel, asking God to heal me. I even went to a Benny Hinn crusade willing to do anything to be healed! Nothing ever happened. I thought that faith was like a thermometer and if I could just get my faith up to a certain degree, God was obligated to heal me (that needs to be another post later).

However, hindsight has proved 20/20. Although I live in pain all the time, I truly believe that God has healed me, just not in the ways I hoped for. Living with pain has shaped me into the person that I am today. I would not be the same if I had lived my life pain-free.

In so many Christian circles, we talk about healing and paint God into a corner. Either heal us or don’t. I am beginning to see that sometimes it can be both. I’m not physically healed from chronic pain, but my soul, the depth of who I am, is healed and whole, partly because of living through this experience.

So, while I would take healing and energy the second it was offered, I am reminded that so much healing comes without a cure.