Wisdom from Another

I felt like standing up and applauding after reading this blog from a mother of four. Brilliantly spoken.

Summer 2010 in Review

Summer is ending... Stephen gets home just before the sun sets now.  Most of the flowers are done blooming.  All day long the sunlight is redder, and the wheat fields are gold.  Even some of the trees are starting to turn colors already (much to my disbelief!).  Last Sunday as we drove out to the Coast to camp, a huge line of cars was in the returning lane of traffic--families coming home from their "last hurrah of summer" trips.

Our summer has passed by with a rather flat feel.  Our small group had their regular events--a beach day, a camp-out, and a movie night--but many of the events we had to attend late or were unable to attend because of my Saturday job.  And the group has changed in dynamic and feel.  Our old group leaders' baby is nearly 7 months old now, and two other couples are now expecting.  Another couple has found a different church to call home, and another couple we haven't seen much of at all this summer because of busy schedules.

Stephen has taken on the roll of leader again for the fall, but I won't be taking on the secondhand-man's responsibility of coordinating events or keeping the group up-to-date with e-mails as I did last time.  I'm simply not gifted in those ways.  I may be a writer, but it doesn't immediately make me a good coordinating communicator. :)

Our summer has even been slow photographically.  We didn't get out on any hikes at all.  Stephen took a few days to himself to take photographs, while I was at work or otherwise engaged, but I have only taken pictures of the arrangements I have done.

This next year is going to be full of a lot of change and transitioning, things I have never taken very well.  But some of them I am excited about--I took a second floristry class this summer and did really well in it.  I am also being blessed with opportunities to do more than just deliver flowers at my work.  I made my best arrangement yet today, and my supervisor and manager seem to have been impressed, which is incredibly exciting.  I sense that God's going to do something big in my life with flowers, and I haven't been so excited about something since I met Stephen!  :D

Another exciting thing is that my relationship with God seems to be entering into a growth spurt.  I have sensed reasons for things in my life that I would never have seen reasons for before.  I have even started doing personal devotions, something I haven't been successful at since...let's see...ever!  But I have asked others to keep me uplifted in prayer so that I can continue this pattern.

Stephen and I are coming up on our second anniversary, and I'm happy to say that we are much more solidified than we were in our first year.  We act so much more like a unit, which I was really not sure was going to happen while we were in our first year together, LOL.  God is good. :)

Some fun things we did this summer:

• Went camping at Beverly Beach together, just the two of us.
• I learned to sew and made myself a cloak.
• Found some clothes at a yard sale, and Battle of the Sexes.
• Cooked our own meals for 2.5 weeks!  (A big step for us.  Eating out is such a temptation!)
• Went to the beach several times.
• Used our Entertainment Book a lot (yessssss!).
• Had a lot of really good talks. :)

Overall, I'm glad the summer is ending.  I wish it had had more high notes and less flat ones.  But life's pendulum keeps swinging--it'll be up again soon.  Guaranteed.  It's like the seasons--no matter how terrible the winter, spring does follow with its new beginnings.

A Tearful Goodbye

We said goodbye to the refugees tonight.

It was rather sudden. They are moving to Pennsylvania, in hopes of finding jobs over there.

I always knew our time with them would be temporary. Last week when I learned that Samira and her dad were in Pennsylvania, I kind of felt that our time with them was coming to a fast close. The rest of the family joins them a week from today, July 7. We helped them look for flights today.

We didn't get to say goodbye to Samira and Said. In a way, that was almost better, because it would have been really, really hard to say goodbye to Samira. I really learned to love that girl, and toward the end she was really starting to trust me.

I started crying when we left tonight. Then Soher and Salima (the mother) started crying. We hugged a lot, and they called over Sara, who was at a neighbor's house, to say goodbye, too. It was extremely difficult. But it was such a relief, in a way, to see them cry--to know that they loved us, too. That it wasn't a one-way relationship.

Sometimes I think the cultural and language differences made our relationship even more meaningful than it would have been otherwise. They didn't hear our words; they saw our actions. We visited them faithfully every week, helped them with whatever they needed every week, and I think that spoke much more to them than words ever could, Arabic, English or otherwise.

I also think the cultural and language differences made the goodbyes more real. With them, there was none of this meaningless, "We'll keep in touch," said with a polite nod and smile and an anxious get-me-out-of-here-quick look behind the eyes. No--those American rules of etiquette were irrelevant here. We cried, and they cried. And we hugged, obeying the deepest, most honest desires of our hearts. It gave us closure.

Closure is something we all seek at the end of an era, a chapter, a friendship. So many times I think we obey the rules of society instead of the rules of our hearts, and we don't get that closure. America doesn't like goodbyes, I don't think.

The refugees are nomads; their time in Portland, and with us, was always temporary. In a way, their lifestyle better reflects the truth of our existence than the American way does. We are all temporary residents here. One day we'll all say our goodbyes.

I have lots more thoughts on goodbyes, but I think I've said enough for tonight. It's time to take my tears and rest on God, and sleep with peace in His arms.

Floral Delivery

Another answer to prayer! Back over Mother's Day weekend, I delivered flowers for a local florist for two days. Friday didn't go very well, but Saturday went great.

I had applied to be their regular Saturday driver when the position was open, but they ended up hiring someone else. Today, though, I got a call from them telling me their Saturday driver had gotten a full-time job and was not going to deliver for them anymore.... So they asked if I was still interested! I said yes, of course. I go in Friday for some instruction, and then hopefully I'll start Saturday.

I'm excited and nervous all at once. I can't wait to see where this leads. I genuinely hope this is my "in" into floristry.

I could say a lot more, but I need to head out for volunteer work. If anyone reads this, please continue to keep me in your prayers as I head into this new job. Thanks!

Good news and good news!

From an e-mail I sent my prayer group:

Isn't it wonderful when God answers prayer? Praise God for his faithfulness to us. We found out today that Tooth #15, since it isn't causing me any problems, does NOT need an immediate retreatment! In fact, the endodontist told me we can wait until next year, when my benefits roll over again! I cannot stop thanking God for his goodness in this respect.

I did have my sixth root canal on Tooth #14 on Saturday. It went well, all things considered. Everything did get completely taken care of, and the procedure itself was not painful. But the numbness wore off at the end and so my mouth was really sore for the last 15-20 minutes, while they finished up. But they took x-rays and saw that the canals were completely finished, and we were able to pay for it out of our savings. Next week I'll be getting the crown for that tooth seated, then that should be IT for major dental procedures this year!

We are so, so thankful that we won't have to get Tooth #15 worked on until next year. Thank you so much for all the prayers you have been sending our way. God is good. :)

Bad News, More Bad News, and Semi-Good News

An e-mail I sent to my "circle of prayers":

Well, keep me in your prayers. Tooth #14 is set for a root canal treatment on Saturday at 12:30.

It's been giving me a lot of pain in the last 4 days, day and night. I've been on ibuprofen pretty regularly. So on Saturday I go in to see the endodontist (the doctor who does the root canal treatments) to get it taken care of.

That's the bad news. The more bad news is about Tooth #15, my backmost upper-left tooth. I had a root canal treatment (RCT) done on that one about 4 years ago, in Nampa. So the nerves are gone, so I don't feel any pain, but apparently there is still something going on with it. In the x-rays, there's a pocket of dark area at the end of the roots of the tooth, in the bone. That usually means an infection.

I have a few options from here: a retreatment of the infected area, endodontic surgery, or extraction. Retreatment would be ideal, as it most closely resembles a regular RCT. Endodontic is a bit more invasive and would be necessary if adequate access to the infected area weren't possible by the usual means. Extraction is the most expensive of the three options, as artificial teeth cost thousands of dollars, so we pray very hard that we won't have to resort to that.

Tooth #15 will also need a crown. It should have had one years ago, back when the root canal was first performed, but I know that I was in college at the time and probably opted for the cheaper route of just having it filled. Unfortunately, choosing the cheaper option then may have prevented me from needing a retreatment on this tooth now.

Please continue to pray that God will provide for us. The semi-good news is that He already has provided some: Stephen found and signed up for a discount plan for the cost of these dental procedures, and it saved us $74 on cleaning, x-rays and an exam today, and it will probably end up saving us several hundred dollars in the long run. Praise God for that! But the cost will still put pressure on us with our current means. It would be great if I could get a job, or if Stephen could get a raise or a promotion. More practically and right now, just pray that we will be able to manage our money exceedingly well. All of these things would really help, and they are, of course, possible with God.

Thank you for your prayers and any encouragement you can offer.

Tooth Updates II and III

Whoops, forgot to keep this blog up-to-date! A couple weeks ago, they cleaned out the old filling and the new decay, and determined that the tooth was going to need a crown for sure. The root canal question was still hanging in the balance. Went in today again, and the doctor cold-tested my tooth for response time, and said that it was within the normal response time. YAY! So far so good. So they did the crown prep and put on a temporary crown. He told me that if it is still really abnormally sensitive after 5-7 days, to call in to make a root canal appointment. So me, Stephen and my circle of prayer warriors (love you guys) will continue to pray very hard that that tooth behaves itself, and a root canal won't be needed at all. That'd be AWESOME.

In other news, I had the happy fortune of landing a two-day floral delivery job last week. A local florist needed extra help for Mother's Day deliveries and hired me! WOOHOO! It was super tough the first day, but really nice the second. I officially have my foot in the door! Praise God! On Friday I'll be going in to pick up my paycheck and am trying to determine how to leave a good impression there as I do so. I'm chiefly trying to decide if I should ask about them taking me in for an unpaid internship. The idea scares me to death, but it could be worth asking.

Oh, and this is exciting news--or at least we think so. We're going to see my grandparents in June! For a week this time, or just shy of one. I'm totally stoked, and Stephen's really happy about it too, which makes me even gladder. :D Both of us thought our last trip felt just too short, so we're glad for a chance to make a longer one.