Surrounded in the Secret Place

I have been enjoying the lessons Abba continues to speak to me about my "word of the year" - Secret place/Refuge/Sanctuary....... I haven't had time to write....but I'm drinking deep. 


PWOC Japan Region is reading the NT, Psalms and Proverbs together.  Today we read Ps 32 and there is MUCH in there....I'll just share a few things from the Psalm here.  I'm skipping right over the parts about sin and repentance - ok quick summary - don't hide it - confess it.

Psalm 32:6-10 NASB

6Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
         Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.7You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
         You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
         I will counsel you with My eye upon you.9Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
         Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,         Otherwise they will not come near to you.10Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
         But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.11Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
         And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

He is my hiding place (#5643 refuge, place of safety and coverage). As I climb into the secret place, I am assured he will preserve (#5341 guard, hide, keep what's been entrusted) ME.

It gets better. He will surround me with songs of deliverance and His lovingkindess. Surround - #5437 - wraps around, transforms, is used of the setting prepared by a jeweler to receive a jewel! I'm His bling.

As I choose to run to the secret place of His presence (Ps 31:20), He sets me in a setting designed to show off His work, He wraps me up and transforms me and/or the situation with lovingkindness and songs of deliverance (VICTORY).

Need some victory? RUN to the secret place.

And in the secret place we become less and less like a mule or horse without understanding, led by bits and bridles. In the secret place intimacy is birthed. I scootch closer and gaze at His face, His mouth and He can guide me and lead me with simply a look. He will guide and instruct me from a place of intimacy.

Need direction? RUN to the secret place.

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

Knocked Flat by PWOC Continuity Notebooks?

On March 11, 2012 I decided it had been a year of bungee cords holding the books above my desk in place....and it was time to remove them. It was an act of faith and hope.

Tonight......

We got a good one. We live right under the "r" in Aomori.  This one was 6.4 - epicenter  where the bright green dot is.

This is the "desk" where I normally sit to work on the computer, skype etc....note the top shelf is EMPTY...yep.....they all fell off again..... This one was strong enough and long enough that Stacia.....

I'm not cruel - taking her photo distracts her ::grin:: 

Mike immediately came over and installed new bungee cords over my work area again. I HATE them - they  don't fit my decorating theme....I don't like the reminder...but after watching them all land where I typically sit, I see the wisdom of the cords. ::snort:: Who really wants their tombstone to read, "Was knocked flat by PWOC continuity notebooks!!"

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

Status Updates March 27th

• Had to have Jared at work by 0800 - so went ahead and took Arielle, Nolan and I to PWOC. It was a joy to be back with my tribe. 
• What a blessing to watch my co-facilitator knock it out of the park this a.m. 
• Michael is up a bit more and eating a bit more. All hopeful. 
• Home for lunch and 2 hours of couch school,  then taking Nolan back to Drama. Jared has a job interview at 5:00. 
• Shopping for clay and cotton string to make oil lamps.
• Melt down in the chapel parking lot as I was alone...all's good....just a "Be Anxious for nothing" moment
• Happy to discover Holy Spirit in me was a tad bit stronger than Mama Bear; room for improvement
• Tina says Michael's color is much better
• SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE*
• Michael is up more today
• Internet is out - shake related? 

*FB friends * indicates a blog post at Choosing Joy. 

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

Predators and Prey

I'm not sure HOW but we made great progress on school today...so much that we took time to play a Predator/Prey game.  We were discussing what senses animals would use to either find or avoid each other if they couldn't see in the jungle.  What other senses could they use to find their prey or escape a predator. It was a fun learning activity...

Stacia is the predator

Guess she'd rather capture the elliptical than the prey

Near miss

Zander found his prey as she was saying, "I'm scared"

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

Yuuki Goes Visiting

How many Gherkin's does it take to bathe Yuuki?

So many epic fails in this story...


I was distracted when Zander and Stacia asked if they could take Yuuki for a walk. I told them I didn't want to go right then...they took that to mean they could go alone. Fail on their part; fail on my part. 


As I said, I've been distracted, and didn't REALIZE they weren't at the table doing table school. Fail on my part.


They went way past our "block boundary" and went down by the ponies and ponds. Fail on their part. 


Stacia came running in screaming, crying, nose running...I finally deciphered  Yuuki was fighting with a Shiba, by the ponies, and Zander needed me to come quick. I did. It's cold when you run outside without proper winter apparel. 


Sure enough their leashes were tangled, they were barking and yipping and they were in the Japanese Veterinarian's yard.  He heard and came out (I'm not sure WHAT took him so long, it was at least 5 min for Stacia to run home, get me, and for me to get back).  I was saying over and over "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai" and trying to hold the dogs. He helped. He said "Dai jo bu" - it's o.k. I thanked him, apologized some more and left with our two young hooligans and sheepish dog. 


Zander was crying, I was lecturing...not yelling...and our friend popped around the door and said, "ee, ee, ee" and made crying motions. I suspect he was saying it's all good...but I haven't a real clue.  


I'm mortified the kids took Yuuki into his yard....then fought his dog. Mortified. They wanted the dogs to be friends and tried to introduce them. We had a long talk about dogs, about territorial instincts, about the fact that you don't walk into someone else's yard...and you don't leave the block without one of us with you.....Stacia suggested we bake cookies for them.  I'm at a loss. Hoping we didn't lose the ground and witness we've tried to build for over 2 years.....and wondering how to teach  common sense strategies which evidently are not common sense to our two youngest. 


We decided Yuuki needed a bath after this.....we were worried about fleas and other bugs Arielle thought she saw. 

Tell me again WHY we're doing this?

Yuukie shows us how to dry a dog

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

Today's Dr. Appointment - Warning! Mild incision photo

Mike has had a big day. He's spent a lot of time downstairs, went to the doc and ate a real meal for dinner tonight....Chicken Pot pie, salad, broccoli....thanks Carmen and family. 


Things weren't as great as we'd hoped for at the appointment today. There is certainly progress. He's been UP more today. The drainage has slowed. I got some really good shots of the drain without the dressing...but again we'll save the really gruesome photos for Michael's upcoming story. LOL 

He ASKED if I had my camera, I would have forgotten 

His liver numbers are going down, though still not normal. This is good. 

His pancreas number is still rising.

Another number is rising but I can't remember it's name, it would indicate stones or a clogged bile duct.

He still has the drain in case they need to do another "procedure" - not happy words.

He's lost 10 more pounds and Zander told him he looks like a skeleton.

Look close - see the drain pinned to the shirt? 

We aren't sure what is up with the lab numbers. The dr. is being cautious. We'll have more labs on Thursday...maybe they'll be normal then. In any event that will be 2 weeks post op and about time to see if it could be something other than "slow recovery" if things haven't gotten noticeably better. I think. Maybe I'm still impatient?

Oh, and he has a marvelously hoarse voice - from being intubated. This should go away with time.

Your continued prayers are appreciated......and after such a big day....Zander, Stacia and I are watching "What's in the Bible - Vol 6," the older kids are at Youth Group, and Michael is wiped out.

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

Day 2 - Status Updates

• Michael woke up once with break through pain but 800 mg of Ibuprofen took care of it; we're getting the pain managed
• English muffins baking and dough started for cinnamon craisin English Muffins which I'll bake this afternoon.
• Titus 2 is the chapter today for PWOC Japan TnT (Truth n Treasures) - why DO so many hate to talk about "doctrine"? It simply means teaching, one who teaches. How can be sound without knowing what we believe and paying attention to proper teaching?
• For those who wonder about Mike's photos - it's Mustache March in Misawa...and it was Flat Top February....women are threatening Armpit April....stay tuned. 
• Yuuki meets neighborhood Shiba....will this be good in the long run?* 
• How do you teach a child "common sense"?*
• 4.6 shaker while we do couch school
• Labs and Doc today - still have a drain; liver numbers are down, something else and pancreas numbers continue to rise. *
• School done*, doc done, whole wheat and Cinnamon Craisin English Muffins baked....I'm done. 

The * items are ones which I'm writing blog posts on for the day. 


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