Saturday, May 31, 2008

Music & Writing

It's been a different couple of days. I'm finally starting to get back on my feet, literally. Tonight I wore socks and shoes for the first time in nearly two weeks- I'm very proud of myself.

Now that I'm more mobile I've got some catching up to do from things that I left undone over the past two weeks, but I'm taking that one day at a time.

One good thing about being flat on my back is it gave me a lot of time to listen to music and I mean really listen, not just have it on in the background. I was given the remastered version of U2's "The Joshua Tree" as a get well gift, so I've been playing that quite a bit.

I've also been doing a lot of writing. I think this week I wrote around 5,000 words which for me is pretty good considering all the other stuff I have going on at the same time. All of the writing was exclusively for the devotional type book that I'm working on. It's really starting to take shape and I'm excited about the prospect of possibly finishing it much sooner than I anticipated. At first I was hoping to have it done by Christmas, but with the way I've been writing I could see myself finishing it by the end of the summer.

With writing this book I'm reminded of the advice A.W. Tozer gave: "The only book that should ever be written is one that flows up from that heart, forced out by the inward pressure. You should never write a book unless you have to."

That was the case for Walking Through A Fallen World and the same could be said for this project too. I can't not write it and that's exciting to me.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Broken Bones, Boredom, and Blessings

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm bored. Completely and utterly bored.

Because of my foot injuries and the "blood bubble" (yeah it looks as lovely as it sounds) that formed over the break, I've been having a pretty monotonous week.

Check work email. Ice foot for fifteen minutes. Elevate foot for 45 minutes. Repeat.

The swelling has gone down a little on the break, but the blood thing is still giving me a lot of pain and making it rough to get around. I had to go to the hospital again on Thursday and that was a challenge.

So until the "blood bubble" disappears and the swelling goes down, I'm basically stuck at home on the same routine. Which has given me the most unproductive week I've had in a long time.

But as bored as I have been, there have been a lot of sunny spots. I've been spoiled rotten by my family. I don't even have to ask for stuff, I'm just getting things left, right, and center. Usually I make coffee, but I've gotten door to door deliveries every single day, without asking. Also things I need just seem to magically follow me around the house- my laptop (awesome for watching TV in bed), my ipod, books, water, pillows, everything. I swear my Mom is "very very sneaky" (yes that's a Mr. Deeds reference- I've watched way too many movies this week!)

Other pluses: I've had a lot of time to be quiet, think, reflect, and pray. I've gotten to read two fiction books from cover to cover, which I haven't done in a long time. And I've gotten a new appreciation for what a gift God has given us with life. It doesn't matter what is going down, it doesn't matter how hard the road gets, every single day we have is a gift from above and deserves to be cherished. So yes, there are blessings even in the midst of broken bones and boredom!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Ugly Break

4 hours spent at the hospital. 3 x-rays. And one diagnoses. I've got one pretty ugly broken toe. And I'm very lucky that's all that's broken.

On Saturday night I came upstairs to find a candle my mom had lit on the stove burning out of control. The flame was huge and wax from the candle was pouring everywhere. In a second of panic, I blew out the candle and grabbed the cast iron dutch oven on the stove to move it out of the way of the flowing wax. Big mistake.

As I was moving the dutch oven, the very heavy lid slipped off and landed directly on my foot.

Instantly my foot exploded in pain. My Mom heard the crash of the lid hitting my foot, then bouncing off on the floor, so she came running and made the wise choice to take me to the hospital.

She called my brother who was out with the car and as soon as he got home they helped me hobble into the vehicle so that I didn't put any weight on my throbbing foot.

I got in pretty much right away, took a wheelchair ride to get some x-rays done and after a couple hours was told that I broke my big toe pretty badly. I was also told how lucky I am that the lid didn't land even an inch higher on my foot. If it had, it would have broken more than one bone in my foot and it would have been a messy recovery.

So for the time being I'm pretty immobile. They can't cast a toe, so I have to be very careful that it remains undisturbed so that it can heal. If I do what I'm told, it should be much better within a week. So my mission now is to keep my foot elevated as much as possible and to put ice on it so that the swelling comes down. Right now my big toe is at least three times the size as normal. The two next to it are pretty swollen as well.

But as bad as it feels and as hard is it is to walk, I'm very thankful because it could have been a heck of a lot worse!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Is it wrong to envy a dog?


It wasn't enough to have a dog bed. A carpet under her food dish. And a towel for sitting in the corner by the window. Now she's converted our heat vents into a sauna.

Do I sound bitter? Maybe a little. But she is cute, isn't she?

Monday, May 12, 2008

Burning Question

If there are two sides to every story, why is it that so often we only want to hear one?

Friday, May 09, 2008

Closing and Starting

Today brought about the close of one year of my life and the start of another. To commemorate, I thought I'd fill you in on a little look back on my 24th year and a look a head to what 25 has in store:

Highlights of 24:

Favorite memory:
-Week spent with my family in Traverse City, Michigan.

Worst memory:
-Well that's one advantage of having a sleeping problem - I don't remember things well. So maybe not remembering is my worst memory. Yes, I'm weird.

Favorite CD listened to:
Toss up between Paul Alan - Drive It Home and Jack's Mannequin - Everything In Transit

Top three books read:
-The Organic God by Margaret Feinberg
-Crowded Skies by Tara Leigh Cobble
-Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

Surprising Accomplishment:
-Learning how to cook.

Song that best described my year:
-Walk On by U2

Five things to look forward to for year 25:

-Four state summer vacation
-Cottage season!
-Finding answers for my health problem and getting it under control
-Finish writing my second book
-Learning more about how live and minister in the same way Christ did

Monday, May 05, 2008

Macbook :)

Yesterday I picked up a new acquisition: a macbook!

I've been wanting to get a macbook for quite some time now and with my job/ministry commitments, not having a laptop is really awkward at times.

So I've been keeping my eyes open on ebay, the newspaper, etc and on Friday I came across an ad online for someone local who was selling their macbook, so inquired and ended up buying it yesterday.

It's just over a year old and has all the features I've been wanting. And the bonus was the price- very reasonable.

I'm very thankful for this new addition. I can't tell you how many times I've wished that I had a laptop. With work, C&C, and the radio show, it's going to make my life a lot easier. Plus it's a mac, which means I can take my video editing and graphic design to the next level.

What a nice early birthday gift :)