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For anyone following this blog my shoulder started hurting in June, just before VBS, probably due to some major web surfing for home school information and ideas. I adjusted (moved the mouse over to the left, which mainly resulted in my using the pointer on my laptop with my right hand) and tried to do more with my left arm. I also had some wrist pain, then that went away. Shoulder hurt a lot one week and then didn’t hurt as much. But it kept hurting and every once in awhile I would whine about it (Anthony may dispute my use of the phrase “every once in awhile”). Anthony finally told me to do something about it or hush.

Last Wednesday I went to the doctor and he confirmed that I have strained my rotator cuff (the 4 muscles that make up the rotator cuff). But nothing is torn. Then I sent in pictures to Egoscue and we played phone tag. I finally called them today and signed up for 5 menus of exercises over the next 8 to 10 weeks. Anthony and I compared the pictures from mid-July when I first thought about contacting Egoscue and the pictures from mid-August after I had been doing some of the E-cises from the books and we can already see a difference. I also can feel a difference, but my shoulder still hurts. They do say it can take 12 to 18 months to recover from a strained rotator cuff, and you recover by torture doing exercises to strengthen it. I keep telling myself I don’t really know who “they” are, and I’m a wimp so I whine.

The doctor gave me anti-inflammatory medicine and offered PT or a cortisone shot. I will work with Egoscue first and see how that does. I have had a few people warn me away from the cortisone, but the doctor spent 5 minutes talking about how they aren’t bad and 95% of the people who get them have no problems and the shoulder is the easiest place to give one. I still think this is an opportunity to make a long-term change to my posture/structure and I’m not convinced that a shot can fix something that could take months to get better on its own.

The good news is that the pain is still there, but much better over the past week. I start my new Egoscue menu of exercises tomorrow morning and I’m still keeping up with my yoga in the evenings. Work and homework and homeschooling all fit in there somewhere!

I’m a lefty, have been all my life. That doesn’t explain why it’s my right shoulder that hurts. The world is definitely set up for right-handed people. That is why my right shoulder hurts.

Today I surfed a blog that led to another blog and found an entry about being a lefty that referred to a Left Hand store. Now, when I was in elementary school this would have been great. I really needed scissors, notebooks, and other things that I could use as a lefty instead of having to struggle to not smear my ink as I dragged my hand behind my pen or write close to the left edge of the notebook when my hand was resting on the spiral wire. And my mother was a trooper trying to find things for me and working with me to see if it would work. But, I’m 39 now and I’ve adapted. I eat and write with my left hand, but I do everything else with the right (did I mention it’s my right shoulder that hurts?. I think I’m too old to learn how to use a numeric keypad with my left hand. I’m struggling to use a mouse with my left hand (old habits die hard).

I missed my one day of the year though. Apparently Aug 13 was the official Left Handers day. I’ll have to put it on my calendar for next year.

We discovered World Magazine a number of years ago. We’ve been very glad for the discovery. It is a bit like Time magazine, with current events and practical articles, but all from a Christian worldview. It is a very thoughtful magazine.

My favorite part of World is the weekly column by Andree Seu. She is good at seeing the spiritual battle, going outside of her comfort zone and reminding the rest of us we are too comfortable, and putting the struggles we all have into words and word-pictures. This entry from World On the Web is a great example. When you pray, do you expect an answer?

Today was the annual meeting of our women’s ministries group under our Presbytery. The Presbyterial meeting is a blessing each year and this was no different. We had a speaker, Tracie Miles, from Proverbs31 Ministries. She had a wonderful and convicting message about responding to God when He calls us to do something. Her message was very personal and also tied in well with the theme of Presbyterial this year, Embracing the Call.

The positive side of this is that I felt reassured about my decision to home school Connor. I’ve said all along I can’t do it in my own strength and as long as I remember that, we’ll do fine. I was also encouraged to be more intentional about opening my heart and mind to hear God’s call in all areas of my life.

The imprecise status of the women’s ministries at our church is a challenge, though. I have to judge between what I am truly called to do and what is just my desire to fill a hole. It’s easy to look for others to step up, but much harder to state that it would be God’s will for them to step up. I think the answer is to make sure I’m in prayer for me to be clear on what I should do and for God to bless the ministries as He sees fit. If I have done that and I truly don’t feel led to step in and do it, then I’ll stay back and trust His timing. I’m writing this here on my blog so I can come back and remind myself of this often.

I’m heading to the mountains for a short retreat. A friend introduced me to The Snail’s Pace a few years back and I’ve been up a few times over the years. I know I’ll have good weather, good food, and time to be alone and time to talk with new people. I have been up there for the Creative Retreat and even did a Silent Retreat which was great.

But first, I have to get through 4 meetings in the next 5 hours.

See you in a few days!