Waiting

On Tuesday, October 4, I saw my endocrinologist. During his exam he found that my thyroid was enlarged. After confirming that I had never been told that I had this enlargement he decided to check it with an ultrasound.

The following Tuesday I had the ultrasound. What follows is how the events played out.

October 14,

Susan's Endocrinologist called her today. The results of her ultrasound were a 1.6-cm nodule on her Thyroid Gland. Now they want to perform a biopsy to determine whether it is malignant or benign.

If you would pray

(1) for Susan to have peace about this,
(2) that the doctor would be able to perform this biopsy with as little pain as is possible,
(3) that the Doctor would have wisdom in what to do going forward, and
(4) that if this is a malignant mass, the Doctor would be able to treat it effectively.

Thanks!
David


Susan had a Thyroid Biopsy on Monday, October 24, to check a 1.67-cm nodule that was found on the left side of her Thyroid. Usually they can get enough cells from 2 needle sticks to determine whether there was any malignancy in the nodule.

They had to stick Susan 4 times just to get enough cells to tell…NOTHING. The first two needle sticks (and they don't just stick you: They move the needle around!) got nothing but blood. The third stick they got "blood and collagen." On the fourth needle stick, they got too few cells to be conclusive.

We found out yesterday, that the few cells they got on the fourth needle stick were "inconclusive." But, Susan's Endocrinologist, told us that actually that is a very good sign. Apparently, picking up a lot of cells immediately is usually a sign of cancer. So based on the report, there is nothing to worry about.

They will perform another sonogram in about 8 months (June 2012) to see if this nodule has grown any. According to Dr. Holt, between 40 - 60% of women will have nodules on their Thyroid glands by age 60 (Susan is 47).

So, thanks be to our merciful Heavenly Father, Maker and Creator for allowing Susan's health to continue to be normal, for allowing us (my family, especially Sarah) to remain calm through this ordeal, and for increasing our faith through this trial.

Thank you for your prayers,
David



To all of David's friends who prayed for me.

I am in tears today as I just now start to comprehend how many of my dear husbands friends and business associates have been praying for me over this past month. It truly is by God's grace alone that I was able to wait on tests to be done, wait for pain to be over, and wait for results to be given.

Yesterday as the nurse finished checking my blood pressure, which I told her would be high, (it wasn't!), and went back over all the usual vitals I was numb. Then as she was leaving she said, "I'll leave you alone to talk but if you need me just call. I'll be right outside." To me that was code for, "Prepare yourselves, Dr Holt has bad news."

I won't repeat what David has already told you about the biopsy results but do want to add that I went through the rest of yesterday numb emotionally. I had thought when I received good news that I would feel as if the weight of the world had been removed from my shoulders. But between a terrible migraine which I had not yet been able to treat effectively, and the tiredness of the previous days in which I was deliberately avoiding learning anything about any type of thyroid problems I was just numb.

So today as he forwards every response to me, I am overwhelmed to know that God has placed people in David's life who will pray for us and encourage him.

Thank you for your prayers and love,
Susan

Pictures for EVERYONE who loves us!

I do NOT know how Sarah got Oscar to hold still for a picture let alone wear a hat!

Taking inventory of the supplies loaned by Speed Stacks for her library program

Like my earrings?  Daniel and Sarah made them for me from spent casings.

Why Me?

A few days ago I pulled up some music on YouTube to listen and worship as I worked on some items for the craft fair.
I chose several songs sung by The Gaither Vocal Band and one by The Isaacs.
   

Alpha and Omega

 I Heard a great voice out of heaven saying
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men (He dwells with and in His chosen)
He shall dwell with them and they shall be His people (Christ came to earth)
And Almighty God will be with them

He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes
There shall be no more death
Neither sorrow, nor crying, and no more pain
The former things are all passed away (things to come in heaven)

He that sat upon the throne said,
"Behold, I make all things new"
He said unto me, "Write these words
For they are faithful and true"

And it is done
It is done
It is done
It is done

(IT IS DONE, Once, for all, the perfect sacrifice)

He is the Alpha and Omega
The Beginning and the End
The Son of God, the King of Kings
Lord of lords, He's Everything
Messiah, Jehovah
The Prince of Peace is He
The Son of Man, Seed of Abraham
Second Person in the Trinity

(Some of the Sons names and attributes)

He is the Alpha and Omega
The Son of God, the King of Kings
The Messiah, Jehovah
The Great I Am seed of Abraham
He is the Alpha and Omega
The beginning and the end
Son of God, the King of Kings
The Lord of everything
He is Lord

How many times have I asked , 'Why me?'...

Why do I have these constant headaches?  Why do they get better for a few days then go back to the same horrid cycle.  Why GOD, Why?  Am I not faithful enough?  Am I not _____ enough?

Too many times my first response is, “Why Me? Why am I not healed?

Why do 'bad' things happen to good people? Shouldn't the question be, “why do good things happen to sinners?”

Why Me Lord?

What have I ever done?
To deserve even one
Of the blessings I've known,

(This is the good things to sinners part & the different perspective)

Why me Lord?
What did I ever do?
That was worth love from You
And the kindness You've shown,

( The words 'Love' and 'kindness' can't begin to express what Christ did on the cross)

Lord help me, Jesus
I've wasted it
So help me Jesus
I know what I am,

(This is a hard one, to admit, to confess something I know to be true. Remember that GOD already knows it all).

Now that I know
That I've needed You
So help me Jesus
My soul's in Your hand

(Here's another toughie, admitting that I need Him).

Try me Lord
If You think there's a way
That I can repay
What I've taken from You

(Be sure to understand, nobody, NOBODY can EVER repay Him. If we could there would have been no need at all for Christs sacrifice.)

Maybe Lord
I could show someone else
What I've been through myself
On my way back to You

( The great commission in action, being a real person who is a Christ Follower, allowing others to see the real me with all my weaknesses.)

Lord help me, Jesus
I've wasted it
So help me Jesus
I know what I am

Now that I know
That I've needed You
So help me Jesus
My soul's in Your hand
Jesus, my soul's in Your hand

Then I am reminded that IT IS FINISHED!!!

Christ did what no mortal man, no animal sacrifice could do. He conquered sin and death

It Is Finished

There's a line that is drawn through the ages

On that line stands an old rugged cross
On that cross, a battle is raging
To gain a man's soul or it's loss

On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons, all the devils of hell
On the other, the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha's hill

The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God's son, in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries

It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord

Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging
Not all prisoners of war had come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn't know that the war had been won

Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages
Had fought all the battles for me
And that victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free.

It is finished, the battle is over

It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord



I am no longer bound to sin. I am free from sin's curse.
Does that mean that I am suddenly perfect.
Not by any means.
BUT as a child of GOD, as a Christ Follower I
have the power through the Spirit of God to turn from sin.
 I have a great High Priest sitting on the right hand of Father who interecedes for me.

The righteousness I do not deserve was given to my by Christ who bore the sin that He did not deserve.

Christ took my penalty and gave me His righteousness.

And now I can truly  say,

It Is Well With My Soul 

 When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;

(do you feel like you are drowning in problems too big to surmount?)
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

(Paul teaches this in Philippians 4:11... I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:)

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

More Pictures

Sarah getting ready to teach the 3-3-3 stack at the library.  she did a program at the library with the help of her team members.  She has been asked to do another program this fall.



This is 1 of 3 relay teams for our club.  This team took 2nd.  From left to right Sara, Joesy, Daniel, Sarah



Sarah & Sara doing the doubles stacking.  In doubles the 2 stackers work as 1. Sarah is the right hand and Sara is the left hand.  They  took 2nd place in their division at the Central Piedmont Sport Stacking Invitational, March 2011 in the 18  and up age division.




Part of the CCHSA Sports Stacking Team.
Joesy & Savannah (siblings), Daniel & Sarah (siblings), Coach Rhonda (grey shirt) Emily & Chelsey (Rhondas daughters), Sara (curly hair)

 

Happy Birthday

Daniel has been fascinated with guns as long as we can remember.  He has had a BB gun and then an air rifle.  He has practiced with the air rifle for at least 2 years.  He is the guy that can name a gun he sees on TV and tell me all about it.  (Just like his Dad can do with cars and trains)
What better present than a lesson in gun safety and a trip to the rifle range?

Here he is shooting his Granddad's (David's Dad, John Gibson) Marlin 57M Micro Groove .22 Magnum Rifle at 25 yards.  David learned to shoot about 37 years ago using this same gun.  Both Dads were very impressed with his marksmanship. David says 'he appears to be a natural'.  I guess that all of that practice with his .177 caliber Daisy Powerline 880 Air Rifle has paid off!
 He and his Grandpa, (my Dad) and David went and shot for an hour after viewing a mandatory safety video.



Not a bad shot for a first timer.



 

Look at that shot pattern.  Decent shot accuracy at 25 yards.

Daniel and his Dad

My Dad, (Susan) Jack Monette, shooting his 38 caliber pistol.

Daniel, David & Jack After a couple of hours at the shooting Range. 

Saturday, September 3rd, we had both sets of Grand Parents (John and Grace  and Jack and Judy) over for grilled hamburgers and french fries, cake and ice cream or peach pie.

Pictures for Aunt Celeste

Throwing pizza crust

Sarah and her Snow Wheel  12/26/2010

Oscar aka Monster Dog

Good Food

Pork Chops with Savannah Style rice and gravy

This recipe came from David's family. I learned to make it after we were married then forgot about it and in the past year have started making it again.





Ingredients:



Pork Chops * I use bone-in chops and debone myself*

Canned tomatoes or stewed tomatoes *I use plain tomatoes and season myself* DO NOT DRAIN

Chopped Celery

Chopped Onion

Seasoned Flour to bread chops

Salt, pepper, oregano, basil, pinch of brown sugar

Cooked Rice



1. Debone and dredge the chops in the seasoned flour.

2. Preheat a skillet with about 3 TBSP of oil

3. Fry the chops until golden on 1 side, turn and continue cooking until golden

4. While chops are cooking:

Prepare the onions and celery,

open the tomatoes and break them up into small pieces,

start rice cooking.

5. When all chops are cooked, remove from pan and keep warm

6. add the onion and celery to the pan and cook until onions are translucent

7. Add tomatoes and spices, bring to a boil

8. Add seasoning to tomato mixture and taste, adjust seasoning to your preference

9. Add chops to sauce mixture and simmer for about 15 minutes

10. Serve over the cooked rice

Summer is over...

and school has begun.

Our first "field trip" was to the James K Polk Historic Site.  While this is a very small museum, it is very family friendly.  The staff are very accomadating and we have never felt rushed as we meander around. 

On this trip demonstrations were going on for black smithing and pottery.  These are currently 2 of the many interests that Daniel and Sarah have.

Here is Sarah at the wheel.  This was her first time working clay on a wheel and she seemed to pick it up quickly.  The man doing the demo recommends that we start with slab work first.

This is most definately a 'not-in-the-house' activity.

This is  Daniel working the forge.

Update on saving money, new celluar service

So we switched to common cents cellular which is now virgin mobile paylo. David & I got identical Kyocera phones. He likes his, I hated mine. He does a lot of texting with work and it IS a good phone to text with. It does take good photos as well. BUT you have to purchase a MINIMUM of $20 every 90 days or loose them. If you make the purchase they do roll over but I cannot use that much in the allotted time.

$20 = 285 minutes =4.76 hours

I just do not use a cell phone that much. So it was NOT a good deal for me.

So I used up the time left by sending a bunch of photos, then we just let the phone expire. The good thing is we have an extra phone in the event that David's phone dies.

So I took back the tracfone that was lost and replaced. (Did I tell you that story?). The replacement tracfone is now the kids dedicated phone for when they do riding or whatever.

The moral of the story? Investigate thoroughly. Don't be swayed by the 'flashy' new gadget. Newer is not always better; in fact you may like newer worse than you like older. (How's that for a wonky sentence?)

Youth Group is TOO MUCH FUN??

Youth Group is too much fun.  We should have more teaching and less fun.  We should focus on God and how God is in our life.  Fun's OK but I think that we should be told how we can see God's work in our life.

NO MORE FUN & GAMES

Forget the food.

                                 Forget the fun.

Church is to learn and not socialize.

                                                     To learn and grow.

                                                    We need to be different.

                                        We need to be grounded (BIBLICALLY)

   WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT WE BELIEVE



As you look on the church landscape, youth are leaving the faith in droves.

The modern church, overall, is struggling to reach the next generation with the gospel.



What has happened?

Whether for good or bad, men, for many years, have been inventing solutions or brainstorming ideas without fully relying upon the foundation of God’s Word.

God, however, is greater than man, and as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways higher than ours and His thoughts than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9).

We have substituted the greater for the lesser – God’s wisdom for man’s ideas.

Jesus said that he who hears His Word and does it, is like a man that built his house upon a rock, and when the storm came, it stood firm.

On the other hand, he who rejects His Word, is like a man who built on the sand and when the storm came, the house fell (Matt. 7:24-25).

Shouldn’t the church, as a whole, abandon the sandy ideas of man and shamelessly return to the firm rock of the Word of God?

God’s Word sufficiently identifies how youth are to be reached.



For more information on this issue, please see the film Divided, which is a documentary on age-segregated youth ministry in America. Watch it for free (for a limited time) at www.dividedthemovie.com.

For an in-depth study, the book A Weed in the Church delves into the topic and more thoroughly handles the Scripture passages that address ministry to young people.



For other details or to help spread the message, visit http://www.dividedthemovie.com/.

Have YOU signed up for the Summer Reading Program??

Our library, which just a hop, skip and a jump up the road has a summer reading program.  Even the oldsters like me can join in.

This year I am helping with a T-Shirt Bag class for the teens, not limited to girls but I imagine that most teen guys won't want to make a 'purse'. 

So...in preparation for the class, Sarah made a bag following my directions and we took over 50 photos to document the steps.  I made a bag for myself the next day and added pockets to mine and made my straps different.  I've been using mine for several days and while there are more ways I could personalize it to my criteria, it is doing very well.

The whole bag is made using  duct tape, staples and the Tee.

Supplies all laid out.

Sleeves removed.

Tee folded in half, neckline marked.

The sleeve and neckline openings will become the straps.

Everything cut away.  If you want to add an iron-on or other decorative touches, do it now.

Once the duct tape is on it is very hard to sew through and you can't iron duct tape with good results.

Laying down the duct tape bag lining.

Stapling the bottom seam.

Stapling the side seam at the bottom.  This will give the bag a flat bottom, but is something you can skip if you like.  I like my bags with flat bottoms and lots of pockets.

Inside view of the finished bag.

Outside view.

For size comparison.  Sarah is about 5'8" and she used a lg Tee.

Music

My son is an avid Star Wars fan..He also plays the guitar and some piano. Even if you don't like Star Wars I think you will probably appreciate the unique ways different musicians bring a work of music to life.

Quite a while back we discovered a YouTube video by 'Moose Butter' that is a compilation of several theme songs written by John Williams. 

Today Daniel discovered what I consider a very unusual performance of the piece which is titled "John Williams is the Man'

Enjoy

Money Savers part 2

As we continue to search for ways to cut expenses we have found that sometimes you have to spend some money, upfront, to save money.

This was true of our  change in ISP's and is also true in our mobile phones.

Common Cents Mobile is a prepaid cellular service with the low per minute price of $0.07, (7 cents) per minute AND the round down.  So if I use my cell phone for 1 minute 59 seconds I have only used 7 cents!!

To be totally honest, we did have to purchase a new phone when we had a perfectly good phone already. The old phone will be used by the kids until the minutes are all gone and then, well I don't know what then.

Davids phone came today.  It is a Kyocera with a qwerty keyboard.  Since he actually uses his mobile and texts quite often for work, this was the best way to go.  He should be able to port his number and then we can transfer any remaining tracfone minutes to one of our other tracfones. 

Seven cents per minute vs 25 cents per minutes is a big savings.  I have always been able to find promo codes to use with our tracfones, but the lowest price I can remember paying was 9 cents.  And since I cannot guarantee 9 cents per minute every time I need to purchase minutes, the change in providers was worth it.


Leave a comment and let me know how you are cutting expenses.