Bittersweet Sunday

Nancy Johnson was back at church today. She was looking wonderful, and was in good spirits. I was so happy to see her! She is not 100% but seems to be recovering well. She is being careful about what she has been eating and trying to give herself extra nutrition. Whatever it is, it appears to be healing and we are overjoyed she is on the mend.
Today was also the last day with Zoe and Sandy at be with us over at Jordan Valley Baptist Church. Sandy is a missionary with Children’s Evangelism Fellowship, and she and her daughter Zoe are re-locationg to Orlando to be closer to her family while Sandy raises more support for her ministry. She feels led by God to be a director for a local chapter of CEF. Check her out here. I am going to miss Zoe, she teases me far more than your average six year old. Also, I am going to miss those huge, doeful eyes of hers.

 

Seriously, how could you not miss those eyes?

 I will also miss Sandy and my occasional McDonald’s run with her. If you recall, I was out with Sandy when I had this gentleman ask me out. Feel free to check out her ministry here.

June is going to be a busy month here. Maranatha Baptist Church in Grimes, IA will be coming out here to help with a Vacation Bible School at Jordan Valley. The last weekend, my LutheranMe Kristin will be around to visit me for four whole days. And then…. it’s off to Iowa in July! I am so excited to see my friends and family!  So until the end of the month I am just going to try to relax and finish strong on my Blog-A-Day-In-May. It has been a challenge, but I hope you have enjoyed some of the introspective and Christian posts I have made. I don’t want to turn this into a straight theology blog, but I am going to warn you now: more God stuff is going to be added to the  mix. I have chronicled some of my struggles from last winter. I severed some friendships and have restored some of my clarity back. I feel like myself again, and now I want to focus on the most important element of my life: God. So that means less snarking and more Spirit. There is also going to be less complaining about boys, since I am on another current project. That is a secret mission for now, so I will leave it there and let you all speculate.

I promise, though, I will snark sometimes. Its part of my charm.

Random Updates

For the lack of a real post yesterday, I will attempt two make two posts today. I have discussed some on here this month without really providing any updates on the posts. So I will go over those things, and hopefully, my Igor research will be presented later.

First, let’s start with Nancy. I wrote about her here, explaining she has breast cancer and asked for prayer the day of her surgery. Now, for a post-op update:

Nancy is recovering well. The cancer was caught in Phase 1, and the lymph nodes removed did not indicate the cancer had spread. Also,  an MRI has not shown signs of additional spreading. For now, it seems as if Nancy’s biggest concern is healing from her surgery. Harley said she had an infection but she is on the mend. She has not come back to church yet. I had a lovely chat with her tonight, and she said she would probably be back Sunday. She better be, or I might be moving in with her. I miss her like crazy!

Now, time to update on Angela. Angela is my newest roommate, and several weeks ago, I asked you all if she should return her engagement ring in this post. After mixed responses, Angela accepted my advice to wait a week or so and then decide. As an olive branch, she returned the ring to her ex. She said they were trying to be friends.

Famous last words.

Today when I came home from work, Angela was home. I listened in shocked silence as Angela said she quit her job because it was too hard to work with Bob. She walked out with no prior notice. She has no other income, and the economy in in bad shape. Somehow this does not thwart her confidence that she will find a new job soon.  She spent an hour on the phone calling friends and telling them off, telling them this was all their fault and she wanted them out of her life. She made unreasonable threats if they disagreed. This, and other erratic behavior have made me wonder if it was really all Bob’s fault that they broke up.

Emily Ann and I were hanging out in the apartment early this evening. I was fixing cordon bleu for dinner when we heard an impatient knock on the door. Emily Ann scurried up to answer it, and a female cop practically burst in, asking for Angela. Angela came down the steps, and a male cop walked in. They started asking her questions. From what I heard, someone had reported Angela as suicidal and the police were doing a welfare check. A few minutes later, a fire truck pulled up and EMS filed in, and began checking Angela’s blood sugar. They asked if she was on medication, if she’d had suicidal thoughts, made suicidal statements, all to which Angela emphatically answered no. Emily and I were questioned and confirmed she had been any more erratic than normal. Satisfied, the EMS and police left, and Emily and I cracked up as we watched the enormous fire truck pull a 20-point turn on our tiny cul-de-sac.

So, there’s the update. And after all of that, I am too tired to discuss Igor… so, maybe tomorrow?

Trials and Blessings

For all you prayer warriors out there, Nancy Johnson’s masectomy is today. I was told by Nancy she would most likely be out Wednesday, should all go well. I’m asking that you pray specifically for these things:

-Wisdom in the surgeon’s judgement/saftey during surgery
-Physical healing for Nancy post-op
- That the cancer is unable to spread
-Comfort for the Johnson, Schaff, Best, and Gunter families (these would be the last names of Harley and Nancy’s offspring)

God, though, in His mercy, seems to combine trial and blessing. Sometimes, the blessing itself comes through the trial, which I am sure will be the case for the for the Johnsons.  On Sunday my church family was given a reason to rejoice with my other pastor and his wife, Chuck and Irene. Brockas have a new grandson that was born Sunday evening. Brody Stoker is a healthy baby boy weighing in at 7 lb 9 1/2 oz, and a headful of curly blond hair. Both mother and baby are doing well.

So, just a remind to all of you (and myself) trials are tough, but they happen that we may be refined and better conformed to the image of Christ. Also, don’t let trial steal a blessing away from you. If you look hard enough, you can always find one (or several) to be thankful for, maybe even a circumstance in the trial!! Blessings help us bear up under our load.

Emily’s First Vlog Aka What In the World?

I am my own what in the world this week…

I explain why I have so much eyeliner on, guy situations, and an update on Nancy Johnson.

Please don’t laugh too hard at me and my little girl-esque voice.

 

Pray For Nancy

Nancy is the wife of my pastor, Harley Johnson, over at Jordan Valley Baptist Church.  Let me start off by saying this: Nancy is not your stereotypical Baptist pastor’s wife. Rather than the dour faced, 80’s dress clad, hat wearing image that her title evokes, Nancy is a spunky, smiling, sincere, stylish woman in her sixties.

Look at that stunning lady!

 Nancy is one of those people you fall in love with instantly. She is that Proverbs 31 woman that every Christian woman wishes they could be.  Godliness practically radiates from every surface of this woman.  She is the type of person whose light pulls in anyone who encounters her. Nancy lavishes love on anyone who comes into her presence.  At the same time, though, she is not afraid to express her opinions and can be blunt and frank. Somehow, she balances this with discretion and grace. She can be serious, but she has a fantastic sense of humor that can send you in stitches. Nancy is sugar and spice and everything nice, a near perfect mix of sassy and sweet, stern and slapstick. Above all, she is humble. She tells me of the things she has problems with in her life, and how she is still learning from God.  To someone who has so far to go to be Christlike, I find it almost unbelievable that Nancy still deals with the chastening of the Holy Spirit.

Nancy is a prayer warrior. Since I joined her congregation last year, Nancy has been one of my chief cheerleaders and healers. She tells me constantly she is praying for me, that she loves me, and how special I am to her. She often checked up on me and encouraged me, knowing the pain I held last spring. Nancy is an intregal part of my extended family in Utah and is as precious as a grandparent to me.

Nancy also has cancer.

This week, my wonderful, vibrant, woman of God is going in for a masectomy. We don’t know what day. We don’t know how long the healing process will take. Nancy has decided, though, she is not going to undergo chemotherapy and radiation. She has decided that the side effects of these treatments would weaken her body as much as cancer would, and is going to follow natural methods of fighting the disease.

When Pastor Harley announced her prognosis in church a few weeks ago, I wept openly in the service. I wasn’t angry at God for allowing Nancy to have affliction. I wept, though, with the comprehension that someone I love is going to undergo pain and is fighting for her life. Instead of feeling helpless, I want to fight with her. She has uplifted me so much, now I have the supreme priviledge of uplifting her. She has ministered and been a tool of God to heal my heart, and I pray I may do the same. It’s my turn to be a prayer warrior for my beloved pastor’s wife.

Now I want to ask all you praying people out there: Will you join me? Will you pray for Nancy Johnson as well? I’ll keep her physical state updated.   So, will you accept the challenge of James 5:16 with me?

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Please do.