Chiropractors

Okay. It's been 17 visits now to a local chiropractor. Three times a week is a hefty commitment. Especially when I haven't started to experience any payoff.

Six weeks ago I saw the proof of "subluxation" in the xrays. I really don't want to get calcium deposits and bone spurs in the places where my neck bones have gotten out of whack. Yes. Yes. I want to get that healthy curve back in my neck! So I've signed up for the GOLD FAMILY PLAN to get the $70/visit cost reduced to $50 and and I'm trekking to CHIROPRACTIC CARE downtown mid-day on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.

My husband is cheering me on for pursuing and sticking with a remedy for chronic neck & shoulder pain, but he remains a ROYAL skeptic. He got a free consultation with the GOLD PLAN. The kids did too and they thought it was really COOL! However, Jim is sure that Dr. Mark injured him while checking the flexiblity in his neck. Every morning since he went in, he tells me his neck still hurts.

He imagines this is what Dr. Mark was saying to himself.

"Oh, so you don't think you need a chiropractor?
(he puts his hands around Jim's chin)
We'll...(twist)
...just...(twist further)
...see about that!! (crack!)"

The part that's started to make me dubious is that I am not given any advice but "KEEP COMING IN...YOU'RE DOING GREAT TO BE REALLY FAITHFUL TO YOUR APPOINTMENTS."
as they chock up another $35 for 3 minutes spent on making my neck and back make more popping sounds (or not).

If I'm this motivated to put my active life on hold to get better, then I want to know about whatever else is going to aid in my healing (diet? exercise?). But supposedly that's what's coming after the first 8 weeks of adjustments...after my spine is where it should be.

I'm feeling like the guy who met Jesus and wanted his kid to be healed.
"If you can make him well..." he said to the Master.
Jesus confidently said, " 'If?' Dude. You've got to Believe."
and the guys says, "I do believe. Help my unbelief."

Problem is. With 'belief' we need to know that what we're putting our faith in has credibility...so because I'm faint of heart, I spent some time on the web reading up on physical therapy for whiplash and feedback on chiropractic care to give myself a little extra encouragement. All I come away with for sure is that I now have a greater chance of getting a stroke. I'd better keep reading.

I've already got the GOLD PLAN and I've committed 5 weeks already. Gonna stick with it and see what happens.

But I'm going to start taking a daily aspirin to thin my blood in case on of those thrice weekly neck pops wants to send a blood clot to my brain.

Highlight of the Week: Family Night

How do I I teach my children to write well in English? Even Cameron's teacher is giving him notes on his papers like, "What can I do to get you to write neatly?" And I'm wondering on top of this, "Can he put together an interesting sentence? Without a misspelled word?"

We're getting them to blog! A few years back, it started as "Family Reading Night." After a meal of the week's best leftovers (or popcorn if there's nothing else to eat), we read to each other. We pick highlights of what we've been reading the past week and take turns reading for up to 15 minutes each. It's been a sweet on-mom-and-dad's-big-bed family tradition for awhile now and this year, we've added new components.

First we review Chinese Characters together with Clavis Sinica, a new progam Jim found. Our apartment has a big screen in the living room, which makes what could be mundane into something fun for the family.

After Chinese review, we do some blogging. That's why I'm sitting here. The kids are writing an essay on the highlight(s) of their week, and I'm waiting to help them post it, or answer their, "Mom, how do you spell..." occassional questions. Once this is done and the showers are taken, we finally get to have our reading time.

Tonight we got a late start since Tyler was with 2 of his Singaporean buddies for the afternoon. I'm so glad he's keeping up with their friendships. An answer to prayer, so we didn't mind putting off our family time together in order to give Bob a ride home from Ben's and have some extra time with him in the car (even if it was mostly Cameron annoying them, and Tyler and Bob listening to an MP3 player!)

My Domestic Side

I hated cooking until I moved to China in 1997 when having a "helper" made me realize I merely hated all the clean up!

After 12 years of married life, my mother and mother-in-law had nearly given up on me as one who could produce anything edible from the kitchen. But when we left the states, the challenge of making a comfort food while living in China surfaced my domestic side.

Nearly all my favourite recipes come from a Wycliffe International cookbook that was put together in 1989 with the intention of it being used by people (mostly Americans) living in other cultures. It is out of print now but it has been the best general help to me and I always turn to it first for answers. I write the dates next to recipes and little notes about who likes it, etc. It is dog earred, stained, marked up and is probably one of the things I'd grab after my kids & my laptop in case of a fire!

It's funny that I'm writing out recipes today for the ICS cookbook. Tomorrow night, the Wycliffe friends who gave me the book for a wedding gift (which I didn't use for the first 12 years) are coming thru Singapore and staying with us.

Someone Asked if I'm a Homeschooler & the latest News

Yes. I'm a homeschooler during my children's waking hours OTHER THAN the 7 hours they spend each weekday in school!
(I imagine to REAL homeschoolers this is a cop out, or that I'm cheating somehow.) I want my home to be a VIBRANT CENTRE FOR LEARNING. But I can't do it full time with the sole responsiblity of educating them!

Since August, the boys are now attending International Community School near Mt. Faber (we now live a 10 minute walk from the school) It's a Christian International school and parents are very involved. one class per grade level with about 15 kids per class. Small. Nice. Our 6 years in Singaporean schools were good for us too. But it was the right time to switch them over to an American curriculum in a Christian environment.

I do a weekly drama club for about 16 of the kids from 3rd to 8th grade, have 2 groups of artists who are doing book studies for spiritual and character development and attend a women's bible study with expat ladies from St. George's Church (I realized lately that I have not been in regular fellowship with PEERS for 8 years! It is nice to just be a part of a group of wives, moms, Christians in their mid 30's or older, and mostly all "westerners"...MY TRIBE)

I'm also "consulting" with a new theatre practitioner friend; a catholic gal who's doing a devised piece of theatre on DESIRES with 2 other women who are not Christian. She wants the piece to ultimately point people to God, but also needs to resolve some of her confusion about her own passions and desires. Challenging!

Besides that the only regular "work" i have is going to the chiropractor 3 times a week. Started in January. Praying for healing in my spine. Mostly in my neck where it is out of place and causing irritation to my nervous system.

Our helper, Loonni, is going back home for a month in 2 weeks, so I've not taken on any other "work" 'cause I'm going to be the housekeeper/cook here for awhile. Give me a dose of "real life for moms." I've been so SOOO fortunate to be able to pursue relationships and theatre as a ministry with her doing all the housework. But for a season, that priviledge is going on the shelf.

Our family will take a trip to her village on the 4th week (when she's making the final decision whether to come back or not). We offered to come up to see her there and help her share the Gospel with her family and village. She never met a Christian or heard about Jesus before coming to Singapore. So we're praying that thru the grace of God, showing the Jesus film in her language (Isan) and introducing her and her family to other Christians we're trying to find in her area, that they will become followers of Jesus too. We're also praying for God to make his will known to her about her future. Of course we want her to come back with us (and anyone who's met her wholeheartedly agrees that she is a JEWEL!) but above that, we want what God wants for her.

My Confessions at Bedtime Prayers

I blow it with my kids all the time. But there is something I do with my kids that is very rewarding and a lot of Christian parents haven't made this a regular part of their parenting and it's easy to do: bedtime prayers.

Each night that I'm home at bedtime, my husband, James or I (or both of us), will pray with our boys at their bedside. Sometimes we'll all pile on their beds together. Over the years, it's been a sweet family time. It's also been a place where I think my kids get to hear my heart in a way that doesn't take place over meals, homework, chores, or errands or lessons.

On days when I've not really been a "victorious Christian mother," and if I've been convicted about it, this snuggle time is also a time when I confess to the Lord where I've blown it as a parent and my children are listening in (adding "AMEN!" just kidding!!) Sometimes I pray for the child's emotional healing if I've said harsh words that cannot be taken back. I speak of my thankfulness for the child's positive qualities, listing them, as a blessing on them. Most times I thank God that he never blows it, is always patient and is always a perfect judge, or knows the right answer. He, not I, is the perfect parent. I always, thank God for letting me be their mom even if I make mistakes, and ask Him to use my being their mom to mold my character and make me more and more righteous and good.

Regular bedtime prayers is an easy place to fall into "Christianese" (jargon) and let the prayers become "rote." So, I purposely don't pray the same thing all the time (thank goodness I don't have to have major confessions everyday!). Sometimes I'll even let the kids in on my questions of God, and how I don't understand the hows and whys of suffering, or poverty, or or or. I believe it's freeing for both me and my kids to have me admit that I'm not perfect and that I have questions.

I think this is part of the reason my kids really open up during this bedtime ritual. Sometimes I get to hear things that are on their hearts that they wouldn't ordinarily share. Because they open their hearts to the Lord in my presence, I can then pray for them other times knowing what's on their deep heart.

My boys are 13 and 9. I wonder if there will ever be a point when they don't want to pray with us at bedtime, or will become rebellious and sullen through the day and unwilling to confess their sinful attitudes at night. I might be able to make them apologize to another person, but I can't force them to do it with the LORD! For now, it's the highlight of being a parent for me.

Cameron, my 9 year old tells me nearly every day that he "can't sleep without the prayers or your sweet kiss." Tyler, now 13 years old, won't always tell me when he's going to bed, and I lose track of time sometimes; but he seems to still love it when I remember.