Breath Prayer

I'm sure there is a fancier theological name...but my friend, Renee, shared with me a church tradition with which she is familiar.  As you inhale you praise God or name an attribute; as you exhale you petition. The breathing sort of helps to calm a person too. 


I found myself doing a lot of deep sighing today as I watched Michael go up and down and I kept saying to myself over and over,  "I just want this over."  I've made a conscious effort to capture rebellious thoughts....and I believe it is God that reminded me of Renee.  I told God, that's it...I'm coming up with a prayer to mutter instead of THIS phrase.....and instantly....

"Emanuel, You are close,"  replaced "I Just want this over." Or "Emanuel, Draw me closer."

Who knew? Another tool to take every thought captive to the Lordship of Christ.

A huge encouragement today was an email sent by PWOC International Prayer Coordinator to the International Board and Regional Presidents. She asked all to intercede specifically for myself and Michael. What a joy to know the specific verses they are praying and that they are holding up my tired arms.  Tonight I only drained 20 ml from Michael's gut drain - that is more than 50% less of what it's EVER been since surgery. I think he may get his drain out tomorrow. I'm believing the labs are going to be positive and we'll have some positive steps forward towards full recovery.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Yuuki Photo of the Day

Yuuki thinks she's a cat. She's never far from one of the children. What a blessing she is. 


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Day in FB like Status Updates

• Amazing group of leaders I call sisters...PWOC International Board and Regional Presidents holding us up in prayer, praying specific verses for Michael. I feel encouraged. 
• 3 hours to add titles and edit Feb/Mar 2007 of Choosing Joy for printing....5 years ago....
• I ran a produce co-op, a natural foods co-op and weighed 30 lbs less
• I had had 7 kids at home
• Spent a lot of time at parks with friends 
• Had an unbelievably cute toddler and young kids
• Was waiting for Michael to come home from Kuwait
• Solitary Sunday....we're all pretty laid back today
• Guess who came downstairs for breakfast? Though spent the rest of the morning/afternoon in bed?
• Beth Bowers had a BRILLIANT idea! The next time I change Michael's dressing, I will draw a circle around the infection...then we'll know if it's spreading. 
• Pinterest - I wonder? Just more mental clutter for my already cluttered mind? Or would it help organize perfect brilliance?
• Really praying for PWOC Japan Region leadership - I can't maintain boundaries and start up a new region without a team.  God is calling women - just praying they'll hear and respond positively. 
• I have food in my fridge that is scrumptious and I don't know who brought it...a guacamole/salsa thing....
• "I just want this over" becomes "Emmanuel, You are close"
• WONDERFUL meal from another amazing family for dinner
• Mike looks really worn out tonight...is it normal or a downturn
• Woot - I stripped and drained and dressed the drain site like a PRO....and there was ONLY 20ml tonight....have been trying to get to 30ml and then it can come out....yesterday it was still at 45 ml
• English Muffin dough souring on the counter

Yes, I AM thinking about FB  again. Re-evaluating tends to happen when one spends several hours revisiting past sections of family history.  Is this really how I want to relate with (or to, or at) friends? Just the bottom line? But it's SO convenient and so fun....and a robber of time...and while it clutters my mind with info, I'm not sure true intimacy is bred...a private message or email to a friend may take more time....but more of our hearts communicate....but it's fun and convenient and I need to be on FB anyway for various ministry pages. It's an effective tool for some things....but do I PERSONALLY want to interact via FB? Do I PERSONALLY want to rely on FB for intimacy with friends?

Michael reminds me  what I post on FB is NOT saved for our family journal (Choosing Joy)....I have taken to going over FB updates to remind myself of what to blog about....

 I'm conducting a test this week...open a blog post in the a.m. and every time I have a moment of pure FB brilliance I'll jot a bullet statement. At the end of the day, I'll post some to FB (one one time to post should save me wasted time when I'm led astray to cool links),  delete some, and leave some to publish on the blog. That will be our "Day in the Life" list for the family journal. There will be a  few updates I want to expound on and they will become  blog posts. ::snort::  Meanwhile my FB brilliance will be saved for the family journal during the test week...satisfies all.  

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

In Sickness and in Health

It is good to be home. I have an unbelievably wonderful wife. Every day and every night, she was by my side. For those who have been there, there is nothing better than to see the love of your life as you come through the bewildering, confusing moments when the anesthesia is wearing off. Sweetness to the eyes, and comfort for the soul. This whole thing has me thinking about the phrase "in sickness and in health..." As a pastor, you are expected to be the "expert" on these sort of things, but the truth is the experts are those couples who have been married 40, 50, 60+ years and still holding hands. The expert is the man who is sitting by the bed of his alzheimer-stricken wife unrecognized but still in love. The expert is the wife who lays awake at night listening for sound of her husband's breathing to change... Although this past week has brought me a bit closer to the answer to what this means, the more I think about it, the less I know.


By Grace
Posted By MEG©2012 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
 Living all of life before the face of God...

Jen's Memaw's Oatmeal Pudding Cookies

This is another recipe from our "hospital adventure". I don't usually use pudding but these were GREAT. 

Mix following:

1 c. soft butter 

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. breakfast sugar

2 eggs

1 pkg instant pudding mix (coconut, vanilla, or butterscotch) Note:  instant works better than the pudding mix that must be cooked

Sift in:

1 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

Stir in:

3 1/2 c. instant oatmeal

Optional: 1 c. raisins, chocolate (or other) chips, or nuts

Store dough in covered bowl in fridge. 

Bake 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes

Note, I would sub rapadura for the sugars - 1:1.  Unless I find pudding without the artificial flavors and preservatives this will be a sometime treat or a take somewhere treat as Zander would be sure to over-consume. LOL  I'm going online now to search for pudding/jello options as Michael is eating copious amounts of both and they aren't something we usually stock. 


Note - Note: Jen just told me she made them with whole wheat and coconut flour and they were good too. 


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Granola (Lisa and Kimberly's)

Yes, another granola recipe. I've loved this both times I've had at PWOC. Now that I got the recipe the big differences between it and my "favorite" recipe which affect taste  seem to be both honey and maple syrup (I usually just use honey) and less cinnamon but added nutmeg. I DO use a bit of flour, flakes and water - but those would affect texture (we like clumps) more than taste.  In any event this is GOOD too. Kimberly suggests chocolate chips, but that may be sinful. 


4 C Oats
1/2 C slivered Almonds
1/2 C Pecans (walnuts)
1/2 C Flax Seed
1/2 C Wheat Germ
1/2 tsp each salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 C Oil
1/4 C Honey
1/4 C Maple Syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C Dried Fruit (raisins, craisins etc)

Mix dry ingredients. Warm oil, syrup and honey. Pour liquids over dry mixture. Mix and spread evenly over 15x10 baking sheet. Bake 325* for 20(ish) minutes, stirring every 6 -7 minutes. Stir in dried fruit. Stir every 5 min until completely cooled (wonder why?).

Choosing Joy!©2012 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Productive Day

A bit of a rough night last night as the morphine simply wasn't lasting 12 hours. I knew to pull out a percocet. We're cutting back on these due to the rising liver enzyme but I had been told I could give 3 and I knew this would hold him the remaining 4 hours until he could have more morphine. 


Michael's been doing great today. He even sat at the table for dinner....ate different food than us...but was at the table. None of the dire symptoms I'm to watch. He reports the organ pain he was feeling is lessening and so I do think this was all drug induced.

I've got this stripping the drain technique down now....and when I changed the dressing the infection is no worse...no better, but they seem to content to leave things as they are.

Enough med stuff.....today we also cleaned the house. Baked some cookies. Uploaded 2006 of this blog to Blog2Print and ordered hard copies. Cancelled airline tickets. I edited Jan 2007 of the blog....and generally kept busy.

Stacia and Zander are taking advantage of having dad home - fairly immobile, without an agenda. Here he reads to them.

The kids had some friends over to play games....A fantastic dinner was delivered tonight...Misawa Rocks.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...