1/4th Wisdom

It seems my posts will only show 1/4 of my wisdom from now on . . . Friday I had my wisdom teeth extracted. Well, I had already had one taken out a while ago. Friday was an oral surgeon's attempt at removing the remaining three.

I headed into the office with confidence! I was actually wearing a shirt of Bree's for some added support. I was pleased that I was seen quickly and things just then started going downhill in a hurry. The dentist was fairly young. Now, I'm not one to discriminate against age. My prior OBGYN was fairly young and I LOVED her. I was disappointed when she moved to New York. So, I kept up with the optimism. Unfortunately, once he started speaking should have been my cue to leave as quickly as possible. I should have listened to Popeye's "horror scope." Popeye on Thursday had send me an email entitled, "Horror Scope," and explained that if I met a person with a white lab coat on Friday to run! I should have.

The dentist explained to me that two of the teeth looked fairly simple to remove and that the remaining could potentially be difficult to extract. I asked if I should be put under or something else. He assured me I would be fine.

So, then he came at me with a needle and I have had some dental work done on my teeth in my almost 28 years of life. I've never had one that hurt my ear! He once again assured me I was fine. The next needle came at me and he accidentally poked me in the lip. Ouch. He then proceeded to the daunting task of removing my teeth.

Tooth #1 - Pretty easy. A little rough dislodge, but out within seconds.

Tooth #2 - Getting easier. Perhaps this dentist actually knows what he is doing.

Tooth #3 - OUCH! He tried every tool imaginable to remove this tooth. He gave me multiple injections and explained this was just a tricky tooth. He assured me he could get it out and that it was just not an easy tooth. About an hour and a half of him poking at me, cutting my gums, drilling, and sawing at my tooth he admitted defeat. He once, again, assured me he could remove the tooth but it would be with the compromise that I would feel great pain. He tells me this shortly after he accidentally dropped the drill. Uhm, no thank you.

My options were then given to me.

Option #1 - Remove tooth, torture Rachel. I don't think so.

Option #2 - These are his words: "I can stitch you up and you can come back after you're healed to a more experienced dentist." Let's go with that one.

So, my weekend was sort of painful. I totally understand why people are terrified of dentists. I've had the luxury of always having great dentists until recently.

The dentist sent me home with three different medications. One was for a potential infection (which I'm already on for a sinus infection - he would have known that if he would have read my chart), one for swelling, and a painkiller. Having never taken painkillers before and only weighing 90 pounds it was pretty hard on my body. Luckily, Keith is an awesome husband and was my saving grace this weekend.



Here is my re-enactment of what the dentist did to my wisdom tooth . . . . or me demolishing some more of the house. Stupid flood.

It is summer!

I knew it was summer, I just knew it. We've been spoiled with about a week of sunshine and we've taken full advantage.

Blessings?

Tuesday Joey had his speech therapy and afterwards the kids and I had lunch with Keith. Things seemed to be going well. The weather was kind of crummy, because it has not stopped raining since the first week of June. We weren't too concerned, though. Being in Texas two weeks really made us appreciate the cooler, damp weather of New England. The weather also made me really tired. So, I decided to take a nap with the kids after our lunch with Keith.

What we woke to, though, was not a pleasant surprise. It had apparently rained about four inches in a short time frame, like thirty minutes. Our ENTIRE bottom floor was under three inches of water. Keith came home about the same time we woke from our nap. I tell you, we had no clue where to start or what to do!

Keith headed to our neighbors hoping they'd have any idea what we could do. Unfortunately, we've not really been able to befriend our neighbors. Don't get me wrong, we're friendly with them. We've got the whole wave thing going, but real conversation are rare. Our neighbor two houses down came to our rescue!

His name is Steven and his lovely wife's name is Margarete. He brought TWO pumps and totally bailed us out of our indoor pool. He really went above and beyond.

That evening our friends Scott and Arturo came to the house and just started helping in any way they could. They contacted the church for us and by evening we had several fans blowing in our house along with a couple of dehumidifiers.

Wednesday afternoon our associate pastor came by to survey the damage and pray for us and that night our Friends the Fagundo's invited us for dinner to get a break from cleaning and demolishing the house. The kids and I stuck around for a bit and Keith and Arturo and his brother-in-law came and finished all of the taking down of sheetrock. WHAT A BLESSING! They saved Keith so much and really brought the love of God into this situation.

Today we were able to go and have some delicious breakfast with the Hadley's and enjoy some good 'ol fellowship. They also brought us some dinner!

After dinner and getting the kids to bed we were able to visit with our neighbors, again, and I think we're in couple love. They seriously are the sweetest couple and I'm hoping through this situation we can be actual friends with them!

Eventhough the whole flooding issue is not a situation I'd like to go through, again, it's really such a blessing to see God working through so many people. Our friends and neighbors are a Godsend! Keith and I are trying to keep a positive attitude. We just keep counting our blessings. No one was hurt, there was no electrical issues or busted pipes, and we've had great support!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! Happy birthday, America!

Today is one of my favorite holiday's. I love the warm weather and cookouts. Today is a day most Americans respect our troops. I love during the parades EVERYONE honors our troops by giving a standing ovation. I love feeling American pride with others. Here's to you, America!

Catchin' Up

We've finally caught up on sleep and we're almost back on schedule. It's been a crazy week getting things back in order and we've been blessed to have some friends from Texas up here this week.

Monday afternoon our friends Shane, Brandi, and baby flew in from Austin. We met them YEARS ago through our church INDIANA AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. Shane is finishing his doctorate in civil engineering in Austin and Brandi teaches kindergarten. They are also expecting their first baby! It's so exciting meeting up with old friends and we truly are enjoying their company. It just seems like yesterday we would go have lunch with our friends after church on Sunday's. The guys would all vote for Taco Villa and the girls would usually vote for something else, but one girl usually was persuaded to join the dark side. (Usually Danica) Though, Keith and I truly enjoy our new chapter in our lives, we still miss the good 'ol days of IABC and our great group of friends we had there.

Tuesday we were able to go into Boston and do the FREEDOM TRAIL. Well, our friends finished. We've still yet to finish it all in one day. We usually get stuck at a point and never fully complete it. We've seen every stop, but just not all in the same day.

So, since I've told you a bit about our friends, will you please say a prayer for them. They're actually up here for a mission trip. It's exciting to see what God has planned for them and just pray that His word be spread, seeds planted, and sowed. Pray that Brandi's pregnancy go well and for a healthy baby.

Lastly, pray for us! Hanging out with them these last few days has saddened me a bit. It's evident that I'm not making an effort to spread His word. When we first moved here I think both Keith and I used every opportunity possible and now with parenthood and sometimes the lack of encouragement has drifted OUR mission. I'm not sure if many of you know this, but Keith and I truly felt called to move up to the Boston area five years ago. We still feel like we should be here.

Five years ago I remember getting a call from Keith while I was working asking if it would be okay if he interviewed with a company called Raytheon that was looking for people in his specialization to move to the Boston area. I thought it was great and told him to go for it! Well, Keith got an interview at the student center and as he was walking the halls he thought he heard our pastor RUSS MURPHY. It turns out it was him, but he seemed to be in a meeting and he kept walking. Keith then heard Russ call out for him and Keith walked into a monthly meeting with a hundred college pastors gathered to pray for various items. When Keith mentioned he was going for an interview he was surrounded by these men of God and prayed over and that His will be done. Well, the interview ended up going very well. They told him that they'd contact him within two weeks. A few days later Keith was contacted (by this time it was spring break) and was asked to go to Massachusetts for an interview within the week.

So, we bought a ticket for me and we both headed to Massachusetts by mid-week. We flew from Lubbock to Dallas and that's where Satan tried to stop us. The airline lost his ticket. We had a short connection in Dallas so by the time I finished going to the restroom and getting us some breakfast I was told by Keith I needed to get on the plane alone and he'd figure it out later. Those of you who know me best know I get sick when I get really nervous. So after the yacking on the plane ride I ended up having one of the best spiritual talks with two people sitting next to me on the plane. Then, I had a connection in Chicago and finally my stop in Boston. Luckily, Keith was already there waiting for me. I remember talking to Keith about the fact it must be Satan trying to put a stop to this trip or a bad taste for Boston in our heads.

Keith had a great interview and once, again, was told he'd hear something within a couple of weeks.

Sunday morning after church service we always met in the auditorium before heading to our Sunday School class. Everyone was catching up about what everyone did over spring break. Then, we headed to class where we announced to our class that we'd gone to MA for a job interview. Then, our friend Shane (same one from above) mentioned that he would be traveling to MA later that week! He had gotten accepted to MIT and was checking out the school. Then, another friend mentioned his father would be traveling about a possible job in the area! What are the chances?

Keith and I were pretty amazed and felt like God was just calling us to Massachusetts. That evening we headed to evening service and they were showing a video. For some reason the skyline on the video looked vaguely familiar. Then, the first line out of the video was, "Here in Boston we need missionaries." Hello? God? I think so.

The next morning (just a few days after Keith's interview) Raytheon called and offered Keith the job. There was no denying we were supposed to go. We talked and prayed about it and knew this was the place God wanted us. We had decided Keith would call Thursday morning and accept the position.

Keith usually worked at the school late on Wednesday's while I attended discipleship at church. Well, Keith actually had the night off and decided to go grocery shopping by himself . . . hello? God? I think so! :) Seriously, though, as he was checking out the cashier asked if he was from the area. Keith mentioned he grew up in Amarillo, but would soon be moving to Massachusetts. The cashier then proceeded to tell him she was from Massachusetts! Needless to say, Keith called early the next morning and accepted the job.

Shane and Brandi ended up moving to Austin (also intervened by God) and we moved here. I still remember the prayer we had the last day with our Sunday School class. We had been studying Acts and our teacher prayed that we would be led just as Paul was. I remember holding hands with our fellow classmates and friends, crying. It was where God wanted me and I promised I would lead my life for Him.

In the beginning I did. I had hundreds of conversations with new friends up here. Keith taught Sunday School. That's when Satan attacked, again. Our church split and we ended up moving to a new church (where we still attend). I think since we've now had kids and . . . . well, just other excuses I could write, we've just not continued our mission.

Whew! What a long post . . . the moral of it, PRAY that we'll continue His mission. Pray for opportunities to share our faith.