Family Update

1. Lamb 2 took a science class this week. I will blog more about his class later. The location ended up changing from where it was supposed to be. That meant a longer drive to chauffeur him than I planned. Ram did a couple of pick ups but it was a 22 mile round trip in traffic. I was so glad when the week was over and we were done with all that driving. He loved his class so it was worth it. The other Lambs weren't interested in doing a science class this year.
2. We received some information on our health plan changes for next year. I spent much of the week researching it online and also e-mailing some fellow pastor wives about what their church plans to do about health insurance for next year. I still have a lot more research to do in order to recommend to the board of directors what I think is the best way for both the church and for our family. I know no one on the board of directors has time to research this. Nor do they have as much interest in this as I do for my health care costs for my family. I misread the information at first and was panicking about the changes. Thankfully I misread it and it is not as bad as I first thought. Health insurance and doctor billing is so drastically different than when I was born. I don't know what the answer is for this whole situation, especially for small LCMS churches. I do know that God will continue to provide for our family even if it is not in the way that we expect or would choose.
3. I listened to most of the Higher Things broadcasts of church services from Grand Rapids online this week. It was a little tricky because of the time change. I needed to get up to get ready to take Lamb 2 to his class anyway so I was able to listen to Matins. It was time to go get him during most of the Vespers so I was only able to listen to about half of those. I prepared supper during most of the Evening Prayers. I could totally get used to all those services live streamed every day and I would never get tired of them. Ram picked up Lamb 2 from class today and when he got home I was bawling because they had just finished singing Behold a Host Arrayed in White and For All the Saints. Thank you so much to Higher Things for the Live Stream. Lamb 1 is excited about going to Higher Things next year. We already have a meeting at church planned for next Sunday to start fundraising and planning!
4. Ram and I both had dentist appointments today. I was shocked when he got home and said he had his first cavity. Just like Lamb 3, they have been watching this tooth for awhile and he finally needed a filling. Because of Lamb 2 breaking his tooth, Ewe's root canal, and Lamb 3's first filling, we have met our dental deductible this year. After I asked Ram a bunch of questions about his cavity, that was my first thought- if he is going to need a filling this is the perfect time to need it since we have met our deductible! I still can't believe he was 40 before he ever had a cavity. The dentist apologized to me again for needing to do 2 root canals. He said that is so rare that he never expected I would need two until he tested my teeth.
5. The Lambs begin two weeks of swim lessons next week. I'm looking forward to seeing how Lamb 2 does this year after his nose surgery last year.
6. I'm going to pick blackberries on Monday so plan on lots of time in the kitchen next week making jam and preparing blackberries for the freezer.
7. I cleaned out my scrapbook closet this week and got things more organized. I'm not done but it looks tons better than before.
8. I went to my naturopath chiropractor today for the first time this calendar year. I was generally not feeling well since we returned from our vacation and I already feel better. I don't understand how naturopath works and perhaps it is all in my head, but I feel it is worth every penny because I feel so much better after I go. He started me on three supplements and I am to let him know in three weeks if they help. I may not need to return to him, we'll see then. I was pleasantly surprised that he only charges $70 an office visit since we have not met our deductible. That is worth it to me.
9. Ram had a funeral last week that was physically and emotionally draining for him and also totally unexpected for everyone in our congregation. We both received a lot of phone calls from members that wanted to talk about it. We have nothing on the calendar tomorrow and we plan to sleep in and relax after a tough week. Funerals were common in MN but Ram has only done a couple of funerals of active members since we arrived in ID. We were both out of practice of the whole funeral interrupt your schedule completely. I don't think most people realize how much work LCMS pastors put into deathbed calls and funerals. This family was shocked how soon Ram arrived at the hospital and he spent a lot of hours after that. We know that is what this saint would have wanted and I was happy to share Ram with her family and he was happy to help them even though it was exhausting.