Today is my Mom's first surgery of what we hope is only 2. She is having the carpel tunnel release to her right wrist at 2pm today in Athens. Pray for her spirit to feel calm and void of anxiety. Pray for healing and recovery. Pray for the guidance of the surgeon's hand.
Nehemiah 6:9 (New International Version)
9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed."
But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Help Me Carve the Gizzard???
Okay so I apologize if I tell this story incorrectly. But I have heard this story since I was a child. Apparently when my parents first got married they had to have a Thanksgiving with Navy friends and wives instead of family. So here is a newly married, YOUNG couple (10 years younger than me!) cooking their first Thanksgiving away from family in New Orleans.
Mom has the task of the turkey. Now I am not sure if she volunteered for this job or offered but either way she was very proud of her bird. So as my parents go to carve this lovely bird among new friends, they realize the gizzards were cooked along with it!
Now I can either spare you the details so that you don't read about this prior to your own Thanksgiving turkey but just know typically recipes call to remove the gizzards. I think my Mom said that she didn't know what that meant so she skipped over that step in the recipe. I could have made that up in my child's mind, so I apologize Mom!
But in order to get to the point of my post I need to sort of explain what the gizzards are. This is the Wikipedia entry:
Birds swallow food and store it in their crop if necessary. Then the food passes into their glandular stomach, also called the proventriculus, which is also sometimes referred to as the true stomach. This is the secretory part of the stomach. Then the food passes into the ventriculus (also known as the muscular stomach or gizzard). The gizzard can grind the food with stones that have been swallowed and pass it back to the true stomach and vice versa. Bird gizzards are lined with a tough layer made of the carbohydrate-protein complex koilin, to protect the muscles in the gizzard and to aid in digestion.
Okay so I am not a biology major but my analogy is that the gizzards help in digestion. And this is where the correlation comes in. You my friends, my prayer warriors, those who brought food, anyone who called, stopped by or sent a card or email have added in the digestion of this year.
It has not been the most enjoyable year for the Adams clan but if not for the "gizzards" to help break down the food and help us to digest it then I don't think I could have made it. If I did not have those around me and my family to help me get the nutrients and the rewards from this year's trial and heartache then I would have never grown or learned as much as I have.
I have so much to be thankful for but what I am most thankful for above all are the people in our lives that have helped us through this trial. Those that have showered us with love so that we can digest the struggles. I wish I had a way to pay you all back. To give you a gas card to drive wherever you need to go this holiday season, to cook your entire family turkey -no gizzards- and bring soup, cakes, breads, tea and all the fixin's, to call you and wish you a good day, to pray with you, to sit with you and to love you. If I could spend a week at each of your houses cleaning and cooking I would do it!
You have no idea how thankful I am that my parents have such amazing friends around them and that I have such amazing people around me to cheer me up, to let me cry, to hear me yell or complain while I dealt with the ripple effects of this year.
Thank you! Thank you for being a gizzard in my life this past year!
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New International Version)
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations
Mom has the task of the turkey. Now I am not sure if she volunteered for this job or offered but either way she was very proud of her bird. So as my parents go to carve this lovely bird among new friends, they realize the gizzards were cooked along with it!
Now I can either spare you the details so that you don't read about this prior to your own Thanksgiving turkey but just know typically recipes call to remove the gizzards. I think my Mom said that she didn't know what that meant so she skipped over that step in the recipe. I could have made that up in my child's mind, so I apologize Mom!
But in order to get to the point of my post I need to sort of explain what the gizzards are. This is the Wikipedia entry:
Birds swallow food and store it in their crop if necessary. Then the food passes into their glandular stomach, also called the proventriculus, which is also sometimes referred to as the true stomach. This is the secretory part of the stomach. Then the food passes into the ventriculus (also known as the muscular stomach or gizzard). The gizzard can grind the food with stones that have been swallowed and pass it back to the true stomach and vice versa. Bird gizzards are lined with a tough layer made of the carbohydrate-protein complex koilin, to protect the muscles in the gizzard and to aid in digestion.
Okay so I am not a biology major but my analogy is that the gizzards help in digestion. And this is where the correlation comes in. You my friends, my prayer warriors, those who brought food, anyone who called, stopped by or sent a card or email have added in the digestion of this year.
It has not been the most enjoyable year for the Adams clan but if not for the "gizzards" to help break down the food and help us to digest it then I don't think I could have made it. If I did not have those around me and my family to help me get the nutrients and the rewards from this year's trial and heartache then I would have never grown or learned as much as I have.
I have so much to be thankful for but what I am most thankful for above all are the people in our lives that have helped us through this trial. Those that have showered us with love so that we can digest the struggles. I wish I had a way to pay you all back. To give you a gas card to drive wherever you need to go this holiday season, to cook your entire family turkey -no gizzards- and bring soup, cakes, breads, tea and all the fixin's, to call you and wish you a good day, to pray with you, to sit with you and to love you. If I could spend a week at each of your houses cleaning and cooking I would do it!
You have no idea how thankful I am that my parents have such amazing friends around them and that I have such amazing people around me to cheer me up, to let me cry, to hear me yell or complain while I dealt with the ripple effects of this year.
Thank you! Thank you for being a gizzard in my life this past year!
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New International Version)
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Hospital Holidays and the Manger
Because of insurance reasons, my Mom has decided to go ahead and have 2 more surgeries before the end of the year. Why not end 2009 with a bang right!? (Bring on 2010 and all the health it has to offer!)
She will have the first surgery on her wrist Nov 30th. This is the carpel tunnel surgery that should fix some of the nerve pain she is currently feeling.
She will then have one more surgery Dec 28th. This is for her knee. She has experienced some pain in the past with this knee but we aren't sure if the accident aggravated the area more. So i am unsure exactly what kind of surgery this is but I believe it is to repair a torn meniscus. We will get more details after her MRI this week.
Please keep Mom in your prayers this November and December.
Selfishly I wanted our holidays to be pain free because of what we had to endure last year. I wanted to stay away from hospitals and the hospital cafeteria food at all cost this Christmas. But I suppose Mary wanted to have her baby in a room on a bed and not in a manger surrounded by farm animals.
Makes the reality of our Savior and his humble beginnings that much more meaningful. And in turn makes the reality of my selfish desires a bit insignificant.
Luke 2:4-7 (New International Version)
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
I had to add the lyrics to this song by Andrew Peterson at the urging of one my good friends-thanks Torry!
Lyrics to Labor Of Love :
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
To see and hear the song set to an image from The Nativity Story please check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4xY175ZYo
She will have the first surgery on her wrist Nov 30th. This is the carpel tunnel surgery that should fix some of the nerve pain she is currently feeling.
She will then have one more surgery Dec 28th. This is for her knee. She has experienced some pain in the past with this knee but we aren't sure if the accident aggravated the area more. So i am unsure exactly what kind of surgery this is but I believe it is to repair a torn meniscus. We will get more details after her MRI this week.
Please keep Mom in your prayers this November and December.
Selfishly I wanted our holidays to be pain free because of what we had to endure last year. I wanted to stay away from hospitals and the hospital cafeteria food at all cost this Christmas. But I suppose Mary wanted to have her baby in a room on a bed and not in a manger surrounded by farm animals.
Makes the reality of our Savior and his humble beginnings that much more meaningful. And in turn makes the reality of my selfish desires a bit insignificant.
Luke 2:4-7 (New International Version)
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
I had to add the lyrics to this song by Andrew Peterson at the urging of one my good friends-thanks Torry!
Lyrics to Labor Of Love :
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
To see and hear the song set to an image from The Nativity Story please check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4xY175ZYo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)