"Prayer Trumps Whining"

This is a profound thought:

"Prayer Trumps Whining"

Christy put this up in her office and I have caught myself whining too many times to count in the last week since she posted it. When I give it over to God and stop whining to others it's amazing how He takes care of it. Sometimes He changes the situation but more often than not He changes my outlook!

Also, check out Christy's blog if you haven't. She is a profound and funny blogger!!! :)
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Few Days Away

I'm in Africa. It would be a shame to go home without seeing some of the sites. With all that's been going on I knew I needed to get away. And I picked the perfect place for me to rest and renew --- Durban. (From left to right) Faith, Nomty, Becca and I left Saturday morning and got home Tuesday night. My only regret is I should have planned a longer stay. Sunday it rained but we went to the mall to get things not easily found in Swaziland (like a down comforter for early birthday present --it is winter here if I haven't mentioned it before and no central heat). Saturday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday morning the weather was fabulous although cool but nice (it's winter here). Here is the view from our room.Durban is on the eastern coast of South Africa. It is about a 6 hour drive (7 if it takes time to get through the border crossing) from Swaziland. It is on the Indian Ocean! Nomty who was born in Swaziland overcame her fear of the ocean during our stay. Becca who is a missionary with AIM (Adventures In Missions) has been in Africa for 2 1/2 years and had stayed at the place we rented last year. Faith is here from Georgia for about 3 months helping Becca. We introduced Nomty to McDonalds while we were at the mall and she got a mega Big Mac meal (but in Africa there are no free refills -- I really miss that about the states). Less words more pictures. More words, less pictures?

The beach is the most relaxing place I could hope to be. I love collecting seashells! Ican spend hours at a time looking at the intricate details. During my quiet time walking on the beach and collecting shells I could feel my heart beat return to normal (so I guess stress does aggravate it). The Lord and I shared in the beauty of the little shells. The ones that made it through the rough surf unbroken and the ones that were smooth a calming to touch after all the rough edges had been worn away by the surf. He then spoke to me and pointed out that even though the little things are important, when I'm concentrating on the looking at the shells I miss the magnificient beauty of the ocean. "Look up and enjoy the bigger picture and the gorgeous view!" Whoa! So true! Someone could walk right up behind me and I would never see them coming. And the ocean itself is so beautiful and calming.

I feel God is working and molding me and helping me find a better balance. My job is made up of so much of the little stuff but He is teaching me to look at the His whole plan and not get bogged down in so many of those little details. I don't know if that makes sense. I just know I'm a work in progress. Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed being there for just those couple of days.

My Heart is Healthy

Some are aware I've been having some heart problems. It started just intermittently at night that my heart would miss a beat and feel like a thump in my throat with the next beat. After Pepe got out of the hospital I had 2 days of where it would do it 24/7, after 3 beats or 10 beats or whatever. I had no chest pain, shortness of breath or pain in left arm. It was a Friday & Saturday and went back to normal on Sunday before I could see a dr. on Monday. We all chalked it up to stress. Then 2 weeks ago on a Sunday it started missing again. I went to the Dr. on that Monday and he but me on an anti anxiety medication in case it was stress related (not under a lot of stress that week though) and took me off caffine for a week. He ran blood work including an extensive thyroid check. My heart was still beating irregular and was starting to make me very tired. The medicine was making me unable to think or concentrate. We stopped that medicine and then when I saw the Dr. on Monday again he seemed more concerned. He ran an EKG, gave me an aspirin and got me in that day to go see a cardiologist.

The cardiologist was great. There are not a lot of doctors in Swaziland with proper or extensive equipment. Most missionaries with serious illnesses end up going to South Africa. The x-ray machines often are "out of order"; the EKG machine at the doctor's office wouldn't printout the results and things like that. I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to the cardiologist office. But I've been learning that God is sovereign and whatever was going on He knew about it and would be with me.

Dr. Mnisi (pronounced m-(click)-ee-cee), the cardiologist, was wonderful. He had a small office, very compact but with an heart echo machine, an EKG hooked to a computer monitor to average and analyze data and not just print it out and a set up with treadmill for a stress test. He was thourough. He explained how the heart works, what are signs of serious problems and then explained my diagnosis "ventricular ectopic”.

Sounds serious but it's not. My heart valves are working great. My blood flow is wonderful. No arterial blockage. My heart enzymes were fine. My bloodwork and thyroid are fine (with the exception of somewhat high cholesterol which I was put back on Zocor). "Ventricular ectopic” means I have an undetermined cause misfiring electrodes in the lower part of my heart that competes with the normal "pacemaker" in my heart that regulates the rhthym of my heart. It is common as one gets older (and just before my birthday, ugh!) but it is not serious. They have put me on a mild beta blocker to try to mellow it out so it is not so aggrevating and tiring. The funny thing is that when I exercised and increased my heart rate it would go back into regular rhythm so part of my prescription is "exercise". Wouldn't you know it!

I will keep you posted if there are any changes. I am going to Durban in South Africa for a few days on Saturday and resting for a few days with friends. It is on the beach and there is a "mall" to do some shopping. I'm so excited! Take care and thank you for all your prayers.