Strength Will Rise

There are times that we can anticipate when life may get a little hairy.

I think being able to anticipate possible difficulties benefits us.  It gives us time to prepare and be strengthened... to put on the full armor of God.  (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Yesterday, I was anticipating one of these hairy times.  I don't know what to expect from the situation, but I know that whatever happens it will work out.  Thinking about the situation, one of our praise choruses came to my mind as I left for work in the morning.  "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord."  Of course, my memory for songs is not a good one, so the only other lines I remembered were the next two which say, "We will wait upon the Lord.  We will wait upon the Lord."

Coming home from work, still thinking about the hairiness that may come, I started to hum the song again.  Since I couldn't remember the rest of the song, I thought, "I would love to hear this song on the radio."  The radio was already tuned to my favorite station, 95.5 The Fish, so I pushed the button to turn it on.  This is what I heard...

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord (repeat)

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

God is absolutely amazing!

Making Room

When we started out married, we would talk about how many kids we wanted.  I believe 4 was the magic number.  As Mikayla was growing in my tummy, (although we didn't know if she was a she or a he), I would lay on the couch feeling her punch and kick and roll and the words that came to my mouth were, "We've got to do this again!"  Every moment since then my thoughts and feelings have been the same.

Except it hasn't happened again.  We now have heaps of clothing from birth to size 10 at our house, in one particular room.  I've watched the show "Hoarders" and can see how hoarding can happen to nice normal people.  I'm not saying that we are to that extent, but how a circumstance or something that doesn't happen can shape the mind to save.

We are getting ready to sell some of the baby furniture to someone who wants it.  To get it out of the room, we need to get rid of some of the stuff we have.  That's not the only reason though.  We can no longer use the clothing, but could use the room if it were empty of things we don't use.  If we decide to move in the future, we're not going to want to go through all of that either.

This morning, going through the clothes and getting them ready to go to Goodwill became a bit difficult.  Thinking about how we wanted to use the clothes again, the room again... 

Making room.  That's what it's all about.  We need to get rid of the old stuff to make room for the new stuff.  I think that getting that space empty is harder when you don't know what the new "stuff" is.  As followers of God, that new "stuff" could be anything and the empty space and waiting time is important.  One of my life theme verses is Ephesians 3:20.  "God, by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinately beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes."  Now is the time to make room for that to happen.

Potter's Hand

I like to write an end of the year post, summing up the year gone by, especially if I am inspired.  Thinking back over the songs from church today I thought that using one of them to help me sum up my year would be a good idea.  We sang many of my favorites today, but "Potter's Hand" is the one I decided to use.

2010 was a good, solid year.  In the summer/fall of 2009 in knew that my incoming second grade class was going to be a challenge.  In October 2009, I broke down and prayed for something I've always been afraid to ask for... patience.  (They say that if you pray for patience, God will give you circumstances where you will have to practice patience.  I was already smack dab in the middle of those circumstances, so I had faith it would all work out!)

God answered those prayers.  I was able to deal with my class with patience and love.  They taught me lots about God, not even knowing that they did.  I hope I did the same for them.  The winter and spring of 2010 was a time of strengthening.  I knew God put me here for a purpose and I knew I was doing what he wanted done.

In April, I lost my hearing in my left ear.  What I thought was seasonal allergies, turned out to be sudden deafness.  Losing my hearing was scary, but the questions that came along with it were scary too - the main question being, "What if I pray for God to heal me and he doesn't?"

I went to one of our ministers to discuss the matter.  I told him I didn't know if I should pray for it to come back or not. I told him that maybe God had something else for me, involving the hearing loss. He asked if I wanted my hearing back and of course I said yes. He told me to pray for it.  Of course that's when I needed to know, "What if?"
That's when he reminded me of the story about the three in the firey furnace.
Daniel 3:17" If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 BUT EVEN IF HE DOES NOT, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

That was my answer.  God will give me back my hearing, BUT IF NOT, he will still be my God.  He will give me what I need to serve Him.

That's my 2010.  I feel stronger and so grateful to God for all that he has given me.  My hearing has not returned, but God has showed me the strength He can give.  I did not throw my hands up and say, "I can't do my job."  "I can't go out in public because I misunderstand people or can't hear with background noise."  I returned for the 2010 school year and have made appropriate adaptations for my hearing loss.  I have continued to live, hopefully with the zeal and spiritual fervor mentioned in Romans 12:11.

Here are the words to "Potter's Hand."  I hope you can see how this song applies to my 2010 and how it applies to your life as well.
 
Beautiful Lord, Wonderful savior
I know for sure all of my days are held in your hands
Crafted into your perfect plans

You gently called me into your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life
Through your eyes

I'm captured by your holy calling
Set me apart. I know you're drawing me to yourself
lead me, Lord. I pray

Oh Take me, mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the potter's hand

Oh Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the potter's hand



Sudden Deafness - Week 7

This is actually the beginning of week 9 of my sudden deafness, but I had a doctor's appointment in the middle of week 7.  A friend from work highly suggest that I see Dr. Lippy from the Lippy Group in Warren, OH to get a second opinion on my hearing loss.  I went through all the hearing tests again and his opinion was the same as my doctor in this area - sudden deafness, 50/50 chance of regaining hearing in my left ear.

My doctor in this area told me that if I didn't get my hearing back that hearing aids were not an option, but there were other things we could do to help me.  He didn't discuss it with me at that point because I'm pretty sure he wanted me to focus on the steroid treatments and having a positive attitude about all that.  Perhaps he didn't want to scare me.  Anyway, the chief of audiology at Dr. Lippy's told me what that option is - a bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA).

Simply put, a titanium piece would be drilled into my skull and then a sound processor would be attached to that.  The sounds from my right ear would be conducted through my skull to my left side.  I would still have problems telling where sound was coming from, but I could definitely hear better.  That way, when a waiter comes to my left side and starts talking to me, I don't have to have the person across the table tell me that someone is talking to me!  (That happened yesterday.  It was kind of funny.)

The chief of audiology also suggested that I may get used to just hearing from my right side.  I can see how that could happen, but with being a teacher I feel that the BAHA would help me out immensely.  At times with good hearing, it is difficult to understand students with speech problems and who like to talk softly.  I think a BAHA would help reduce frustration on my part, as well as for the students.

I know that it is possible for me to get my hearing back.  God is amazing and He will work in my life - if not in one way, then in another.  I appreciate the prayers that are being said for me!