Mood:  not sure

God's handiwork is surely amazing. Take the human body. Everything works together perfectly. However, when something goes wrong in one area of the body, quite often other parts of your body are affected.

Take your shoulder for example. About two months ago, sometime at the beginning of November, I hurt my shoulder. I don't even know how I hurt it now. I'm not sure if it was one event or a series of events that really started it but something happened. It would feel like it was coming out of socket every so often and hurt like crazy.

Then along came the stiffness. I now have limited use of my right shoulder. I can't put my right hand on my right hip. I can't lift right arm up over my head like I'm reaching for the stars. It hurts to put my hand behind my head. It has gotten a little better but is still a problem.

At first I thought that it was just stiff and sore and exercise would help. Then, when that didn't work, a paramedic friend suggested resting it for a few weeks. Really a combination of both helps. I don't do any major exercises or heavy work, but stretching it a little each day seems to help.

I've really tried everything.

• Deep heating rubs
• Cold icy-hot type rubs
• Dry heating pads
• Moist heating pads
• A vibrating mat
• Glucosamine
• Ibuprofen

As I mentioned before, it is getting somewhat better. During the day there are times that I hardly feel any pain at all. In fact I almost forget that it is hurt. The range of movement has also gotten better. But, at night, it still gives me fits. I can't sleep on my right side at all, and it gets very stiff and very achy. That's where the other parts of the body come in. Now my leg muscles have begun to spasm a little at night as well. I have been having a very hard time sleeping.

No sleep, in turn, effects everything during the day. I'm very tired. Thankfully much of this has been over the Christmas/New Year holiday, so we haven't done as much homeschooling, but it has been tough to get back into the swing of things again. I am four days late (not entirely my shoulders fault) on a review but I've been so worn out I can't wrap my brain around writing it. Thankfully TOS knows and is understanding, but I need to get it written ASAP.

Okay, I know some of you are thinking "Doctor?". No I haven't been to see one. I keep thinking that it will go away. It has gotten somewhat better but I have decided to go. Please pray that it isn't anything major. We don't have insurance for anything like that and we really can't afford shoulder surgery or anything similar. And, I really don't want to go on any sleeping medication. Tylenol or Ibuprofen is one thing, but a sleeping pill is another. If the doctor assures that it will help, however, I would be willing to try. Just pray that we make the right decisions. Maybe it will be nothing major at all. Pray for God's will. Thanks!

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Mood:  amorous

Today was my beautiful wife's birthday! Happy Birthday, Princess Sarah!

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Mood:  a-ok

A birthday party for BCM International that is! It's their 75th Birthday and they are having celebrations all over the world. They are producing a video to tell everyone all about it, and they have sent this as a preview of what's to come.

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Mood:  cool

I first heard about these a couple of months ago. I don't know if it is an organized thing or whether one group did it and it took off from there, but it seems to be happening all over the country. If you check out YouTube, you will find a lot of them. Seemingly innocent shoppers or travelers will all of a sudden convene at some point and begin singing. What the other shoppers don't know is that these people are actually part of a symphony choir and that they (the other shoppers) are experiencing what is called a "Random Act of Culture". Here's one video of the Silicon Valley Symphony Choir performing Amazing Grace and another piece. Notice at the beginning the choir members are just  wandering about with their shopping bags and then slowly come together and begin singing. At the end, they just disperse like nothing happened. Notice the faces of the onlookers. Priceless. As I said, you can find many of these from around the country by searching "Random Acts of Culture" on YouTube. Have fun!

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Mood:  don't ask

Not the worst place to be stuck. I do enjoy it here. We did have to miss two doctor's visits today for two of the boys. We canceled therapy tomorrow because we aren't home. We are expecting a couple of letters from a couple of our Compassion International kids. I didn't bring a single homeschool book with me because I thought we would be back by today. We had to cancel Bible Club for tomorrow at the mission because we didn't know if we could get home. Come to think of it, maybe I'm not so happy we are stuck here.

Don't worry. I know. God has a reason for everything. I'm not really complaining too loudly. If I were my font might be something more along this line. After all, things could be a lot worse. We could be stuck in a motel someplace - at least we have Grandma's nice comfortable house to stay in. We could have no vehicle to get around in at all - at least we have Grandma's van to get places if we need to. We could be broke - we aren't rich but God has supplied us with some extra money this month. We could have not caught the brakes until something serious happened - at least we are all safe. Thank you Lord for caring for us and supplying for all of our needs.

So, what would I be blogging about if I were at home. Well, to be quite honest. I have a review for the TOS Homeschool Crew due today. Obviously if I didn't bring a single homeschool book with me, I don't have the item we are supposed to be reviewing. I could probably write the review without the item, but it wouldn't be a really good one. We actually have a couple of days grace period if, for some reason, we can't get a review done right on the exact day that we are supposed to so I have a little wiggle room. I'm hoping we get home before the grace period is up so please don't tell Brenda or Heidi from TOS yet! Ssshhhhhhh! I promise it will get done!

So, what has your day been like? How has God blessed you today? What are some prayer requests that you have? Remember, before complaining, to count your blessings. Things might not be fun, but if you begin to think about all of the ways that God has provided and blessed then it takes a little of the sting away. Don't forget - God is good all of the time! Talk to you again tomorrow.

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