Just as an update for those who did not get the message through another medium, Vince and I went before the Detroit Annual Conference Board of Ordained Ministry on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. We had four interviews each, the first three with four or so people in them and the last one with upwards of 20 people in it.
We felt really good coming out of our interviews which made the drive back to Chicago an easier one! We received our calls on Wednesday, March 4 in the evening, and the good news was in! Vince was approved for commissioning as a deacon, and April was approved for ordination as a deacon!
So, during Annual Conference this year, we will be presented to the clergy session as recommended, and the clergy session has the final vote. The good news is that the clergy usually go with the recommendation of the board, so we don't really have to worry. Then on Sunday, May 17 at 4pm, we will be commissioned and ordained in Adrian, Michigan! Woo-hoo! We would love anyone to be there who would like to come. So, just let me know if you are coming, and we'll send you the details.
This has been a long time coming, and we are grateful that the day is getting closer to reality. Thanks for being with us on this journey!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Ordination Interview Outfit
The ordination interviews are less than 5 days away, and I'm trying to decide between two outfits. I would love your opinion! They each have their pluses and minuses, but I'm hopeful that one will be a clear winner.
OR
Your thoughts?
OR
Your thoughts?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Happy Mardi Gras!
Well, it's Fat Tuesday again. And another year not in New Orleans! :( Very sad. But we had some folks over for a little party with jambalaya, hurricanes, artichoke cakes and king cakes! It was a great time. Some great old friends were there, as well as some new friends. Here were some of our visitors.
James and Jason helped so much with the party! Jason is from Louisiana and made the best king cakes. Two different flavors, even. It was great not to be the only one cooking.
Joey and Maiko stopped by. Look at that tie that Joey has on. His friend made it for him in 5th grade. He's gotten a lot of good use out of it. He has another in black!
Jonathan, my co-worker at IWJ, looking dapper in his Mardi Gras mask. (Meghan, it's time to infiltrate his facebook page and upload a new profile picture!)
Me, Kristin, and Joy...the purple boa makes another appearance! Dave, sorry you missed it, honey!
The hit of the night was Ms. Cyanna! Who found the bowl with the beads and could not get enough. She and Gumbo (the dog not the food) had a great time together too!
All in all, it was a good Mardi Gras, and now we prepare for Lent. (This is really more Vince's area of expertise!)
P.S....come back in a couple of days to vote on my ordination interview outfit! I have two options that I can't decide between.
James and Jason helped so much with the party! Jason is from Louisiana and made the best king cakes. Two different flavors, even. It was great not to be the only one cooking.
Joey and Maiko stopped by. Look at that tie that Joey has on. His friend made it for him in 5th grade. He's gotten a lot of good use out of it. He has another in black!
Jonathan, my co-worker at IWJ, looking dapper in his Mardi Gras mask. (Meghan, it's time to infiltrate his facebook page and upload a new profile picture!)
Me, Kristin, and Joy...the purple boa makes another appearance! Dave, sorry you missed it, honey!
The hit of the night was Ms. Cyanna! Who found the bowl with the beads and could not get enough. She and Gumbo (the dog not the food) had a great time together too!
All in all, it was a good Mardi Gras, and now we prepare for Lent. (This is really more Vince's area of expertise!)
P.S....come back in a couple of days to vote on my ordination interview outfit! I have two options that I can't decide between.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sympathy Pains?
I promised I would update you all on my back progress. I met with the neurosurgeon after my MRI. It turns out that I have two bulging disks, a torn muscle, and another spastic muscle. There is nothing medically that can really be done. I have finished my last round of steroids (not fun), but I am still in pain quite a bit.
"What can be done?" I ask the doctor. "Swimming and pilates" is the answer (not to mention another 4-8 weeks of physical therapy). I have to strengthen my core and back muscles; otherwise, I will continue to have back problems throughout my life. So, I'm managing. I have been back to work full-time, and my organization is being great about me working from home about half of the time. That makes it possible for me to rest my back when I need it. Sitting is really the most uncomfortable position.
When I take the time to rest, I usually go in the bedroom and lie down on the heating pad. Two rounds of 20 minutes (on my upper and lower back). When I get up, however, someone else always gets in my place. Could she be having sympathy pains?
Ahh...Pandora...always stealing my spot!
"What can be done?" I ask the doctor. "Swimming and pilates" is the answer (not to mention another 4-8 weeks of physical therapy). I have to strengthen my core and back muscles; otherwise, I will continue to have back problems throughout my life. So, I'm managing. I have been back to work full-time, and my organization is being great about me working from home about half of the time. That makes it possible for me to rest my back when I need it. Sitting is really the most uncomfortable position.
When I take the time to rest, I usually go in the bedroom and lie down on the heating pad. Two rounds of 20 minutes (on my upper and lower back). When I get up, however, someone else always gets in my place. Could she be having sympathy pains?
Ahh...Pandora...always stealing my spot!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Reflections on an MRI
So, as many of our readers know (all two of you), I had an MRI on Friday to diagnose a weird and terribly painful problem I have been having with my back. The short story is this: on January 8 my back started hurting, and by January 16 I was bedridden. I am now able to be up and around a bit but still with a lot of pain.
I had never had an MRI, and so I didn't quite know what to expect. So I did what any normal human being would do. I googled it. And here's the truth for me...too much information can be scarier than no information when it comes to medical stuff I don't understand. So I quickly left google and decided to go wildly into the unknown...or at least as wildly as a woman who can't walk very fast and uses a cane can go.
I got to the hospital and walked for what seemed like miles to the MRI center, only to realize that there was an MRI entrance that we somehow missed. I got into one of those robe that hides nothing...not even your pride and tottled into the MRI room. The chamber looked like a space pod. As a laid down and the tabled moved into the chamber, I thought of two things: 1) This is what it must feel like to be an astronaut, and 2) This is what it must feel like to be a cannoli. The chamber was tight, and I closed my eyes thinking that would make it easier to remain perfectly still for 20 minutes.
The tests themselves were kinda weird. They lasted from 30 seconds to 4 1/2 minutes each and consisted of a lot of noise and knocks. The first few made me think of pressing the escape pod in Spaceballs, or perhaps less creatively...a car alarm. The later ones made me flash back to my days as a music major. Every Friday we had to go to convocation, where we performed and/or listened to other music majors perform. Sometimes the performances were great. And sometimes they were experimental music, which I haven't always understood. The MRI sounds were like some of those experimental concerts...painful to listen to!
Finally, you know how sometimes you start to hear words out of sounds. Well this happened to me. Some of the words are ones I would publish on a blog, like "bang" and some were ones that I wouldn't. Needless to say, when I heard some of the unpublishable words, I had to find new things to think about so I wouldn't start laughing and mess up my test.
I should find out in the next couple of days what the results are, and I will keep you posted.
All in all, the MRI was not a bad experience. But then again, I'm not claustrophobic. If I had been, it would be altogether a different story.
I had never had an MRI, and so I didn't quite know what to expect. So I did what any normal human being would do. I googled it. And here's the truth for me...too much information can be scarier than no information when it comes to medical stuff I don't understand. So I quickly left google and decided to go wildly into the unknown...or at least as wildly as a woman who can't walk very fast and uses a cane can go.
I got to the hospital and walked for what seemed like miles to the MRI center, only to realize that there was an MRI entrance that we somehow missed. I got into one of those robe that hides nothing...not even your pride and tottled into the MRI room. The chamber looked like a space pod. As a laid down and the tabled moved into the chamber, I thought of two things: 1) This is what it must feel like to be an astronaut, and 2) This is what it must feel like to be a cannoli. The chamber was tight, and I closed my eyes thinking that would make it easier to remain perfectly still for 20 minutes.
The tests themselves were kinda weird. They lasted from 30 seconds to 4 1/2 minutes each and consisted of a lot of noise and knocks. The first few made me think of pressing the escape pod in Spaceballs, or perhaps less creatively...a car alarm. The later ones made me flash back to my days as a music major. Every Friday we had to go to convocation, where we performed and/or listened to other music majors perform. Sometimes the performances were great. And sometimes they were experimental music, which I haven't always understood. The MRI sounds were like some of those experimental concerts...painful to listen to!
Finally, you know how sometimes you start to hear words out of sounds. Well this happened to me. Some of the words are ones I would publish on a blog, like "bang" and some were ones that I wouldn't. Needless to say, when I heard some of the unpublishable words, I had to find new things to think about so I wouldn't start laughing and mess up my test.
I should find out in the next couple of days what the results are, and I will keep you posted.
All in all, the MRI was not a bad experience. But then again, I'm not claustrophobic. If I had been, it would be altogether a different story.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Refrigerator Door
My refrigerator door has always been a place to display achievements. When I was very young, it was that piece of impressionist art that I painted...that no one knew what it was supposed to be. As I aged, it became those good grades I got on a paper or test. That continued even through graduate school.
The number of cute or interesting or personal magnets has increased, while the number of pizza magnets has decreased. This year as the Christmas cards rolled in, I started covering the fridge with my friends' "achievements," the photos of their kids. And the truth is this...no one else can have kids! I have run out of room on the fridge!
But seriously, I love seeing the lovely faces of the next generation on my fridge. It gives me great hope for our world!
The number of cute or interesting or personal magnets has increased, while the number of pizza magnets has decreased. This year as the Christmas cards rolled in, I started covering the fridge with my friends' "achievements," the photos of their kids. And the truth is this...no one else can have kids! I have run out of room on the fridge!
But seriously, I love seeing the lovely faces of the next generation on my fridge. It gives me great hope for our world!
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