I arrived in Kansas City this past Friday for my internship with
Focus North America. So far, I really like the city. I will be
doing an official blog for Focus North America on its site
(www.focusna.org). This should probably be up and running by
next Monday.
I will still use this blog to post poems and other such items. Stay
tuned and I will let my audience know when things are up and
running on the FOCUS NA site.
My back has recovered pretty well, and I can now travel. Tomorrow I leave to go to Kansas City, Mo. to intern with the new panorthodox organization called FOCUS NORTH AMERICA. (www.focusna.org)
I will try to post updates on my blog.
I am excited. This summer I will be the first intern of the brand new Orthodox social action minsitry FOCUS NORTH AMERICA.
Listen to this Interview with Fr. Justin Matthews, CEO of FOCUS NORTH AMERICA, on Ancient Faith Radio.
I was supposed to have left for Kansas City, MO on May 6.
However, my plans were not God’s plans. After church on Sunday May 3, I was talking to some friends. I coughed very hard and threw my back out.
The first couple of days I could not walk at all and my mother had to help me get dressed. However, I have been seing a chiropractor and hope to leave for Kansas City around May 22nd.
Pray that my back will heal, for I am excited about serving the Lord in this area.
I know it seems that I have probably evaporated from the blogging world, but this past month has been quite dramatic.
On October 3, my dad had to be helicoptered to Vanderbilt Medical Center for a heart condition. Three years ago, my dad went into convulsion and had to be helicoptered to Vanderbilt. The main diagnosis was a dissected aorta. This basically means that the aorta was splitting and separating from his heart. He had to have a 10 1/2 hr emergency surgery to save his life. He had the aorta valve replaced and had to have parts of the aorta removed and replaced with another material. High bood pressure for over 25 years contributed to this, even though it was thought to have been well controlled.
This time around there was a couple of aneurysms and still an aorta that continues to dissect. He stayed in the hospital a week before the surgery this time for he was stable enough to give the doctors time to do tests and plan.
The plan was to have 3 teams of surgeons to work on him and for the surgery to be around 12 hrs. However, after 3 hours into the surgery, we were told by the surgeon that the surgery was finished. He explained that they couldn’t do the surgery that they had wanted to do. What that did was good enough and would save his life.
When they opened him up, his aorta was so dissected and so full of scar tissue from the last surgery that there was no where to put the heart and lung machine, so obviously they couldn’t do the full operation. They built a tent out of a tough synthetic fabric called Decron (sp?). They encased his heart in it and even if the aneurysms burst, he will not die.
My Dad stayed a week in the hospital after his surgery. He is on around 13 pills. The doctors don’t want the top number of his blood pressure to go above 100 because to do so will cause the aorta to dissect further. So far, this hasn’t been a success and will need constant adjustments of his medicines.
This blog was not meant to be an indepth report on what has happened. If you want that, please visit my mom’s blog at www.nichole3.wordpress.com She has written a series of posts on all that has happened.
But I want to praise the Lord for the life of my father. Also, it is important to be thankful for the Lord’s wonderful orchestration of my life. I was bummed this time last year when I found out that I was being layed off from my job. However, as soon as I found that out, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer so I moved home to help take care of her and the household. However, my mom quickly bounced back and I was feeling a little depressed about still living at home with my parents. But now I know that God orchestratred my being home on purpose. My parents are relieved that I am at home now so that I can help them through this transition period.
God’s ways are not our ways and we must accept that His plans are much better than our plans could ever be.
Glory to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Today I want to take the time to reflect on what God has given me and what I am thankful for.Being from the South, I absolutely hate the cold. It is January and I complain about when it is below 32. (I don’t think I could handle the truly frigid temperatures of the North.) Sometimes our heater acts up and it gets a little colder than it should in the house. But I …
have a house, warm blankets, soft snuggly robes and pajamas.
I am not living on the street in sub zero temperatures with thin fragile clothing exposing my body to the elements.
I have a 16 year old American made car that is always falling apart and needs major repairs. The paint is falling off, the bumpers are bent, some of the hubcaps are gone, one of the tail lights is busted out. But I…
have a car and I don’t have transportation problems. For the most part, I can get to anywhere I want when I want.
I lost my job and am living on an extremely limited reserves. But I …
have wonderful, kind, loving parents that are allowing me to live with them and are helping me get on my feet.
A couple of days ago, I threw out my back and it is very painful to walk. But I …
don’t have a permanent disability. Soon, after rest, my back will get better. I can walk. I can move my arm, hands, feet, and legs on my own. I am not blind or deaf.
Sometimes, I get down because I don’t have a significant other to love me and hold me. But I …
have so much love in my life. I have a church full of people who just love me so dearly and would do anything for me. I have two of the best parents in the world who absolutely adore me. I have 2 sisters and a brother who love me and care for me. I have a cat and 2 dogs who have to be with me every minute I am at home. They follow me around and are truly enamored with me.
Sometimes I feel like I am worthless, a loser, who has nothing to offer anybody in this life. But I …
know that I am making a difference when I pray for people, think of them, and doing loving things for them. The world may never see my worth, but the Lord sees all things and knows all things and He will give me my due reward.
I am writing all of these things to remind myself when I get in a complaining mood. I don’t have money, a great figure, etc, but I have so much to be thankful for. I pray that no matter what circumstance I am in that I will have a thankful heart!
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