ShenanINGRAMS

I am writing this one because I am just in awe of the Spirit and how it moves in us at just the right time. I have complained, just a little, of this trial called 'bed rest.' It's not easy for someone with my personality. I have really tried to remain positive and not be a grumpy bear about it. I share this weakness with a few friends that I know will pray for me, and one of them recently asked me how much I had been reading in the Word (Bible, for those of you who don't know), and I had to admit that I hadn't done much, even from my sick bed. It's not that I haven't talked to God or read things concerning God, or prayed for others, or read other Biblical materials; but as far as opening The Word and reading it daily, I haven't done that. Another friend of mine gave me a devotional for my birthday, and the book mark was the day before the surgery. So, tonight, before I turned off my lamp, I wanted to read a page of it. It's not The Word, but ...

I think I can do it here. Maybe. I'm notoriously not shy, an open-mouthed bundle of information, mostly too much. But things like this give me pause. I don't want to tell everyone this kind of thing, but I've been praying about it, and there's a point to 'too much information,' tmi. Those are my initials, by the way. Tori Mae Ingram...TMI So, if you're squeamish, don't read this. I've left out a lot, but I've included a lot too. I'll try to keep it short-ish. In April 2012, just before leaving Germany and after years of 'female issues' and lots of pain, I was told that I needed a particular kind of surgery, one that I just wasn't comfortable with. I chose to wait until we got back to the States to have a second opinion. Life, moving overseas, and school got in the way, and it was 6 months and lots more pain later before I finally managed to get myself to the dreaded 'girly' doctor. I'm so glad I didn't l...

2012 started out pretty awesome. We went skiing in Austria for the last time with friends that we had kept around for several years. The hardest part about making friends is leaving them when the military tells you to. This time, though, the Ingrams got leave first. Throughout our 4 1/2 years in Germany, we made some lifelong friends. We sat around the porch fire, watching the snow, watching the kids play in the beautiful back yard that backed up to a pasture and a hill, and we put puzzles together when the weather wouldn't cooperate. The men never puzzled. They burned things. Weirdos. We have never been more grateful for a duty station than we were for Germany, not because we got to go to Europe, which was pretty cool if I do say so myself; but because of the friendships and, more importantly, what God did with the 5 Ingrams. He taught us to be one unit, not 5 separate entities rooming together for a few years. He taught us to slow down and, literally, smell some flower...