Barneyisfat

The pumpkins slowly rot, and the decorations that adorned my house in childhood adorn my house in adulthood.  Halloween came and went.  A small group of friends gathered at my house for a small dinner party.  We talked too loud and laughed a lot.  I have always promised myself that I would have a Halloween party at my apartment some day, and even though the dishes still haven't all been washed - I'm glad I kept that promise to myself.  .

I always promised myself that I would have a Guy Fawkes day party every 5th of November, but here is the day and I just don't have the energy for a party.  Jonathan Pound loved this holiday so much.  We would always watch V for Vendetta and have a large group over.  

Almost a month ago, I hurt my back.  With the diagnosis of a herniated disc and a rather scary MRI view of it protruding, I have slowed down significantly.  I've had to put off some of my favorite things, and I've had to take the long view on some issues that at perfect health might have been solved a bit more quickly.

I am about finished with my daily treatments and will be able to begin having treatments every other day.  This will free up a lot of time in my schedule.  These daily treatments have taken five or six hours out of my day (less if I take a taxi to the hospital - the hour tram commute is such a huge waste of time!) for almost two weeks.  I am just sapped of energy, but thankfully - the pain is decreasing.

A new friend, Mikita, fell down a flight of stairs and is in a coma after two operations.  I pray for his recovery, and am reminded again how lucky I am to have my health and to have insurance to cover the medical care.  His family couldn't afford the third operation the doctors recommended.  

My friend Den shared about interning at the psychiatric hospital when he was doing his counseling rotations for his social work masters degree.  I think that when my Ukrainian is stronger that I will go there and volunteer.  I hate hospitals, and I can't imagine living in one.  Den shared that many of the young people are forced to live there because their parents don't agree with their lifestyle choices - so they have them committed.

I have begun re-reading Brennan Manning's "Ragamuffin Gospel."  If you haven't read it, please go and find a copy and read it.  It is such a wonderful book.  It is so good to focus on grace and freedom.   I sometimes think about how much of my Christian education focused on teaching me to be a "good kid."  I wish that I had learned more about grace in Sunday school.  I hope that I teach more about grace in the future.

I've thought about starting a Manning Monday - which I'm almost certain Bill Beatty did at one point, but I'm entirely too tired to check at the moment.  We'll see.