Fruitful Words

Click on the bowlwith the pretty, multi-colored slips of paper to find out!

Today I have permission to . . . create. What will I create?

• Something from a recipe?
• School paper?
• Letter?
• Scrapbook page?
• A perfect day?

I’ll let you know what I end up creating. Click here to find out what you have permission to do. Be sure to share your answers.

This could be a fun daily assignment. 

 My back has a few things to say. . .

•  I can walk without a limp. Yeah!

•  The lower back is still “stiff” so I can’t sit long. Non-yeah.

•  I still tire easily and need frequent rests. Non-yeah.

• My dd is here to help me. Yeah!

BUT, I have so much to do that I don’t know where to start. Doing work 15-30 minutes at a time seems like I’ll never get done.

OK - I’m even afraid it won’t get done.

BUT - I saw this today and know that God was behind it:

“Be strong and courageous, and do the work.
Don’t be discouraged by the size of the task.
For the Lord God, my God is with you.
He will not fail you or forsake you.
He will see to it that all the work related to
the temple of the Lord is finished correctly.
1 Chronicles 28:20

Now I could procrastinate further by . . .

• Calling someone for encouragement.

• Reading about procrastination.

• Eating.

Or I can believe . . .

• God will not fail me.

• God will not forsake me.

• He will see to it that all my work is finished correctly.

Even if it is 15 minutes at a time.

There was a time
I packed my dreams away
Living in a shell
Hiding from myself
There was a time
When I was so afraid
I thought I’d reached the end
But Baby that was then
‘Cuz I am made of more than my yesterdays.

This is my now.
I’m breathing in the moment.
As I look around,
I can’t believe the love I see.
My fear is behind me.
Gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then.
This is my now.

And I have the courage like never before. Yeah.
I settled for Less
But I’m ready for more
Ready for more

This is my now.
And I’m breathing in the moment.
As I look around,
I can’t believe the love I see.
My fear is behind me.
Gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then.
This is my now.

And I’m breathing in the moment.
As I look around,
I can’t believe the love I see.
My fear is behind me.
Gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then.
This is my now.
This is my now.

Written by Jeff Peabody and Scott Krippayne.

Go here to hear a preview of Jordin Sparks (from American Idol) singing this song. Awesome!

My chiropractor said I’d feel better by the end of this week. And I do!

He has been treating me for 3 weeks. My back and knee pain are very manageable this morning. The water (walking in the pool) and heat (going in the jacuzzi and steam room) therapy twice a day has been very beneficial. Dr. Bambus suggested doing this as much as I can.

So if you call and I don’t answer the phone, I’m at the pool! Doctor’s orders.

My sinus infection is almost gone.

My dd is coming today for 2 weeks. She and a friend will read my school work to me and take dictation for my papers.

Thank you ALL so much for your prayers.

And yes, I will take it easy. Between my dd and sista I doubt I’ll be able to get away with much.

George: “God would never let me be successful. He’d kill me first. He’ll never let me be happy.”
Therapist: “I thought you didn’t believe in God?”
George: “I do for the bad things.”
- George and his therapist, in “The Pilot”

This healing stuff is strange - it hasn’t been a linear process and evidently that is normal. But as I lay here day after day, sometimes I feel depressed.

And wonder what God is up to.

But, I hope I never get to the place where I blame God. I want to live this life the right way. And to me that means accepting the good and the bad. Persevereing. With a grateful attitude.

Sometimes we sing a song in church that says, “God gives and takes away.” And as creator God that is His right.

Job acquiesced to God. He never sinned by . . .

• Charging God with wrongdoing - by blamimg Him.
• Talking smack - by what he said.

Sometimes I get mad, moody and questioning. But I hope I learn and use two lessons I’ve learned from Job. . .

• Never blame Him.
• Take this oipportunity to learn more about Him.

Cause really, even if God never gave me another good thing, He has given me everything.

Wahoo! Last Friday a friend got me a 2 week pass to a fitness club. Why is that good news?

1. I’ve been able to walk in the pool without pain (much anyway) to my back and knee.
2. The steam bath and jacuzzi relax my muscles wonderfully.

It’s only been a week, but the doctor can tell a difference in my lower back. However, the upper back is still the same. 

That’s probably because I felt sooooo good on Monday I went to school. My back has been letting me know all week that was a bad move. And my lower back is still hurting this a.m.

Please pray for . . .

• speedy healing
• wise decision-making
• progress on my homework and papers for school
• patient, peacful attitude

Thank you everyone for your prayers and meals.

There are some great Top 5 Lists at Problogger (893 to be exact). I don’t know which number I am.I’ve been reading some of the posts (5 minutes at a time) and have 5 I’d like to share with you all.

1. 5 Great Sites for Landscaping How To Videos
2. Top 5 Ways To Get Your Baby To Fall Asleep
3. Top 5 Kids Craft Websites
4. Top 5 Tricks For Taking Professional Looking Photos With Your Digital Camera
5. 5 Incredible Things You Can Do After Divorce

So, which ones are your fav?

I spent most of last week sleeping. I couldn’t attend seminary classes because of my back injury, but I did learn some things this week. Below are my top five gleanings.

1.  Laying around, eating and TV watching are hard on my manicure. (I’ve been watching Design on a Dime, Rachael Ray, The Biggest Loser and Shear Genius.) I had such high “nail” hopes for these 2-5 weeks of forced rest. I love the look of freshly manicured hands. Unfortunately because I normally dig in the dirt, type a lot, and use my nails as tools, the paint tends to start chipping within the hour. I thought my new lifestyle would be nail friendly. Wrong-O.Maybe I should’ve picked a different color. This one is Frisky Clover.
2. Plastic yogurt containers catch on fire in the microwave in as little as 20 seconds. My container of leftover bechamel sauce (flavored with a tsp. of mustard) only needed a little heating up. Note: The black specks from the fire didn’t change the taste of the sauce.
3. Boiling hot water can make your pitcher explode. I have added drinking green tea to my list of healthy things I now do. (It is #3 on the list. Thoroughly chewing each bit is #2. Drinking 8-10 cups of water is #1.) So all last week I have been pouring boiling hot water over 4 teabags in my thick pitcher. On Monday the pitcher EXPLODED all over the counter, floor and into my 3 drawers when I added the HOT water. I am back to using a tea pot. AND I wait 3 minutes after the boil before pouring water into the pot.
4.  Casting off is harder than it looks. One thing I can do while laying on my back is knitting. I finished knitting the multicolored, cotton dishrag - except for the casting off. Shirley showed me how to do this while sitting up. My back was really hurting so I thought, “How hard can this be laying down?”  Evidently it’s hard, as I’ve made a mess. (I need some Google time.)
5. I can’t think without Google.  Sitting just plain hurts and so I’ve been pretty much banned from the computer. I never realized before this week how many times in a day I Google. The ban is driving me nuts. What’s been on my mind?  
   Why my orange gold fish are getting black spots
   How to get more tomatoes from one plant
   Myofacial release
   Puffy paint drying time
   Stopping alcohol ice packs from leaking    

For more Top 5  Lists check out Darren’s site at ProBlogger.       

1 Week Down & 1 More To Go.

I have been really good about staying prone all week - of course pain is a great motivator. Yesterday my lower back, left hip and left leg hurt a lot. I feel much better today!

My friend Chris (who is a physical therapy assistant) gave me some tips:

• 3 exercises: pelvic tilt, side neck stretch and tush squeeze (to put it politely).
• How to properly get off the couch or bed from a lying position.
• Pain burns calories.That could be why I’ve been so hungry even though I am not doing much anything. I am very grateful for the meals that are being brought. 
• Water exercise (only walking at this point) might be easier on my body than walking. I need to check out Hagan Park’s pool and see when it’s open and what the cost is.
• Use my exercise ball as a chair in front of the computer. That’s what I’ve been sitting on every time I typed this (3-5 minutes at a time). It is more comfortable than my desk chair, but still 5 minutes is my max limit.
• Stop and think. Even when I feel less pain, limit my movement.

I go back to the chiropractor tomorrow. I’m looking forward to what he had to say about my progress. Thanks for your prayers.

Know what I miss most? You all, doing my homework, and Googling.

I rode my first pony in Griffith Park. I was about 5 years old. From what I remember my mom saying, we went there many weekends.

I’m praying that . . .

• the fire is contained soon and
• all those affected by the fire are protected and see God’s visible hand of mercy.