Hello my wonderful friends,
I know this is a rather lengthy post so if you read anything, read the last two paragraphs :-)
I'm a little early on this month's post, but I wanted to write to you before I forget everything I wanted to tell you! It has been a busy month so far. I started things off having a table at the Dunn County Dairy Breakfast. It is not often that I am out the door around 5 in the morning, but I must say that the drive to the Dairy Breakfast was the best part of the day. The sun was low, there was dense fog across the valley and the combination was breathtaking. It was hard to go sell photographs instead of stopping to take some!
The following weekend my roommates and I drove up to Eveleth, MN to visit Tom and Lois. Tom used to be the Administrative Pastor at church and it was great to catch up with him and Lois! We were able to rest in an absolutely beautiful setting and Tom helped me get some great photographs out on the lake! He was even kind enough to get a flat tire so that we could be stuck by the side of the road for an hour. That was just enough time to walk down into the woods on the side of the road, find some lady slippers to photograph along with some beautiful trees and a "mostly dead" dragonfly! We stopped by Duluth on the way home and went to Canal Park. On the way home we even saw a mama bear and three cubs! By the time we were heading home, I was spent. Most of you know that I like to get a unique perspective when I do photography and this usually means laying on the ground and contorting myself somehow. By the time we left Duluth my roomies had to pick me up off the ground. You would think I would learn...but the photographs to be had were screaming at me louder than the pain!
I got home and crashed. The rest of last week was full of work of various kinds. I have started meeting with a couple of people every Thursday to talk through business things. This may sound vague, but it really is a great time to get together with other like minded people and learn from each other. We report on the progress we have made that week and make goals for the next week. For me it is very helpful to have that accountability. I know I will be asked what I did to help my business grow and develop during the week and so I make working on my goals a priority. This week I have been working on numbers - uffda! My spreadsheet is done and I am excited to see how this is going to help me track my sales and expenses better!
I just finished reading the book Tribes by Seth Godin. It is a great book about leadership and I have learned a lot from it. One of the ideas that I had while reading the book was to get my fans on Facebook involved in my photography on a personal level. I created a game called Group Photo Project. I asked a series of 5 questions and took a photograph based on the answers. I had to take a photograph of water, that was wild, up close, at sunset and I wasn't allowed to edit it in any way. This was a fun game and a challenge to photograph! However, I did it and you can see the resulting photograph on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GloryDisplayed. I am so blessed by those investing in me and in my business. I have met so many unique and amazing people through Glory Displayed and I can't wait to see how God grows this business and uses it to accomplish great things!
The big thing I am working on at church right now is putting a team together to plan the Perspectives Course we are offering in the Spring. I wrote about this last time. Pastor Doug and I were able to meet with our Regional Director and that was excellent. He answered many questions and got us some materials. The end of my week was spent contacting people and inviting them out to "coffee" to share with them what Perspectives is and why I want them on the coordinating team. I set up several appointments for this week. I already had to reschedule two that were supposed to be today because of health issues. I have a feeling this isn't a complete coincidence! I feel like every time I get ready to do something amazing my health takes a hit. It could be because I'm trying to take on too much or it could be the devil trying to take me out. Either way, I'd appreciate your prayers.
I know I have "overdone it" with my trips to Lake City and up north. However, I have also gotten the rest afterwards that is typically sufficient to get me back to a manageable pain level. Not the case this time. I felt better for a couple of days, but late Thursday afternoon I hit the wall again. Friday I felt okay so I went home and rode my motorcycle a little for the first time this year. That was excellent by the way. A good motorcycle ride through God's country is good for the soul! By Saturday night I was completely out of it. I was incredibly tired and when people talked to me I didn't really hear any of it. Yesterday was the worst day I have had in a long time. Every inch of my body hurt - a lot. Every muscle and joint was in pain. I had a fever and the butterfly rash across my nose and face and my head was killing me. I missed church and missed going to visit my dad on Father's Day. In fact, I didn't even have the energy to get up and find something to eat so my wonderful daddy brought me supper on his special day. (And that's just one of many reasons why my dad is the best dad ever!!)
Today I still hurt a lot, but it is better than yesterday. I have had several conversations with my doctor's nurse today and I ended up switching the way I take my once a week medication. I have been on the pill form of methotrexate for a long time. My doctor wanted me to switch to the injection form of the medication, but I was hesitant (let's just say I'm not a huge fan of shots). Needless to say, the pain was too much and I got to the point where I will try anything. So today I went in and got a shot in the...um, lower back area...sure, let's go with that. It hurt like a son of a gun, but I am hoping and praying it will help me feel better. I will go into the clinic every Monday through August to get this shot. I see my doctor again August 1st and we will figure out if I will continue with the injection or if she will send me back to Mayo to have them come up with a different medication to try. I also have a follow up appointment with my internal medicine doctor at Red Cedar on Wednesday. It has been over two months since my gallbladder surgery and even though I am eating a lot more, I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I weighed myself the other day and I'm down another couple of pounds to 95. Not exactly the ideal weight! Anyway, I really am not looking forward to more poking and prodding, so I'd appreciate your prayers.
The pain yesterday was so intense that I broke down and cried - a couple of times. Between the pain and the frustration it was just too much. During one of my little "moments" I was crying and asking God, yet again, why? Why do I have to go through all of this? Why does it have to hurt so much? Don't you know, Lord, that I have a very low pain tolerance level? You made me Lord, why did you make me like this? Then I asked Him... God, how can this possibly bring You glory? (and not in a nice way) I distinctly heard Him answer me deep in my spirit. He said that the sickness and pain does not bring Him glory, but when I praise Him in the midst of the pain, that brings Him great glory. Wow. I laid there in my tears for a minute and then I spent some time resting in God's loving arms, praising Him and glorifying His name. What a sweet time with the Lord that was!
1 Peter 4:12-13 says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." I understood this very much better yesterday! We all have struggles of various kinds. I want to encourage you to keep on clinging to the Lord. Call out to Him. He hears you, He understands your pain in a way that no one else can, and He loves you so much. When you reach out to God and praise Him in the midst of your pain, it brings great glory to Him. Other people are watching your life. When they see you give God glory and honor and praise in the midst of the struggles you are going through you are a living testimony. If we do this, we are sharing the Name of Christ and that, my friends, is worth all the pain in the world to me!
