We sang this at Madison Park yesterday at Church! Bethel Worship is where this song can be found!
Monthly Archives: September 2013
THREE post’s in ONE day! Yup making up time!
Yesterday I did not share about the worship we had at church! We sang “Christ Is ENOUGH!” from the Hillsong, Glorious Ruins Album! I was BEYOND excited when Alanna Story, they lead worship at my church, tweeted me Saturday night and told me we would be singing this song!!! They KILLED it BTW!!! I encourage you to go to Youtube with this linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6MzgVsP2uE and LISTEN to this song! It talks about how Christ is ALL that we need! Everything else is just stuff! Because let’s face it Christ is the ONLY one who can FULL FILL all of our wants and desires!
CHRIST IS ENOUGH FOR ME! Is He enough for you?
Then we sang this song “You Have Won Me” from Bethel Music! If you can’t tell yesterday was the Salvation Message!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dX2baT9Ku4 Go to the link provided! God show’s us Grace and he gives it to us! Amen!
Link up Friday! Over 30 blogger and single again.
Well, I saw this on Kelly’s blog last week and I thought hmmmm that will be fun to link up with people who may or may not be in similar situations than I.
The above pictures is one that represents peace, hard work and joy! Being surrounded by corn or bean fields is my happy place! I LOVE being in the country! The saying goes “You can take the girl out of the country BUT not the country out of the girl!” SOOOO true!
I find myself in a season of singleness after a 11 year marriage. I am in a different place than most ladies my age. I have three kids, I am a full time college student and single. Right after my divorce I found such freedom in the singleness but wanted to fill that void with a guy. The Lord has not shown me that person just yet and so I am working on enjoying the season of singleness. Some of the benefits during this season are that I get to go to a concert if I want to, I can be at church for as long as I want gabbing!
You see when I got married I was running! I have talked about it in my blog. I was afraid of being single FOREVER and never having children. So, I ran off, got married and had 3 beautiful children but not a loving, Christ centered relationship. If a year ago you would have told me I would be where I am today I would have said NOPE, I’m going to keep on fighting for my marriage! But I can honestly say that I am in one of the BEST places in life right! When you are RIGHT in the MIDDLE of God’s WILL there is NO BETTER place to be! I am actually glad for this season because I have never lived on my own. So, I skipped that phase of adventure in life. If the good Lord chooses to bless me with another chance at marriage I am for sure WAITING to make sure my motives are right and his motives are right. I am making sure that CHRIST is at the foundation of our relationship! Apart from him we are NOTHING! I am not going to compromise because I am at the point in life where I would MUCH rather be single than be unhappily married.
Some things I do on my own…they may or may not be fun but I LOVE going to Christian music concerts! Being able to have endless conversations with others after church. Being able to serve at church. Being able to eat what I want! 🙂 There’s a story behind that.
So a few things about me! 🙂
I love Dr. Pepper! I enjoy cooking but not cleaning up. I am crafty and will try something at least once! I LOVE to take pictures of the sky, sunrises and sunsets! I enjoy swimming! I am enjoying school! Until next time keep pressing towards Jesus!
Don’t forget!
Where were you on the morning of September 11th? A day forever etched in history! I remember I had just gotten up at Grandma Schaefer’s house in South Bend. I was just waking up as the Today Show broke in with footage of the first tower in flames and I watched in disbelief as the second plane hit the second tower. In the minutes and hours to follow no one wanted to believe what was happening. We were all in shock! I’ll never forget Matt on the Today Show saying “I think we are under attack!” I remember thinking is this the rapture?!?! Two more planes took lives one in Shankesfield, PA and the other at the Pentagon. As I watched all of this unfold I too was in shock as was the rest of the nation. How could something like this happen to US. The UNITED STATES of AMERICA? Well it did happen. I remember sitting there watching as NYC was filled with smoke, dust and ashes thinking this looks like something right out of Ghostbusters! Every day people become the heroes. Men and women died saving lives. As the towers continued to burn thousands of gallons of jet fuel, steal, and other materials I thought to myself there is no way that fire is going to get put out, and those building’s ARE going to collapse! When the first tower came down I remember the new’s casters screaming in disbelief. In the following days and weeks our nation was brought to their knees like NEVER before! The churches were full. People were looking for something to hold on to. Anything they could find. Faith was their only hope in a time of desperation but as life got back to the new normal in America people got comfortable again and forgot about their faith. As you go about your day today don’t forget this day. The men and women who died on this day at the hands of terriost. A day I will NEVER forget where I was when the world stopped turning!
NEWSBOYS “RESTART” New Music Tuesday
First off this is the bands THIRD Record with Michael Tait, smooth as silk, leading the Newsboys! I have to say that this is the BEST album by far! It has an epic Hip Hop, Rock, Worship element to it!
It opens with:
| That’s How You Change The World |
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| 02. Restart |
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| 03. Love Like I Mean It |
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| 04. Live With Abandon |
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| 05. Go Glow |
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| 06. That Home |
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| 07. Disaster |
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| 08. Fishers Of Men |
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| 09. One Word |
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| 10. Enemy |
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11. We Believe A few thought’s on the songs then you MUST go download or purchase this Record! “We Believe”! The next worship song for churches to be singing! It’s the “Creed” put to music. AMAZING sound! “Fishers Of Men” talks about us going into the world and preaching the gospel! I foresee this song being a mission theme song for many next summer! “Go Glow” I am claiming that as my LIFE Theme song! That just talks about how when we have the Love of Christ living in us it shines from the inside out! I ALWAYS have a smile on! And get asked why all the time! 🙂 “That Home” Michael Tait sings and I am guessing wrote as well because it is about the home he grew up in with his Mama and the legacy she left! |
I’m Upright! (Back Surgery Part 3)
FAIR WARNING one of the picture’s in today’s post may gross some people out. It is of my back with staples in it.
We left off with me going home! I had a few ask how I was able to walk so quickly after surgery. The Physical Therapist waste NO time getting you up right, in a chair and eventually walking. So, once you are out of ICU, for me that was 48 hours after surgery, you are working on walking. There should not be issue’s with you walking unless you had damage to your nerve’s/spinal cord. I do not know enough about this issue to elaborate on it! Below is a picture of me standing up! I had to wear this lovely brace to encourage my back to maintain the posture of being upright when not in bed or a chair. You see when your back is used to being hunched over you have to retrain your muscles how to hold the trunk upright again.
As you can see I had my “hospital” area in my bedroom. I was grateful for a friend who came over every day to take care of my bandage on my back. I recovered at home as best as one can. It was hard because I have three kids. I spent most of October and November in bed. I slept a lot as well. The next picture is one of my incision. When asked if I have a tattoo, I say “YES!” Because I look at my scar as my tattoo! The only one I will EVER have!
I had so much support from the community of Fowler. You never know how much support there is out there until you go through a time where you need others. It was really neat to see the body of Christ come together and bring us meals, come help clean, do laundry or just visit!
This was at my little boys birthday party just 2 months after my operation. I am still in the brace and I am still using the walker. I was going to Physical Therapy 3 times a week as well at this point. This was in December.
I was seeing my surgeon every 4-6 weeks for post op check ups. I went in April for him to check the progression and healing of my back only to have him come in the room and say “I don’t know how you did this but you bent the TITANIUM rod’s in your back!” I heard nothing else after that! I am usually a very happy, go lucky kind of person but that threw me for a curve! He said he would need to do another surgery but first he wanted me to get a second opinion. I RESPECTED Dr. Khairi for telling me that he would NOT operate on me with out the second opinion. In the midst of my shock and grief, I asked Dr. Khairi if I could go on roller coasters at Walt Disney World since we were going there in a month. He said “I guess you might as well have fun! You already bent your rods!” I did go on a few roller coasters and enjoyed myself! Dr Khairi wanted me to get a second opinion from a man well respected in the Schurmann’s Kyphosis realm and that was Dr. Lenke in St. Louise, MO. He is the one who created the rods to correct Schurmann’s Kyphosis! I knew my insurance would not pay for this. With the modern technology we have today I had all my records and x-ray’s sent to him. He looked over them and told Dr. Khairi how he would go do my surgery. BOTH doctors AGREED that they would do the EXACT same surgery! That was a huge relief! Now don’t ask how I bent my rods but I do know that from the time of surgery in September of 2010 to April of 2011, my curve went back to 90 degrees. Here are the x-rays for proof!
Curved. Keep in mind too that after my first surgery I was in a lot of pain and was on pain medicine frequently! Pain medicine is a post in and of itself because it does some pretty terrible things to your body! YUCK!
As you can see the spine is clearly curved even though the picture was not on my scanner straight! Next week will lead up to my second surgery and how my attitude effected the outcome! Stay tuned! It’s going to be good!
Grandparent’s Day!
I have seen a few post’s on Facebook about today being Grandparent’s day. While I did not send a card to my parent’s, I will write a post honoring my Grandparents that were a part of my life! They are no longer here but I know I will get to see them again as they lived a life of faith! Without further a doe!
My Grandmother Campbell! She was my mom’s mom! She was a character! Growing up I remember always getting fed well at her house in Sloan, IA! She loved to cook! She made the BEST waffles! I will never make them as good as she did! She loved to listen to the CB Radio, had “The Club” on her car, had a BIG key ring that she carried on her wrist!, and she always would say “George, it’s too cold in here! or George, it’s too hot in here!” George was my grandpa’s name! She loved to play cards weather it was cribbage, or some other card game. She wanted you to look your best! I was her only granddaughter for a long time! She LOVED natural home remedies such as putting carrots up your nose to clean out your sinus. She has some other one’s too! When you got in the car with grandma you NEVER knew where you were going! You knew to hold on tight and enjoy the ride! She took great pride in having her hair done and selling Amway! Towards the end she had althemizer’s so it was hard to communicate with her but I know she was proud of me! She taught gym too! She was a women of faith! After she passed away we found some of her sermon notes from church and they were funny!
My Grandpa Campbell, aka. George! My grandpa was a SAINT! He married my grandmother and the next day was in the fields harvesting. No time for a honeymoon! He was one of the BEST farmer’s around! He loved his girls! He SERVED my grandmother for over 50 years! He always was telling me to STAND UP straight! Little did we know that was not possible! My grandpa enjoyed spoiling us kids and taking us out for treats BEFORE dinner! My grandpa taught me to appreciate farming and I am grateful for that! He left a legacy of FAITH! He was in church every Sunday and if he was unable to be he was reading the word of God. He was a man who LIVED his faith! I am a better person because of my grandpa!
The above picture is one of my Grandma Cobb. She was my dad’s mom! She passed away last year. My Grandma Cobb left a legacy of faith and family. She took care of her family. I stayed with her for a short time in the fall of 2001. I am grateful she gave me a place to stay during that time. My grandmother was a saint! You never know how much someone does NOT like doing something until the other person passes away. You might be saying, HUH?! Well, the day my grandfather passed away she got rid of all her jelly making tools! You see she made raspberry jelly every year because grandpa wanted her to not because she enjoyed it! That is LOVE! It was some yummy jelly! She caned pears, cleaned fish, and tolerated my grandpa cracking walnuts and tearing up her kitchen floor! She held fish fries on Friday night’s and played cards with friends. My grandma would rub grandpa’s feet at the end of the day as they watched the news together. She drove my grandpa all over central Iowa to play the piano in the nursing homes. She made quilts and hand quilted her quilts. Grandma enjoyed being a OR nurse! Her and Grandpa got married at an Insurance convention in Omaha and were married for over 60 years! My grandma Cobb was there for me many times throughout life! I am blessed by the life she lived!
And lastly my Grandpa Cobb! He was a character! My grandpa he played the piano! He was talented and played by ear mostly. He could not go into a music store though without buying a new music book! He loved going to nursing homes across central Iowa and playing the piano, mostly for people who were YOUNGER than him! He would ride his bike around town picking up cans and saved enough cans to purchase a custom made bike for him! In Iowa can’s mean money! And he was short, so, the bike fit him perfectly! He also had a whole backyard filled with vegetables! He loved having a fresh garden! I’ll never forget a rabbit was in the yard, he ran out to the backyard and grabbed a hoe to go kill the rabbit with! He was not successful but it was quite comical! My grandpa loved to fish as well! You could find him fishing frequently throughout the week! He would go fishing with his buddy Ken Peterson! My grandpa could sell anything to anyone and he could get a bargain too! He always had LAYERS of sweaters on! It didn’t matter how hot it was outside he had a sweater on! And I am sure he had on at least 3-4 sweaters in the winter! He was short and hunched over but he was so sweet! He didn’t like to be away from home and he loved to eat healthy and take a ton of vitamins! Grandpa always went to the grocery store and would come home with some fruit. He was a man of his word and lived to 94 without ever touching a cigarette or drinking! I am proud to have knowing him!
Thoughts on being a Non-Traditional Student in Traditional classes!
As many of you know I have gone back to college at a four year university. I am attending Anderson University in Anderson, IN that is a Church of God university. I finally know I am right where God want’s me! It’s an AMAZING place to be after years of not being there! 🙂 I am enrolled through the Department of Adult Studies but I am taking my courses during the day. This means that I am a “non-traditional” student taking “traditional” classes! It is very interesting to be in a class full of 18, 19 and 20 year olds! It makes me chuckle as I hear them react to the way the professor teaches or how much homework you get in a certain class. The other thing I am noticing that makes me feel old is how the girls dress! The apparent in thing is wearing these skin tight what I would call leggins as PANTS! I want to say put something longer on! We are at an educational institute not the gym! The guys look as though most of them have rolled out of bed and into class as well. I realize that this is college but please do yourself a favor and the rest of us and put some clothes on that cover yourself and pants that don’t sage! Ok…my rant is done. I am in class during the day with the kids because that is what works for my family. My kids are in school full time and this enables me to still be a mom to them in the evening. I am excited to be blazing this trail of a higher education! Stay Tuned!
Bible Study Highlight!
I know! I know! Two post’s in one day! But this is EXCITING!!!!
If you are like me and want to do a Bible Study but your just not sure where you are going to squeeze time in for another meeting……This is for YOU! In Lisa’s Bible Study of Malachi she get’s that we women are busy and has set this up in a way that if you miss a day it’s not a big deal. Actually the study doesn’t even have days! It’s set up in weeks! So, if you want to sit down and digest the whole week all at once you can! It’s a fantastic way for you to do an 8 week bible study and not have to feel the pressure of getting your work done every day! 🙂 YEAH for that! Now the other cool thing is that Lifeway Christian has the video’s for individual study, so your not stuck purchasing the whole Leader’s Kit just to watch the videos! For me the video’s are the BEST part of the Bible Study! Lisa is on tour with Women of Faith and has been for about 5 years now! She makes the bible come alive in a way that we can all relate to AND has depth! I DARE you to try it! You’ll be hooked! Take the plunge and go on the journey with me, Lisa and Jesus!
http://www.lifeway.com
click on Bible Study, then click on Malachi!
Back Story part 2!
Stacy LeMaster’s The AWESOME Nurse Practitioner!, Dr. Saad Khairi the brains behind my surgery and me!
As you may recall my dad had suggested seeking out a Neurosurgeon. I checked to see what my insurance would pay for and “Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine” came up. So, I called down there and the girl that answered the phone said we have just the surgeon for you, Dr. Khairi! I thought o.k. I hope I can understand him! I could when in reality he was the most understanding Doctor and he CARED! It was set up for May 5, 2010. My mom had come down to go with me. Josh did not attend this visit. I wanted my mom to be there because I wanted her to know that there was something that could have been done. I was somewhat angry. I met Dr. Khairi and he said “I can fix your back!” He had not looked at a single x-ray, nor had he touched my back! I was AMAZED that there was something that could be done! I had been living hunched over all this time and my back could have been fixed! He sent me downstairs for 2 hours of x-ray’s then back up we went to go over all those x-rays! He said there would be 3 more appointments and then surgery. During that summer I had called my Family Physician from when I was a child and asked for my medical records. They said, “we moved and your records may have gotten thrown away!” I was furious that I was not contacted because that was part of my history! They then said “they might be in a box in the basement at their old building.” Praying that they would be because I need some answers! They called the next day and they were there! GOD IS FAITHFUL! I received them in the mail and went through some more anger as Dr. Reidy had noted in my high school physical that I should see someone regarding my back but nothing had been done. Over labor day weekend I was overwhelmed at the thought of the upcoming surgery and thought life would be easier if I didn’t have to deal with it. I took one extra anti depressant which would not do anything since I was on such a low dose. But because I had the thought’s, I went to an impatient facility to help me work through the angry, feeling of overwhelmeness, and processing what the upcoming surgery would mean for my life if it did go wrong. I was in the one place I never wanted to be because my dad had been in and out of them while I was kid. I was SCARED because here I was at 31 years old facing major life changing back surgery with 3 small children at home and the thought of all the things I would no longer be able to do that I enjoyed doing. And if the surgery went wrong there was a chance of paralysis. I allowed fear to get a grip of my emotions rather than focusing on the positive that would come from this surgery such as being able to breathe! My surgeon caught wind that I was having much anxiety over the upcoming surgery and called and moved my surgery up to Friday September 17th. He said there was a cancellation which I don’t know if there really was or not but that was GOD! I went in for my 8 hour surgery, scared. I came out being able to breath!! I remember in post op saying “I can BREATHE!” And asking when I could go to Rehab! Dr. Khairi and I had talked about going to Rehab and that was the only thing I was talking about aside from the fact that my mouth was so dry and I wanted ice chips!! My amazing clergy friend Patty Jones stayed in post op with me for who know’s how long feeding me ice chips! Dr. Khairi thought I was funny because I was so concerned with going to rehab! I came out with titanium rods from T-2 to T-12. I was a mess in the ICU! I was mean to the nurses and very out of character for me. I was moved to the floor at Methodist hospital and pretty much left to hang. The Physical Therapy would come in each day and get me up out of bed. I was not aware that if you walk a certain amount of feet you would NOT be able to go to rehab! I walked over the “100 ft” mark and was told on Thursday I could not go to rehab! Josh and I were very upset about this as that had been the plan all along but when I was up walking the hallway with a walker they just would not allow it! So, home I went with a walker, hospital bed and essentially everything that was at the hospital was at home……..more on my recovery and why I had to have the second surgery next week!
This is a post op picture of the FIRST time!
yakadoo27 