Trip to New York

Dear Friends:
I am feeling much better. We made the trip to New York and back without me even having to take one pain pill. One of the people we met in New York was a relative-in-law that we did not know we had, whose son plays as the kicker on the Holy Spirit football team. His last name is Farrell.
When we got home last night (Saturday) I felt well enough that I thought perhaps I would also feel well enough to go to church, so, just in case I could make it, I practiced two of the praise songs on the clarinet that were scheduled to be played by the church praise orchestra (I always wanted to play in a church orchestra, so I call the group at our church a praise orchestra instead of a praise band. )
One of my resolutions for when my life gets back to normal is to resume some aspects of my life to how it was many years ago, before I had the setback of the brainstem injury. Basically, I want to factor routine chores that others have been doing for me for all these years, which means going to bed earlier and getting up earlier to get everything done, etc. Someone told me at the very beginning of this present dilemma to live my usual life to the best of my ability during the “waiting-for-information time”, so I went to bed early to make certain that, if I did feel well enough to go to church, I could start that new plan immediately.
What a surprise it was for me when I woke up Sunday to the phone ringing at 9:20 AM with someone offering me a ride to church. 9:20! Yikes! So, with no time to even think about how I was feeling, I scrambled out of bed, got ready, and was out the door by 9:35… with not one single chore even thought about.
When I got to church, plans were being worked on for how music would be provided in view of the fact that for the first time that I can ever remember, we did not have an organist, a pianist or a substitute for either one. So the praise orchestra became the music, with a fast run through of the hymns, the doxology, then deciding on and practicing an offeratory and a prelude. But we did it.
I hope to start my chore plans tomorrow.
I continue to enjoy peace that passes all understanding. The way I like to describe it is to think of a cork sitting in the bottom of an empty glass. That cork represents peace in my life, when everything is going well. When this dilemma began, I went through a bit of time where my peace was disrupted. When I reached out and asked for prayer, the prayers were like water being poured into that glass, which caused the cork to rise and float gently on the top of the glass of water. Ever since I asked for prayers, that is how it has been for me, except for the night when I drank hot chocolate immediately before going to sleep. Nothing distressing that I hear or read while I wait for the results has been able to disturb that peace. Your prayers continue to be MUCH APPRECIATED.
Thank you for your prayers.
With LOVE from,
Sandi Cleary

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Tags: Chorus, Clarinet, Hot Chocolate, Peace, Praise Band, Praise Orchestra, Prayers