Monday, December 15, 2008

Currier & Ives


Merry Christmas!
Sunday was the Mission's big Currier & Ives Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration. Everything was beautiful and incredible! The Lord continues to bless us so much with each passing year. This year we had so many wonderful friends there and so many heard the Christmas story. If you're interested we put a small clip on You Tube. Just write Kodiak Baptist Mission Christmas! Enjoy.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Bryant's Going Away/Crazy Sweater/White Elephant Party


So the picture explains everything much better than I ever could.  We got together with some of our closest friends, all wore bad sweaters and brought terrible gifts to share.  We sang Christmas music, the girls beat the guys at charades and we laughed a lot!  Oh, what fun!  

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Christmas Decorating



I have always loved decorating for Christmas and the day after Thanksgiving is my favorite day to do this.  The knew windows are amazing and really add to the Christmas feeling, especially with the snow.  Gus was very relaxed and Stephen constructed the mirror in the second picture, well not the mirror but the frame around it.  

Happy Birthday Stephen!



Stephen never seems to want much for his birthday, except German Chocolate cake.  So this was my second attempt, and at least it tastes really good.  Unfortunately Stephen woke up at about 3AM on his birthday sick.  He felt terrible for most of the day, but the Husker win did make him pretty happy.  The picture of Stephen isn't a good one, but it really captures just how he felt.  

Thursday, November 27, 2008

HAPPY THANKSGIVING




Happy Thanksgiving!  Stephen and I had a wonderful day relaxing and enjoying the fellowship of our friends here at the Mission.  There were 20 of us that gathered together today and wow, was there lots of food!  I don't think my body was quite ready for it all, but Stephen's stomach grew quite a bit today.  

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Spinning

This is one of my favorite little girls in our after school programs. Oh, she's just so precious and I love watching her. So there's not much to say about the clip except she really wasn't into the game we were playing.


Leaving Running Behind



It's amazes me how quickly life can change. As many of you know I am an avid runner. I love everything about heading out for 10 mile run, pushing myself as hard as I can up a big hill or exploring a new area. It's my time to relax, to think. I've never listened to music, my mind is loud enough on its own it's about mile 4 that I get to the core of an issue and my 9 I've worked it out. Rounding the turn to come home is so welcoming and there's something satisfying about not being out of breath. So as I laid in the recovering room coming out my my groggy state I got the attention of one of the amazing nurses (nurses are so wonderful!) and asked what they found out. Not long after the doctor's nurse was explaining the severity of the state of my knee. She said alot, but what I remember is the "you're not going to be a runner anymore". That was it, in a moment something that I have depended on as a constant was snatched away, thank the Lord for the grogginess state and pain medicine it softened the fall. I laid in the hospital bed for a while, Stephen was flying in from Kodiak on the 11 o'clock flight and wouldn't be there for another couple hours. The time went by rather quickly, calling my sister helped alot. She's such a wonderful human being, and I love her dearly.

So when Stephen walked through the door it was like Superman rescuing Louis Lane, he is my hero and I love everything about him (even those toes). I've begun to realize more and more that running isn't anything compared to the wonderful life the Lord has given to us. When I think of my most favorite memories running isn't included and while it's something that has given me many great memories there are plenty of other things that will do that. I've always loved challenges and I look forward to writing a year from now how much fun swimming and biking has become. But in between then and now are so many new memories to be made. I get a lot of peace knowing that this didn't surprise my Heavenly Father, and that he has been patiently waiting for me to be ready for this day and all it includes. While I'm not thrilled about having to had surgery and all it included, I'm so thankful for what it did for me on the inside.
So before I go I have to elaborate just a bit on the amaziness of my husband! I don't handle medications very well and the one I was on made me a bit crazy for sure. Stephen did everything literally, I couldn't really think straight and he was there and while he'll tell you he did a terrible job, he saved my life. The Lord really knows what he's doing when He puts two people together.

So for the pictures, the first one is the view from our hotel room at the Hilton. Stephen had a counselors conference right after my surgery so we didn't have to pay for the hotel room or his plane tickets up to Anchorage. The date of my surgery was one of the only openings they had and it worked perfectly with Stephen's schedule. Praise the Lord!
The second picture is my the day after my surgery. It looks like I was ready to climb a mountain, believe me that was the furthest thing from my mind. But it was amazing that I haven't needed crutches at all! But things really went down hill after that picture for about 3 days.
The last one is a picture of my knee about day 3 after the surgery. It was a grade 3 meniscus surgery of course the worst possible besides taking the whole thing completely out. Three little holes was all that was need to do a lot of work! It did feel like that pulled things around quite a bit though.