Life Since Surgery

Eeghad when will I learn to spell-check before I post!? HaHa

My last two appointments the doc has asked me if it was worth it all in the end. My answer - "Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse!" lol! That's usually when the tube gets pulled (OWIE!!!!) or the blasted thing gets disconnected from the bag (grrrr!) But yes, it has definitely caused me to be a bit more independent and I have more time in my day for things I enjoy. (Not to mention a slight boost in self-esteem)

Post op appointments have been great though. The healing process is going as expected. The last appointment things were supposed to be changed, but the doc said we could wait another month. They swore me off of Tylenol saying it was bad for my liver, and instead said to take Ibuprofen. Ohmygoodness! :D Way better! I was taking three Tylenol at a time, sometimes a couple of times a day because two were doing nothing for me. I can take two Ibuprofen and be fine the rest of the day. Very rarely do I have to take more than that. The first time I took it and I was thinking I may have taken too much because I just felt TOO good! But now I have not had pain in weeks and now just use the Ibuprofen when I have a headache. (and that's a WHOLE other ballgame!)

I am back at our ladies Bible Study faster than expected. In fact, I think I only missed one study since surgery. The leader as well as those at our table were quite surprised to see me so soon.

I am also back at Gage Elementary as a teachers aide once again. Which is great because the downtime was leaving me emotionally drained. My first day back was so totally awesome. I come wheeling into the classroom where you could hear 25 second graders *GASP* with excitement when they turned and saw Alehe and I. And when I called them back one by one to do some reading assessment with me you could hear them exclaim as they headed my way, "YES!". I SO love my volunteer job!

Speaking of job, my dad said something cool to me just the other day. He picked me up one afternoon and says to me something like " you know, you DO have a job. It's just that you're getting paid by the government (meaning my SSI).

The Church of the Open Door

Revelation 3:7 - 13
(really only touched on vs 7-8)

The Church of the Open Door (Opportunity)
(the faithful church)

The POWER of an open door (faith)
Rev. 3:8 ; IICor. 2:12 ; Col. 4:2-3 ; Acts 14:27
God is the one who opens doors, pray for the doors to be opened

The PRODUCER of an open door
Rev. 3:7 ~ the one who is Holy, True
He opens, He closes
The One who is holy
Rev. 3:7 ; 1 Peter 1:15
The One who is true
Rev. 3:7 (Genuine)

The PERMANENCE of an open door
Rev. 3:7 ; 1:18 ; Isaiah 22:22
NO man can shut
NO man can open
......but God
"Lord God, help me see the open doors for witness today".

The PROBLEM with an open door
Opportunities are often disguised as problems
missed open door
I may not have seen an open door if the door was not closed
Opportunities are time sensitive
sometimes they don't come at convenient times
Opportunities are often tested by opposition
1Cor. 16:8-9
usually territory held by the enemy
Best evidence we have it is the will of God
Opportunities are usually missed because of fear
Rev. 3:8 ; IICor. 12:9 ; Gen. 11:4
I cannot do this on my own strength
(His strength is made perfect in weakness)
If God opens a door, He'll help you walk through it

Eph. 5:15 - 17
.....making the most of every opportunity

ON YOUR OWN
God ordained opportunities
Gen. 12:1-9
Esther 4 &5
Luke 18:18 - 30
John 4: 1 - 26
Acts 9:10-17
Acts 16:6-10

Open doors rarely come to us at a time when we are prepared to walk through them. Many times, we are so caught up in attending to our normal every day lives that we are a little disrupted when a truly miraculous and extraordinary moment presents itself. How has God interrupted your life in a miraculous or extraordinary way? How was His timing?
Moving to Montan when I thought I had life figured out
teaching sunday school
meeting RA
moving to CA
Skyline to Shadow Mountain when I thought I was being led to Skyline and mom said she'd go where I wanted to )
teaching Sunday school Special Needs ministry

There may be inner resistance to where God is leading you
(me falling in love with Skyline church, mom and dad going to Shadow Mountain and because I don't drive having to go there instead. Me wanting to go back to Skyline, but then the Special Needs ministry popped up.)

God, Yer SPOILING ME! :D

2nd graders
In this class, I am helping wherever needed, whether its housekeeping (paperwork) or having children read to me, even sitting by one child and helping them out while we do a class assignment. Today the seond graders graciously asked if they could pet Alehe. They have EXCELLENT memories!!! If I tell them not now but at such and such a time....they don't let me forget! LOL!!!! As is the case for one child today. I talked to her during class on Monday saying she could pet her on Friday at the end of our day. One little girl (Joaquin, pronounced ha'keen) loves the fact Alehe is there. searches me out just before we go to luch and again at the end pf our day to talk to me.... all the time. She and I talked today about why I was in the wheelchair. I wrote names on childrens packets today and stapled papers together, even put together booklets that children can order books from. THAT was a daunting task. Especially when all teh pages start looking alike after the third or fourth one! I think I wasted fifteen twenty minutes trying to figure out the order of pages! then it was time to go to our assenbly put on by Wildlife Rescue here in SoComing back from lunch I passed by a seond grader "You're a great teacher!" It's only my THIRD day :D
I learned something new from the assembly today regarding birds that fall out of nests. When I was in school we were taught NEVER to pick up a bird if it had fallen out of its nest. Apparently, this is not the case anymore. it used to be that if the mother bird smelled human on teh baby bird, said baby bird would be rejected. Now, it is advised that if you can reach the nest, to go ahead and put the baby bird back into it. If the nest is too high to reach, find a small container, line it with something soft and put the baby bird back in. Then put the container as high as you are able to reach. The Mamma bird will still feed their baby this way.


Kindergarten/1st grade
Ohmygoodness I never thought sitting and listening to children could be so daunting! Reading is one thing...but reciting numbers by ones, fives, tens, and two's, and all to 100?! It was really a learing experience in teaching young children. I was having fun in a way.....
I was surprised that counting by ones, fives, and tens was easier than counting by two's. here is where most struggled. Some children i had to help more than others, had to exxplain to them to take one number (two for example) and add two more (four). What do you get when you add two to that number (six!). it was interesting to me tha counting by two's from, say, twenty-eight to thirty, thrity-eight to forty,forty-eight to fifty, and so on and so forth was a bit difficult for one child.

I can't wait until Monday!

Alehe is Back to Work, Finally!

"GASP, She brought her dog!" children said excitedly. Yes, today was the first day I was able to bring Alehe to Gage Elementary school in San Carlos, CA. I had been in the kindergarten/first grade class for a few months now, and just today started in the second grade classroom after that. I was worried about passing by the preschool classroom this morning, but thankfully none of those children spotted me. But I was assured on my last day in that class that there is always next year.
I wheeled into the office to sign in on the volunteer sheet as I always do and the Secretary ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over Alehe. I then proceeded to my first class of the day, kindergarten and first graders. They had been well informed of my bringing Alehe, her duties while she is with me, and that they are not to pet her unless I give them permission to do so. A few told me about their dogs at home. The children did an excellent job while working with me. A few kept peeking under the table at her whole with me, and one boy I had to tell repeatedly to pay attention to his teachers up front because he would not stop looking at her and talking. One child I have difficulty with not wanting to work with me was a tad more cooperative today. I was able to get two answers out of her. Which was a lot for her. She is usually really shy around me. I am hoping the more Alehe is there, it will bring her out and we can become more comfortable around each other.
The second graders also did an excellent job, and cracked me up in the process; they were almost relentless in asking me when they could pet her. I finally told one girl that "possibly Friday" I would let her. I talked about Alehe a bit before class and showed them a thing or two what she could do, and they raised their hands and started talking about all of their dogs. So cute! As they were lining up for lunch today, I did manage to allow them a quick pet as they were leaving. I went to the break room with the teacher and had lunch with her, a substitute teacher, and a few others. Yeah, they couldn't keep their hands off of her either, lol! Even my morning teacher was there.
I cannot WAIT to go back on Friday! In the meantime, I am still waiting on the Salvation Army to call me so that I can set up a time on Wednesdays to volunteer there.