Esther

Last night was the first night of the Esther Bible study by Beth Moore. For most of my life, Esther was one of my favorite books of the Bible. When I found out it was the only book where God was not mentioned, I didn't know what to do. Should I still like this book? Why isn't His name in Esther? Does that make it less holy or less Biblical? That's silly- it's still in the Bible. I really struggled with this and eventually, it fell to the bottom of the list of arguments that go on inside my head.

When I found out that the new Beth Moore study was going to be about Esther, I was excited that she was focusing on this book, but since my first and only Beth Moore study hadn't proved to be completely life-changing like I expected it to (I know, I know, I should lower my expectations regarding fellow human-beings- besides, it's not like it's up to her to change me... that's pretty much a God-thing), I wasn't sure I was going to do the study until a week or two ago. After the first night, I am so glad I decided to. During the course of the introduction, Beth Moore asks for three reasons that make it tough to be a woman. We all had to write down three and then she shared some that she had collected through an online survey. The top three according to the survey were:

• Yielding (to God, in marriage, at work, etc.)
  
• Balance (balancing the roles we play)
  
• Hormones

While I did have one of those on my list, I'm curious. What would be on your list? What are the three toughest things about being a woman? What are three things you struggle with as a woman? Then I'll let you know my answer. :)

75 days left and a cruise!

Our traveler's insurance documents came in today for our cruise this summer that we're going on with some great friends of ours. This trip has been in the planning for over a year... we first talked about it last year, but neither of us could really afford to do it with us buying a home and P finishing up her master's. So when it was brought up, we would always say, "Maybe next year." Well now it's next year! After doing some research, we finally decided to book a cruise to the Caribbean. But even after putting down our deposit, it still didn't seem real until our insurance papers came in. With the celebration of the 100th day of school today, I know that looking forward to the cruise will help the rest of the year fly by. It's hard to believe there are only 75 days of school left. Which leads me to reason #414 of why I love my job: Pajama day which includes 100th day breakfast (sausage stick and two pancakes to make the number 100). I know, I know... you're filling out an application right now to become a teacher.



Here's a picture from our first cruise we went on with D's parents (they still weren't sure about the whole cruise thing until after the first day or so on the trip), D&M (family, but more importantly great friends), and lil' bro D. D and I had a blast and have been counting down the days until we could go again!

A New Psalm

My kindergarten class' Bible time has been focused recently on the life of David. Our Bible time usually starts out with me going over the lesson, telling the story, showing pictures (if available) and lastly, if the story is covered in the children's Bible that I have, I read the story again and the students get to see the pictures. Let me preface this with saying that I absolutely love this book- it's called "The Jesus Storybook Bible" and under the title is written, "Every story whispers his name." And it does. The stories are written beautifully. And they are all centered around the Rescue Plan that God has in store for his people- sending his son Jesus to die on the cross to save us from the punishment we deserve. Beautiful really doesn't cover it all. I really can't think of any other way to describe it, so I'll stop here. But really, you should check it out.

So as I was reading the story of David and Goliath (even though we talked about this last week), I noticed the next story was also about David and his writing of the Psalms. Since this week we are memorizing the first verse of Psalm 23, I thought I would go ahead and read this story to them as well. At the end of the story, Psalm 23 has been translated into 'kid-friendly' language, and since I'm a kid-at-heart, I thought I would share that part:

God is my Shepherd
And I am his little lamb.

He feeds me
He guides me
He looks after me.
I have everything I need.

Inside, my heart is very quiet.
As quiet as lying still in soft green grass
In a meadow
By a little stream.

Even when I walk through
the dark, scary, lonely places
I won't be afraid
Because my Shepherd knows where I am.

He is here with me
He keeps me safe
He rescues me

He makes me strong
And brave.
By: Sally Lloyd-Jones

I needed that. "I have everything I need." "My Shepherd knows where I am." "He rescues me." "He makes me strong." "I am his little lamb." I hope that encourages you as much as it did me.

More surgery

My mom will be having another surgery tomorrow morning at 10:30 to remove the pool of blood on her eye. The bleeding has stopped, but it has collected and they will need to remove the clot. Hopefully this will be the last surgery and her sight will return to her soon. The doctor says she should be able to go back to work on Monday!

Please pray.

Update Tuesday, February 3:
My mom went to see the doctor this morning and found out that the bleeding from the surgery had not yet stopped. They told her to go home and look at the floor all afternoon and they would see her again at 3. (sounds funny, doesn't it?) When they checked her again this afternoon, the bleeding had slowed, but still had not stopped. She left to go home to continue looking at the floor and will be checked again tomorrow morning at 8. Pray that the bleeding stops completely and that her sight will begin to return. She was in really good spirits this evening when I talked to her and I pray that the recovery will not dampen her spirits. Thank you for being faithful with your prayers!

Update 7:47pm:
The surgery was delayed until 5:30 pm and ended up lasting until just a few minutes ago. The surgeon said there was more fluid behind her eye than he expected and they had to drain it and almost re-inflate her eye (if that makes sense). She will be going home tonight and will see the surgeon again tomorrow morning at 8 to remove the bandage. Her sight won't come back immediately but will be a more gradual process. I'm really not sure how long that will take but he has told her she can't work this week or weekend. My great uncle is in the same hospital on a different floor and is doing well considering what he's gone through. My sister was able to see him and while he was groggy after the surgery, he seems to be his same old self- no pun intended about his age. Thank you for your prayers! God is good.

Original post:
Today at 4:30, my mom will have surgery to re-attach her retina after it detached on Saturday. She was told yesterday that she could not eat/drink anything after midnight and still will not be allowed anything until after the surgery. An avid coffee drinker, she is suffering from caffeine withdrawals and the headaches that come with that. Please pray that her headache will go away and that the time will pass quickly before the surgery. Please also pray for my great uncle who is in the same hospital having surgery after he broke his femur delivering a calf. He's 87 years old, so naturally we're worried about how he will do during and after the surgery. And hopefully no one else in our family will be giving the hospital any more business today. or this week.