WHEW!!!

Well, now that the news is good I will share with you the stress of the last few days. Some of you know, and many of you don't, that a few weeks ago I had an ultrasound of my thyroid that showed that I have, at minimum, six nodules in my thyroid...the smallest of which is 3cm, the largest of which is 2.3 CM!! There was some concern, obviously, that one or more of these might be cancerous. I had to have a nuclear thyroid uptake scan which takes TWO DAYS and is rather disconcerting (they take the pill out of a metal box with a big radioactive warning on it, the pill is in a tube, and they tell you not to touch it just throw it back out of the tube into your mouth...now if it's going to hurt my hands, won't it...never mind we won't go there!!!). Then today I went to my endocrinologist for a biopsy. I DIDN'T, however, have to have the biopsy because my scan came back CLEAR!! Praise GOD!!! There was a small section of my thyroid that showed up "cold" which was of some concern but after doing an ultrasound of that area, my endocrinologist, determined it was normal thyroid tissue that wasn't functioning, but not a tumor. As long as my bloodwork continues to come back normal, and future ultrasounds don't show growth of the nodules then we are good to go. I have to go back for another ultrasound in six months to follow up...and then every year after that...you know what?? I'm totally okay with that!!

The Hissies!!

This is HILARIOUS!! Thanks to Jennifer for finding this!!

God is Greater...

Today's sermon at church was titled God is Greater than my Hurt.

Very appropriate for me right now. I don't know if you would call what I am experiencing hurt, exactly. I'm not in pain. I haven't been betrayed.

At least not by a person.

I have been betrayed by my body. It's a long story, and it may turn out to be nothing...I'll find out in a week...and I'm praying it is exactly nothing...but in the meantime I have been wrestling with God. I want the answer to the eternal question of "why?" Why me, why now, why so much?

All He wants is trust.

In Psalm 55 David cries out to God. He has been betrayed by a dear friend, a fellow believer, and he wants God to avenge his hurts. In the end, however, David comes to his senses and tells God, "But as for me, I trust in you."

I've learned some important things from David.

It's okay to go to God and dump on Him...don't be afraid to tell God all that you are feeling, thinking, hiding. Don't worry that He will think you unspiritual, or unfaithful. Remember, even Christ, as he hung on the cross, cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The key comes when, at the end, after you have given Him all your questions, all of your fears, all of the unbidden emotion, will you make the choice to TRUST that God won't waste your pain?

I heard this song a few weeks ago, right after I received the results of my first medical tests, and it has haunted me. It has played it's chords into the recesses of my mind, begging me to listen. It's a song I don't want to settle into my heart because it calls me to a higher standard, a place that is difficult to visit. A place that is even more difficult to own. It is a place of allowing God to use my pain for His glory.

It is a place of telling God that if He can use it then bring it on!

I'm not quite there yet.

I don't think any of us enjoy difficulties...but I pray that I can find a place where my love for God is so deep that I am willing to set aside my own selfish desires and replace it with a desire to completely sold out to Him, no matter the consequences.

To glorify Him, no matter the pain.

To praise His name, no matter the suffering.

Jesus, bring the rain.


"Bring The Rain"
by MercyMe

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

Thursday Fifteen?

I can't claim to be the inventor of this idea. My friend Heatherdid this for her anniversary this year. But in honor of my dh and my 15th Anniversary...here is my Thursday 15!!

1992: We get married and spend the first night of our Honeymoon in La Jolla, CA. The next day we open presents, pack our car, and drive away to Philadelphia so dh can finish his Seminary degree.

1993: We move back to California, and begin working with the youth group at First Baptist Church of Santa Ana. We got offered the job there by a long time family friend.

1994:Tim gets a job working for Campus Crusade for Christ in San Clemente. We move to San Juan Capistrano about a mile from the beach.

1995:Our first little bundle of job arrives. We LOVE being parents, even if she's a little on the needy side and has to be walked for HOURS at a time to get her to sleep!!

1996: Tim continues to work for the Jesus Film Project, Sally goes back to her old job at the Bible House...splitting a shift with her Mom who spends have the day working and the other half being Grandma to the little one.

1997: Tim gets a call to be the youth pastor at Hope Baptist Church in Phoenix, AZ. We pack up the U-haul and head out of state.

1998: We start our year off with the birth of our son. He is a calm and quiet baby who LOVES to sleep. We meet and become fast friends with the Nations...our first born children are only one day apart!

1999: We are blessed with our second daughter, who came as a surprise...with a seven month old son Mommy didn't know why she was SO TIRED all the time...dd2 was the reason!!

2000 Life rolls along pretty normally. Tim is working for a swimming pool company and I'm at home, raising and schooling the kids full time. I have the priviledge of attending the home birth of my best friend's dd2, and I'm hooked...maybe I should become a L&D nurse?

2001: We begin to apprentice under the Nations teaching Parenting Classes at church and find that our true love and calling is training parents to raise their children in the Love and admonition of the Lord.

2002: After a devestating miscarriage, we are blessed with our third daughter. She is joy embodied. There is little wonder that Joy is her middle name.

2003: This year is pretty much a blur of family life and homeschooling.

2004: Tim becomes a computer teacher at Skyline West H.S., the kids experience "real school" for the first time and Sally goes back to college to finish her teaching credential. Full time school was put on hold when she was offered a long term sub position at Pinnacle Pointe Academy. She continues school on a part time basis.

2005: Sally was offered a permanent contract at PPA and the kids joined her there for school. We buy a new minivan to get us to and from school/work.

2006: Sally continues to teach at PPA, dd1 becomes a sixth grader, and dd3 starts preschool. Tim's sister,her husband, baby daughter and Tim's parents move to Oregon. Our dear friends, the Nations, take a job and move to Florida.

2007: We have a child entering Jr. High and a child entering Kindergarten in the same year! Sally is almost done with her credentialing process and is teaching fourth grade for the third year in a row still at PPA. We celebrate 15 years of marriage and despite some health issues are looking forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Happy Anniversary honey, you are a treasure to me!! I couldn't do any of it without you.

Wanna Play??

Wanna play?

My friend Amy sent this game and I had a ball trying to find the answers.
If you play, let me know in the comments!


SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks!

Rules:

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions...

They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up!

You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have FUN!

Your Name: Sally

1. Famous singer/band: Selah
2. 4-letter word: SKIP
3. Street name: Saint John Rd.
4. Color: silver
5. Song Title: Shout to the Lord
6. Vehicle: Sienna
7. Items on a menu: Soda
8. Girl Name: Sarah
9. Boy Name: Steven
10. Movie Title: Sweet Home Alabama
11. Drink: Sierra Mist
12. Occupation: Salesman
13. Flower: Sunflower
14. Celebrity: Sting
15. Magazine: Sports Illustrated
16. US City: Santa Ana
17. Pro Sports Teams: Seattle Seahawks
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Snoring!
19. Something You Throw Away: Shavings
20. Things You Shout: Shucks!!
21. Cartoon Character: Scooby Doo

When the going gets tough...

The weak run and hide.

Or they want to.

I wanted to hide this morning.

It was youth Sunday and my dd1, as a newbie in the youth group, had to be at church at 8:50. The morning started off with the realization that I had overslept. This in and of itself wasn't huge until I tried to move a box of candles, and tripped over a shoe left on the floor. Unable to catch myself because of my bad knee, I fell and so did the box of candles (in glass jars) and one of them broke. It was for a customer. >>sigh<< I'm going to have to buy a new one, and I don't even like the scent so I don't know what I'll do with the broken one. >>sigh, sigh<< After cleaning up the broken glass off the floor, I hurried to grab my keys and get out the door...we could still get there in time...we jumped in my van (you know, the one that's less than two years old?) the battery wouldn't start!! >>sigh, sigh, sigh<< I shuffle my dd1 off into her dad's car, which doesn't have air conditioning, and it's at least 110 degrees out at this point even though it's only 8:45 in the morning!! I dropped my dd off at church and turned around to go back home and get the rest of the tribe and bring them to church. Now at this point my make-up has completely run off my face and my dh has assured me he got the van to start so I went into the bathroom to fix my face. On the way out of the bathroom I tripped over a fan and fell AGAIN!! >>sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh<< I picked myself up (not an easy task when you can't put much weight on one leg) and shuffle off to the van...really not even WANTING to go to church at this point AND feeling a bit like a jinx...and, yes, you guessed it...the van wouldn't start. I helped my husband jump start the van and we roll off to church, which at this point has started 10 minutes ago. We get to church and drop off the three youngest at SS and walk down to the sanctuary only to have my dd run out bawling her head off. She didn't get a "job" because she was late and she was sure we weren't even coming. >>sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh<< In the end the day turned out okay. I talked my dd out of her hormonal hysterics. The service was nice, lunch at Rubio's was uneventful, and I talked my dh into going to Berean's to find a new novel to read while I'm sitting in doctor's offices in the next couple of weeks. I even got to take a short nap.

I had a friend email me some verses the other day:

Prov. 3:5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
your paths.

Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

and this one found me later today...
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Do you think God's trying to tell me something? Despite my morning it is still true that God is good, all the time...And with the help of HIS strength I've survived to say it one more time.

How was your Sunday?

AWESOME Video!!!

My friend Amy posted a video to her blog that is really AWESOME!! It's hard to see at times, but it is well worth viewing...it had me in tears...just be sure to watch it all the way to the end.



I hope this worked...I just figured out where to get the code to embed it in this blog. If not click over to Amy's blog (link above) and watch it there!!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen EXTREMELY random thoughts:
1. Everytime you put together a group of 20 kids you will get a very different community.
2. One student can drastically change that community.
3. The longer you teach the shorter the amount of time you need to recognize who that kid is going to be.
4. Patience is a great virtue, both in teaching and in medical office visits.
5. Timeliness is not a virtue most doctors possess.
6. Doctors don't seem to have many answers either.
7. Patience is a great virtue, both in working and parenting.
8. I am capable of getting from my house to my school in 10 minutes without getting a ticket.
9. My ds seems to have an amazing ability to forget his lunch.
10. Feeding him Taco Bell probably isn't the best way to encourage him to remember his lunch tomorrow.
11. Buying school supplies is one of the highlights of my life. There's just SOMETHING special about a brand new box of crayons. They're even better when you can buy them for 20 cents a box!!
12. Ticonderoga really are the best pencils. No, your local teacher is not getting a kickback from them.
13. I can take a lot more than I ever thought I could and still survive.


Here's to one more day!!!

It has begun....

Well, another school year has officially begun...we've made it through the introductory week full of rules, procedures, and getting to know each other. Now we're in full swing.

I'm so blessed to have a school full of students who run up to give me hugs (younger sibling of past students of mine give me the most hugs...I think that's funny), parents who support me (even my parents from last year still come by and bring me Starbucks!), and a great new principal!

The craziness of grading and planning and all that is here as well so you might not see me blogging as much but I will try!!

This year we are beginning our school year by reading a great book called "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau. If you haven't read it, you should check it out. If you like it let me know!

And the verdict is....

surgery. I saw an orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday and his words of wisdom were..."it won't get any better, but probably won't get any worse either, but I don't think your pain will go away unless you have the surgery." So here I stand...on one good leg and one wobbly one. I have some other medical issues I have to deal with first, so I'll let you know what I decide...but it looks like we'll be dealing with surgery in the near future.

Thanks for all your prayers...keep them coming!!