Chat Back

I use GoogleTalk to chat with my mom and sister since they both have gmail addresses. I found a way to be able to chat with other people via my blog. It's called chat back. You'll see just under my picture a little talk-balloon that says "Chat with Me." It shows you my status, if I'm online or not. I'd love to chat with you if you're on at the same time as me. Just click the link and it'll open a chat window. The only drawback is that you appear as "Guest" if you aren't logged with with Google, so don't be offended if I ask who you are. :-)

Happy chatting!

Thyroid

The results from my blood test and ultrasound came back.  Turns out I have an underactive thyroid, hypothyroid.  And they either found thyroid antibodies, or found something in my thyroid antibodies, I don't remember exactly how the nurse said it, but it is genetic.  So, I have medicine that I'll probably have to take for the rest of my life.  But the good news is that it's not as bad as the worst case scenario that was playing through my mind.  I'm very good at imagining worst case.

So this explains a lot of things.  Feeling tired, being cold all the time, dry skin and nails, voice and throat issues (I actually lost my voice for the first time ever right before Christmas Eve--no pain, just no voice--not cool for the singing worship leader), losing more hair than usual.  And it means that the weight I've lost over the past year or so is unusual, since most people gain weight with an underactive thyroid.  It makes me wonder if the depression I was diagnosed with in college and the migraines I've had since junior high are related, but really I'll probably never know.  

So that's the update.  Thanks for your prayers and kind words! 

"There's no place like home..."

...except maybe northwest Indiana.

Jeff and I made the decision that it is time to head back to Kansas, and we will be doing so at the end of June, at the changing of the appointment year. In various ways over the past days and weeks we have let the members and staff at Ridge Church know our intentions. It hasn't been easy, and people have reacted in their own ways. Some people are happy for us, some people are sad, and some people are mad. Probably lots are some combination of the three.

It was a difficult decision for us to make. We knew it would hurt and that people would be hurt, but we know that it is time for us to be closer to our families. We are so thankful for the time we've had in Indiana, at Whiting and Ridge, and especially thankful for the people who we've come to know and love these past years. As a favorite song of mine says, "This is not an ending, it's just a bend in the road."

In the meantime, there is a lot of ministry to look forward to in months to come!

An update on this weekend and this week...

Jeff and I had planned to travel to St. Louis on Friday to spend some time celebrating birthdays with my sister, her boyfriend, my mom, and my step-dad.  (Mine was the 3rd, Erin's is the 8th, and Jeff's is the 14th.)  After a long decision-making process, we decided not to go because of the weather.  We were in the midst of a winter storm, as was most of Illinois.  Jeff and I ended up hanging out around home for most of the day Friday, then we went to dinner at Casa del Rio (our favorite Mexican restaurant here) and to see the movie "27 Dresses."  So we had our celebration for my birthday before the weekend because...

Sunday was Youth Sunday, so the members of the youth group led all three worship services.  They were greeters, ushers, readers, and preachers among other things.  It was fun to work with them, and they did an excellent job!  Our band, Tsunami, led music at all three worship services, as well.  That meant Michael, Michelle, and Christopher had to be at the church an hour before their normal Sunday morning time, and stay for an extra hour.  Also, they had to shlep some of their equipment back and forth between the sanctuary and fellowship hall.  They sounded great, and were good sports about the extra time and effort.  Thanks guys!

Also, Sunday evening was the youth group Super Bowl party.  A couple from the church were wonderful hosts for the party.  They opened up their basement for us to watch the game and eat our food.  I was cheering for the Patriots, but mostly because I wanted to be cheering against certain people who were also at the party.  I did think it would be neat for them to go undefeated for the season, but I have to admit it's pretty cool for the Manning family for Eli to have won.  Jeff made a lemon cake complete with candles to share with the youth at the party for my birthday.

Today I went to have a thyroid ultrasound.  I had some routine blood work done last week that showed some abnormality in my thyroid and also anemia.  The thing about the ultrasound is that I have issues with people touching my throat.  Maybe it's a singer thing, but I really dislike anyone even having their hands remotely close to the front of my throat.  I don't even let Jeff.  And this ultrasound was icky gel and a device operated by someone I don't know, all on my throat.  Really it was worse in the build-up than in the actual scan.  I also gave a blood sample to figure out the anemia.  I don't get the results for either until sometime next week, so if you're the praying type, that would be appreciated.