Crazy!

Wow! I must be doing something right, as there are so many things this past week and a half that could have been considered wrong if my heart was not in the right place. Make any sense?

Let's start out with the toothache. Beginning last Thursday, my tooth had a slight reaction to sugar-y things. OK, so just don't eat sugar, right? Right! By Friday I couldn't eat at all and my headache was so bad, I left my work to go to the walk-in clinic since my Dentist couldn't see me until Monday. I knew it was bad because I have only taken one sick day from work in the past 11 years.

OK, there I was sitting in the waiting room of the walk-in clinic, jaw in hand head pounding from the pain and Zach by my side in case I needed someone to drive me home. Three hours in the lobby, ten minutes in the office and they wrote me a prescription for a pain meds. They told me to take two at first since the pain was unbearable. I had rated the toothache at a nine on a scale of 1-10....and I consider natural childbirth to be an eight on the pain scale. Anyway, took the meds, had Zach drive me home and got ready for a jewelry show that night. I arrived at my Hostess' home and began to set things up, when all of a sudden, it hit me. I became nauseated and dizzy. Once the Guests arrived, I conducted the entire Home Show from my seat with a few times of heading to the bathroom to either get sick to my stomach, or have a false alarm. All of the ladies in attendance were very gracious and even helped me pack up my things and load them into my car. The Hostess called my hubby to come and get me as they did not want me driving home alone.......neither did I! Man, was I sick! It was determined that I had had a reaction to the pain meds.

Saturday, I attended the Ladies' Luncheon at our church and was able to endure the pain long enough to sit through a two hour luncheon. I had to endure the worst pain of my life for the remainder of the weekend. I tried to sleep as much as possible, and my family allowed me the time to do so. Along about Saturday afternoon, I developed a migraine on top of the toothache! Now, I was really hurting, to say the least. This brings us to Sunday.....no church for me, just more rest.

Monday morning, I went to work and then to the Dentist for two hours and then due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to go back to work and stay until close (7pm). Forgot to mention, that the first two tries to deaden my tooth failed and I felt the drilling of the nerve! OK, now that pain from the weekend just got topped! Yikes! After the FOURTH set of shots, I was numb enough not to feel it and did my best to be a great patient and just make it through the root canal I had to have (my sixth one in my life).

Tuesday was pretty much a break for me. Just had to work from 8am-7pm with a migraine....piece of cake at this point!

This brings us to Wednesday. After working all day, I was still in some pain from the trauma of a root canal. so I was planning on heading to bed when I realized my daughter was still on the phone with her boyfriend. Dale asked her to get off the phone, and she reacted and that started a HUGE argument. There were many things that came out during that fight, secrets that she had been keeping from me, thoughts that she had been having and after throwing a piece of trimboard into a mirror that was a few feet from me, I had no choice but to call the Sheriff and hope that they could help talk some sense into her. They arrived, but because no one was injured, they did not arrest her or take her out of the home. They did site her with a few things, and then they left. About 20 minutes later, they had to come back because she had escalated again and this was the worse she has been. The only thing I could do is call the Sheriff again and pray that the Lord would intervene. The officers came, and because she had bitten Dale this time, they took her in handcuffs to juvenile detention. They held her for 36 hours and we had a meeting with her counselor prior to her release into our custody on Friday morning. Due to her history of anger and violence toward us in the past, she will have to go before the Judge at the end of the month and could get probation well past her 18Th birthday. She may have to serve community service and/or more time in detention.....all up to the Judge. She came home on Friday after this meeting. She is remorseful and I pray she is willing to work on the things she needs to work on. I know that if she gets her priorities straight, she will do fine. When God isn't at the center of your life, your whole life spins out of control, as some of us have had to learn the hard way.

Here it is Saturday and we had a lovely time attending Zach's play in Yachats. He did a great job and is sooooooo funny! My migraine is gone and my tooth is healing and I pray that my heart is on the mend as well. I know that the Lord in in control, and that He knew of all of these things long before they took place.

The thing that was tough is that I had to be at work all day, every day throughout most of these trials......usually from 8-7. I prayed a lot and really felt the presence of the Lord upon me. He is my strength and I am so glad that He was there with me through it all. I KNOW that without Him, I would have fainted under the weight and pressure of this week. God is good and His plans are for my good. He knows what's in store for me, and when I choose to look to Him for the guidance I need to get me through, I can overcome many stumbling blocks that seemed impossible at the onset. Praise Jesus!

Here are the words to a song that helped me greatly as I struggled to understand the reason why my kids, in particular, are being tested in so many ways. If you (or someone you love) are wrestling with your day to day struggles, please take comfort in these words:

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes,
And make a new beginning

Anyone ca feel the ache
You think it's more than you can take
But your stronger
Stronger than you know

Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

(CHORUS)
I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken heart become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason
For someone not to try

Everybody's scared to death
When they decide tot take that step
Out on the water
Bur it will be alright

Life is so mush more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing!

(CHORUS)

To overcome the odds
"You don't stand a chance"
When the world says ,"You can't"
It'll tell you that you can!

(CHORUS)

In closing, I am reminded of the Scripture that speaks so deep n my soul this evening:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!