Update on Dave

I talked to Gloria on Saturday and Dave is home from the hospital. His surgery went well but he will have to be given antibiotics through a PIC line for 2 more weeks. They go to the infectious disease Dr. on Monday to find out just what it was that caused the crazy infection. Continue to keep the Powell's in your prayers.

As a funny side note, Isaak has been really excited to go and buy his invitations for his birthday party. On the way to church this morning he asked if he and I could " skip the funeral part and leave after sunday school." What he meant was the sermon. I hope Pastor Troy wouldn't be offended :)

Pray for Dave Powell

Hey everyone!! I just got off the phone with Dave Powell and he is going in for surgery as I type. I guess he has an infection in his hip joint that they just found today using an MRI and by taking a sample of fluid. I don't know much more than that, Gloria was literally dropping him off at the front door of the hospital when he called. He is at Home Hospital and will be staying at least one night. Please keep him in your prayers!!

Strange

Today has been very strange. Could it be that everyday is this weird and I am just taking extra note of it today? Maybe, but nevertheless something is going on.

• My day began with reading this bumper sticker on the way to take Isaak to school:

"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle"

• While at Goodwill this morning (my favorite place to go) a woman in front of me in line bought a purple sweatshirt. Just as she was finished paying and the cashier named "Joye" (that had about as much Joy as roadkill) handed her the receipt, she sat her purse down on the floor and told Joye she was going to try it on. After she already bought the sweatshirt, she tries it on and decides that it is too small. Hello!!!!! Are we missing something here. Generally you try things on either before you purchase them or in the privacy of your own home once you get there. So the lady decides to return the sweatshirt, for which Joye is not exactly thrilled about and has to call her manager, who must have been on sabbatical because it took him forever to get there. Crazy!!!!

• When I went to pick Luke up a preschool today at Brady Lane Church of Christ I ran into the bathroom really quick. On my way out there is a huge sign on the back of the door that says "No Smoking". Really, do you think? You mean you are not supposed to smoke in the bathroom at church. The worst part is that it was printed off the computer and laminated by hand, meaning at some point in time smoking in the women's restroom at church must have been enough of a problem to warrant the creation of such a sign.

Crazy!!!

Viewer Discretion Advised

I have this kind of " rule" I guess you would call it that I don't watch anything on TV that I could not watch with my kids, even after they go to bed at 8:00 pm. This "rule" of mine pretty much eliminates 99.7% of whats on. Last night while flipping through the channels, I must confess I broke my own rule.( And no, it was not the new Levi 501 Buttonfly ad. )

I have posted the link, I think, to get to the clip from the show, the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. It is called Better Know a Lobbyist : Atheist and is an interview with a leader from the Secular Coalition. I will warn you now, it has very raw humor that some might find offensive, but I find the point behind it to be very well made.

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=180127

One Man's Trash......

I recently bought a small piece of pottery(5in. x 3in.)at a garage sale for $.50. I just sold it a few minutes ago on Ebay for $163.55. Who says I don't have a job?

A New Found Sense of Security

I saw a bumper sticker today that said,

Fat People Are Harder to Kidnap

I have never felt safer :)

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbors......

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors.... recycling award?

As I was pulling into our court last Friday morning I saw a sign in our neighbor's yard that says " A Recycling Champion Lives Here". Well, if he got one then I was sure there would be one in our yard, probably even a bigger one with flashing lights, solar powered of course.

As you can probably guess, no sign. Nothing but 4, yes I said 4, empty blue recycling bins. We recycle everything! Not one thing is allowed to be put in the trash can that does not get checked for it's recycleablity ( is that a word?). We take our responsibility to our planet very seriously and are proud to be "green". However this time we are green with envy.

I am still holding out hope that they are saving the really big signs for Monday, when the Mayor himself can deliver them along with a ticker tape parade of biodegradable paper, but we will see. I am trying to be a big girl about this, but there is that ever so slight desire to put the empty toilet paper roll in the regular trash just for spite.

Wedding Photo Scandal

When I find out which one of our relatives released this copy of our wedding photo to the media, there are going to be some serious consequences and repercussions.

Shut Up So I Can Hear What You Are Saying

"God created man, Sam Colt made him equal"

That is what I was staring at as I waited in line to drop Isaak off at school today. The truck in front of me in line had this bumper sticker as well as some other NRA stickers and I have been thinking about it all day.
Faith Christian School is such an amazing place. There is such a feeling of warmth and genuine interest in our children there. Every morning, rain or shine, the teachers take turns lining up along the drop off lane and they wave the American Flag as the cars drive by. It is almost like a parade that welcomes the kids to school each day. Today, however, I was just struck by this dichotomy between that guys bumper sticker and the values of the school that he willingly pays a lot of money for his son to attend. I am not at all debating the gun issue, that is not my point. What I am wondering is how much what we do, what we say and what other people see when they look at our lives causes people to get a mixed message.

"Shut up so I can hear what you are saying" was something that a teacher I had in high school would say. He was referring to the fact that our actions really do speak louder than words. We all have heard that a thousand times and most of us would agree with that. But what about what we don't necessarily do, but how other people see us in general. I know that people are always going to have an opinion of us and to some extent we can not control what other people think about us, but where does our responsibility lie in sending these mixed messages.

Let me give you another example. A few years ago I was sitting outside on campus waiting for a class to begin when I saw an older woman driving a van that had several Pro Life bumper stickers on the back of it. There must have been at least 8 or 10 different anti-abortion stickers plastered all over the van which is why it caught my attention in the first place. What caused me to remember it three years later is that the woman had two younger kids in the middle row of seats and she was smoking, with the windows rolled up. I am sure that she felt like putting the stickers on the back of her van was sending a message to people that she believes we should protect the life and health of all children, but what I saw was someone who did not even care about the two children sitting directly behind her breathing the second hand smoke.

I have been pondering these two situations all day and trying to figure out just what God is trying to teach me here. I know that He has put these images in my mind and on my heart for a reason, I am just waiting to realize exactly what that is.

........ to be continued.

186 Minutes

186 minutes doesn't seem that long, it is only a bit over three hours, but today it might as well be a lifetime. 186 minutes ago I said goodbye to Isaak at school for his first day of 1st grade. His first day of all day school, my first day to be without him all day. In the weeks leading up to today, I have been excited about him starting school. I have been looking forward to the break, longing for it at times. Today I am not at all excited, but instead sad and worried and just a little bit lonely.



I was sure he would want me to walk him in to school today, but not the case. He really wanted me to just drop him off and drive away. Leave him all there by himself to find his way to his class? What if he got lost? Went into the wrong class? Spent the whole day in 6th grade before somebody noticed he was in the wrong place.



What if he is scared? What if he is not making new friends? What if he had to play alone at recess? Can he get his shirt tucked in and belt fastened back all by himself? This is his first time eating lunch at school and he decided to take his lunch today. What if he is still hungry? What if he spills something all over him? Can you get salmonella poisoning from peanut butter and jelly?



All of these worries numb me and what I really want to do is jump in the car, drive to the school and steal just a glimpse of him. Just to check on him, make sure he is alright.

But I won't.

Instead I will spend the day offering little prayers of protection and safety for him and sanity for myself. I know he will be OK and I will be to, in about 225 minutes when it is time to pick him up.

An Answer to Prayer

Just wanted to update everyone on Luke. We went to the neurologist on Monday and he was really pleased with the results of all of his blood work and his latest MRI. He seemed extremely positive and his thought is that Luke is getting better from a neurological standpoint and is hope full that the spot on his brain was from a virus and not MS. He will still have another MRI in 6-12 months to see if there has been any change to his brain, but for now he believes that his problems might not be neurologically based. This news was a huge blessing, BUT..........

There always seems to be a "but". Our prayer now is what is wrong with him. He is in a lot of pain, particularly his fingers and legs. He will just roll around on the floor whimpering that his legs hurt. He is also very tired all of the time. He can spend hours just sitting in his room, seeming not even to have the energy to get up and play. Our next stop is to a pediatric rheumatologist at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. The question now is does he suffer from arthritis or another autoimmune disease that causes joint pain and weakness. Our pediatrician has faxed them his chart, MRI reports and blood work and we are waiting on them to call us with an appointment time.

Please just continue to keep Luke in your prayers. It is so hard not being able to "fix" him. When someone that you love more than yourself is in pain, sitting back and waiting for answers is excruciating. I know that God is teaching me patience and to trust not only in Him, but in His perfect timing.

In Training for the 2012 Olympics

It is official, somewhat. I am announcing my bid for the 2012 Women's Individual Badminton team. I am completely and utterly obsessed with Badminton. I can't wait for Brett to come home every night just so we can scarf down dinner and get on with our Badminton tournament. I am considering having our back yard filled in to make an official, Olympic size court. We also need to build a tall seat for the judge, who is usually Isaak, to sit on. When I found out that my passion is also an Olympic sport, I was elated. Sign me up! Put me in coach, I'm ready to play. They might have to consider a few alterations to the uniform, namely making it much larger and not in spandex, but we still have four years to work on that. Go USA!!!

Do You Know Someone Who Stinks?

Let's be honest, we all do. Have you ever wondered if they know they smell. Can't they smell themselves? I once had the unenviable task of telling an employee that he smelled. I was getting complaints from his coworkers and even some customers about the body odor that seemed to seep from his pores and something had to be done. Henry*(name has been changed for confidentiality purposes) was a really sweet young guy that was a hard worker. He was just a bit strange, some might have even called him weird, but aren't we all. He was exceptionally smart, fluent in Japanese and Spanish and read constantly but did not have the common sense to come in out of the rain.

Anyway, the bottom line is he smelled really bad. It was a combination of infrequent bathing and too little laundering and probably some other things. I am not a medical doctor, but I am sure there were some other issues there. So I get to talk to him about his personal hygiene and it's affect on the workplace. This happened several years ago, but I can still remember feeling so nervous and embarrassed for him. I was angry that I had to tell him. Didn't anyone love this poor guy enough to tell him. He lived at home with his parents. What kind of Mom lets their kid walk around funky? Either she had a major olfactory deficit, or she just didn't love him enough to tell him. Or maybe she loved him too much to tell him. Maybe she didn't want to hurt his feelings or embarrass him. Did she figure someone else would tell him and she wouldn't have to, that way she didn't have to be the bad guy? Had she been waiting for years for someone to finally get the courage to tell him what she couldn't?

I don't know the answer. I don't know why she never sat down and had that conversation with him. I also don't know why I haven't had that conversation with the people in my life that wreak of sin. The guy that I love like a son that stinks of alcohol and whatever bar he passed out in last. Why can't I tell him that what he is doing is wrong, that it his hurting not only him but those around him? Don't I love my other friend enough to tell her that she wreaks of hatred and grief. To tell her that people can smell the hurt coming from her so strongly that they can't stand to even be near her. I don't want to be the bad guy. I keep hoping someone else will tell them so I don't have to.

After having a talk with the guy at work, I realized that the answer to the question of don't they know they smell is simply NO. They don't know they do, or at least they don't know that anyone else thinks they do.

They just need to be told, but who is going to tell them?

Luke's Prayer

All of this time we have been praying for Luke, but it turns out Luke has his own prayer. Whenever we eat breakfast or lunch, either Isaak or myself prays. Isaak's prayer is always the same, "Thank you for our friends and thank you for our food." Short, sweet and to the point. If I pray I try to include the customary like, "...and please bless this food to our bodies." I usually then add something to the point of being with Daddy while he is at work, traveling or wherever he might be. So, the other day I asked who wanted to pray for our lunch and Luke volunteered for the first time. I was shocked, but thrilled and so he began. " Thank you for our friends, thank you for our food and please be with our Daddies bodies." He was close :)

Update on Luke

Thanks so much for everyone that has been praying for us and for Luke. He had his EMG test done today at University Hospital in Indianapolis. It was quite painful for him and equally as heartbreaking for Brett and I to watch. They specialist was able to confirm 100% that there is no nerve damage in his legs. This is good news I guess, if you can call it that. The fact that his nerves are not damaged indicates that his issues with walking and his legs are coming from either his brain, his spine or both. This further points to a demyelenating disorder, like Multiple Sclerosis. We already know from his last MRI that he has the one spot on his brain, but at the time his spine looked clear. He has started to show some signs that he might be having vision problems as well has some numbness and pain in his cheek and face.

Because of the worsening of his symptoms he will be having another MRI on Wednesday, July 30th. He will also be having his vision checked in a few weeks by another specialist. With all that is going on around him and his weekly visits to one doctor or another, he never ceases to amaze us with how well he handles it all. He just stumbles around, drooling like a St Bernard with a huge smile on his face. God is amazing and we praise him for what He has done in Luke's life already, and what we know that He has planed for him. We are so blessed!!!

A blog, who me?

OMG!!! I can't believe I have made it this far in setting up this blog without breaking the computer or crashing the ENTIRE world wide Internet. All who know me can attest that I am not exactly technically literate, but I must be doing something right. A blog, who me? I can't believe it myself! So am I officially a Blogger, is that even a politically correct term?

Anyway, here I am.

I must confess that it took me a few minutes, and more than a few attempts with spell check, to come up with a name for this blog. I was reading something recently that posed the question that we all have thought about. "How do you want people to remember you?" It was in a women's magazine and many of the readers responses centered around being remembered for their mothering and their love of their family. It really made me think about what I want to have accomplished. Of course I want people to remember me as someone who loved her family and her children, but more importantly I want to be significant.

The dictionary defines significant as:

1: having meaning, 2 a: having or likely to have influence or effect, 2 b: probably caused by something other than mere chance.

I want my life to have meaning and more importantly for everyone to know that how I lived was caused by something other than mere chance, but instead created in me by God.

That brings me to the word relevant. This was another concept that I really had been struggling to attain. This need to be of the world, to be like everyone else. Recently I have been realizing how much my striving for relevance has been interfering with my relationship with God. God hasn't called me to blend in. If I really want my life to have significance than I have to stand apart from that which I have been trying so hard to fit in to.

And so, this is my attempt to sort through the thoughts that bombard me and the experiences that amaze me as I am on a path to be significantly irrelevant.