New Year 2011

Well, we've gotten our new year off to a good start. We joined an 8-week Sunday night Bible study called "God's Big Picture." I also joined the women's mid-week Bible study at our church. We'll be going through Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself" study until June. Our small group starts tonight, and we'll be taking them through a great study called A Biblical Portrait of Marriage. Stephen and I have been through it once before, but it will be new to our group. And I think it will be as helpful to them in their marriages as it was to ours.

The start of the new year also means dental work for me, usually, and this year has proved no different. Today I had a root canal re-treatment done on a tooth that was treated once before, but apparently the bacteria were never fully eliminated. The endodontist packed medication and antibiotics into my tooth today and we are hoping to see the infection disappear over the next week so she can refill the canals and I can get a new crown put on it. (The current crown is about 5 years old and in need of replacement.)

The root canal re-treatment and new crown will wipe out our benefits once more, so next year when our benefits roll over, we'll probably be doing this again, on a tooth on the upper left part of my mouth. It's the same situation: a failed root canal treatment in need of a redoing.

God was gracious to us today--we were worried that the tooth they worked on was cracked, and the good news today was that it wasn't cracked. So praise Him for that! A cracked tooth would have meant an extraction, and a replacement tooth costs about $6000! But He has provided for us once again and will continue to do so. I am thankful that the other tooth that needs working on is not bothering me much.

Well, that's all the news for now. I'm pleased that the year is getting off to a pretty good start. Praise the Lord for his goodness!