New Website for Ellen5e

There is a new website for me that is finally up!! You can follow me now on the website Ellen5e.com.

WHAT IT WAS VS. WHAT IT IS

I have had quite a few brand new friends who I have met via newmedia and on the internet who have never heard me talk before the "ATTACK" so when they hear me speaking on the recent video clips they do not think anything about my heavy weird accent.

ASIDE: By the way the votes for "What kind of accent do you think it is?" is leaning very heavily toward French and Swedish/Norwegian. One good friend has accused me of being a Russian spy. And one of my 4H dog club kids thinks I sound British like Victoria Stillwell of dog training fame.

BEFORE To help those people who have never heard my "regular talking voice" here is a clip of me conducting an interview of an intercity ministry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JQjncoi9jc You will notice some hesitation in my speech as I am thinking of the questions off the cuff, but even a very untrained ear can tell I do not sound like the same person.

AFTER Now... compare this to my most recent little clip from last night
http://www.tokbox.com/vm/b6ae3opqguin

You hear a very noticeable difference don't you??
Friends, students and family are helping me to laugh about it, because if I don't stay light-hearted enough it will make me want to cry.

THIS IS NOT ME!!
My regular voice is gone! Instead I am having to hear these weird accents coming out of my mouth. STILL, I am extremely thankful to have any voice at all. Can you imagine it?

I have had friends call me on the phone, and then just about hang up as they say "I'm sorry, I have gotten the wrong number." I go into a quick "wait a minute! it is me, Ellen, don't hang up!" Then I must give them some kind of fact that a stranger wouldn't know, to convince them it is ME!! It IS me!!

It has now been a week and a half since the first numbness showed up, and almost as long that I have been speaking with a foreign accent. I sometimes get a bit down about the situation. No doctor has an answer about what is going on -- we just don't see any obvious signs of stroke or any bad tumor or anything on CT or MRI.

The speech therapist I saw on Wednesday was thinking maybe Bells Palsy, but some of the symptoms do not jive. I have just started finding something called "Foreign Accent Syndrome" mentioned on the web. So I will continue to research as I await my neurologist appt. on the 29th.

I praise God that He never gives us more than we can handle. I am being forced to
(1) speak funny OR (2) shut-up. Those of you who know my passion for communication (talking with people and about the Gospel) know which option of those two that I am taking.

Here are some things running through my head a lot lately:
"Be still -- and KNOW -- that I AM GOD!" --
We are fearfully and wonderfully made; tho' this is scarey it IS facinating!
I must laugh because if I take it too seriously I will cry.
How much faith do I really have?
I choose to believe that God IS in control of even this.

What do you think about this? I REALLY want to know.
I am seeking any advice, ideas or answers anyone might have.

Sensitivity and Numbness.

It is interesting that God seems to be using "numbness" to teach me "sensitivity".
Sensitivity to His plans being more important than mine. Submission and asking for advise and help must be used when my own decisions are unpredictable.

My family and close friends know that I've been having greater word finding problems as well as poor decision making, memory, org. skills. Now it has escalated to include some other problems that I can't ignore as being a flare up of Chronic Fatigue.

Yesterday, fatigue was horrible, severe headache and then 4:30ish numbness in lips and rt. side of face, stiffness in neck increased and went from just numbness/tingling thick feeling to sometimes burning.

This morning, I woke up to spreading of numbness down my rt arm.
RATS! God really wants my attention here I think.

I've just finished wrestling with myself to submit to God's plan of not relying on my own understanding, which is clearly failing when decision making is so cruddy. I sought outside advise. It actually looks like I'm going to have to do the unthinkable and forego my fun plans for this glorious sunny day to plant and do gardening with my daughter. I was really looking forward to that more than you know. Instead wisdom says I need to go to ER.

I'm pretty bummed about that, but it is the "right" thing to do. I must be able to rule out stroke vs. just some kind of pinched or inflamed nerves. My family dr. said it's up to me whether I go into ER or not! Thanks for no help there Doc. Seriously, he said he couldn't diagnose over the phone, but nurse recommends that since its involving mental stuff, probably not just a pinched nerve. So she suggests I go ahead and go into the ER.

Other friend said better go in cuz no matter what, something is definitely wrong..

So I must forgo one of my favorite activities to go sit for hours in ER. Grrr!
Please pray for the situation. Tho' I'm not happy about this, I can do nothing but what I believe to be right and trust that I am in God's loving care no matter what.

My Title of this blog post is a great start off for a spiritual illustration that is brewing in my mind, but I am afraid that it will have to wait; I'm going to the ER now.

Mother's Day Blessings of Love

I believe that this is the perfect addition to the blog for today. In honor of all mothers:
I Love You Forever as read by the author Richard Munsch.

A very special HAPPY MOTHERS Day to not only those who ARE mothers, but all of us who HAVE or HAD mothers. This story is narrated by the author himself. Enjoy.

A Special Note to MY mother: "Happy Mother's Day MOM! You not only gave birth to me that I may live, but pointed the way to my 2nd birth that I may live eternally!! Love you forever Mom!"

On My Knees

My friends and followers may have noticed that I've not been as
social online over the last week. Why? Lots of reasons, but primarily, high demands of many different projects all coming due at the same time. There were the annual stage props for a production at Madame Walker theatre which my husband and I cranked out in record time. There were additional practices for our band as we performed a benefit fundraiser for some abused kids to be able to go to a Christian summer camp. Finally, there was all the paperwork and organization of a record number of members in our Warren Waggers 4-H Dog club of which I am leader.

All of these activities are a joy to me. However, they all came together at a time where they acted as a kind of "perfect storm" of stress at a time when my Chronic pain and Chronic Fatigue decided to ravage my poor body.

There were many days of zombie-like walking and "what was I just doing?" I'm still not at my normal level of functionality, however I am better than I have been in the last few weeks. So that is why I am up at 12:45 a.m. catching up on blogging and some other postings.

Today was a wonderful day! I have all those big projects behind me so I could insert my thankfulness to God into my prayers that lasted longer today. I spent a LOT more time 'on my knees' today since it was the National Day of Prayer. Though President O'bama did not call attention to it, as our previous U.S. President had, I did remember to make it a priority on my schedule of events for the day.

I am concerned for our nation; if we don't remember to turn to God, how will we know in which direction we should go to receive His blessing? I prayed for our leaders, our communities and especially our families. Even tho' this particular day of emphasis on prayer comes only once a year, I am thankful for the opportunity it has given me to renew my fervency for prayer.

Our Lord promised in His Word that if we will turn to Him, He will turn toward us and He will heal our land. Though it seems odd, I am thankful for the season of weakness that I've had to endure. It allows me to truly acknowledge that through my weakness I am made strong. Like the Apostle Paul, God has seen fit to not remove "the thorn in my flesh" (as Paul called it) even though I've prayed for it. Like Paul, I may have taken pride in what "I" accomplished in my own power. This way, I KNOW that ALL my power comes from Him, because I truly am a weak vessel that feels so very weak that I might implode or vaporize with a gentle wind.

So tonight, right before I go to bed, I will once again go down on my knees. After all, that is where I can acknowledge that I never did have the control that I wanted. Even more importantly, it is when I feel most out of control that I can rest assured that my awesome God always was, always will be, and IS in control. Now that's peace!!

A Chance to Win a Pocket Video Camera

I was given a nice bit of information today. So in all fairness, I am turning around and sharing that free information with you. Here is a chance to win a great little piece of technology. Check it out at Creative. The actual contest can be seen at one of the blogs I follow called AsTheyGrowUp. These are good examples of how web2.0 can get news out about people and products. Good luck to us all!

Image of VadoTM Pocket Video Camera from Creative Website link.

Update: 2 Arrested in Car Crash

Local television stations are reporting more details about last night's crash. James Hopkins, 21 of Indianapolis, and a female passenger were arrested for the incident. They reported that they had been carjacked. This is also what I had heard first from his mother when she spoke with me last night across from scene. WTHR news is reporting that the story they told appears to be not exactly true.

As it turns out, Mr. Hopkins should not have been out driving at all because he was under house arrest. Though I have yet to see the scene in the daylight, the reports are saying that a bush, a pine tree and a gas meter were the major damages done by the vehicle. The house was spared from major damage and no injuries were reported.

Car Crashes Into House

BREAKING NEWS -- Indianapolis Eastside....
in the 7200 block of Pleasant Run Parkway. VERY near where I live. At about 10:30 p.m. I noticed some flashing lights of emergency vehicles in our backyard and apparently very near the front of a neighbor who has a child with health concerns. From the upstairs bathroom I had a better view as I noticed the two fire trucks, and rescue vehicle were moving slowly down the block. This didn't make sense. They had appeared to be in front of one house for quite a while, but now they were moving! So it couldn't be a fire or home rescue.

The other odd thing, along with the policemen who were arriving, there must have been a dozen or so neighbors milling about. Standing at the edges of their lawns, sidewalks or drives and looking up and down the street. There were several people shining flashlights along the side of the road, sidewalk and into some lawn edges. From where I stood, I could see one neighbor and he son paying quite a bit of attention to something large lying in the road near the far curb. But it was too dark to see very well, I could just make out it's size from the flashlights beams dancing across it. Several different people acknowledged this thing lying in the street but kept a respectful distance from it. What was it? Was that a body?

Since the neighbor and his son were going over to the house of my newer neighbor friends, I decided that a real investigation was in order. I put on my shoes and headed to David and Ann's house (not their real names).

This is what I discovered:
David and Ann had been watching T.V. in their living room when they heard a racing car and a very loud "BOOM". Ann said that it sounded like a blowing transformer only multiple times louder like an explosion. They both jumped up out of their chairs and ran through their front door that was only about 10 feet from the couch. As they emerged out onto their front yard they could see the car it had come to crash into a house at the other end of the block!!

See the satellite photo with markers: 

Neighborhood Crash Map
Originally uploaded by Ellen5e

This is what is surmised at this time: (see the photo with numbers)

[1] The boulder rock at the edge of David and Ann's front yard was struck by the speeding car which was reportedly driven by a young man with a young woman. Although David and Ann did not see the young people, someone reportedly saw them run from the scene. 

Left in the Lawn
Originally uploaded by Ellen5e

[2] There was a piece of the car at the edge of their yard (it looks like a piece of bumper or undercarriage). David and Ann's boulder rock was yards east and across the road near the far curb [3]. It was this boulder that I had seen from the distance lying in the road.

As I walked with my camera along the north sidewalk, I noticed a good deal of wire that appeared to be either telephone wiring or some kind of cable broken and lying along almost the entire walkway as I went down to where the police activity was happening at the far end of the block. There was a teal colored car [4] with its passenger front end crashed into the brick of a house where a state trouper lives!

I stayed on the far side of the road and took a few photos though it was dark and rainy and my camera is not of professional quality. I did my best to hopefully document some neighborhood news. As I was taking photos Channel 13 local TV news trucks were arriving and setting up. I could smell the faint odor of gas and there was a gas utility truck in the area, but there appeared to be no real danger.

As I was body-tripodding my camera shots, another car drove up and the gray headed woman started talking with me. She said that this crashed car was her son's. He was at his apartment right now and told her that he had been hit on the head and someone took off with his car. She asked me if it would be able to be driven away. I told her, that it looked too smashed into the house to be able to drive. She got a cell phone call and started to get into her car, so I ran to the group of officers saying "officer, quickly, that lady over there says she is the driver's mother and she's getting ready to take off." Two officers went straight to her, and another listened to what I had to report. He chuckled when I repeated the part about the son claiming to be hit over the head. "I am sure that's not the first time you've heard that one," I said to him, as he laughed and nodded.

I then asked that officer if I might get some closer photos. He then asked if I were a reporter. I said that I do some neighborhood reporting with IndyChristian.com but that I live nearby and just want to get a few pictures. He told me that since any photo I took may be evidence he didn't want me taking any more photos. I told him that I would gladly hand over anything I took, but sadly I would comply.

Luckily, I had already taken some photos, though the darkness and all the lights reflecting off the rain hindered my photographic abilities. At least I have a couple of shots to prove that I was there. Maybe I'll even scoop the Indianapolis Star. LOL

These unusual events in our neighborhood brought to mind how very important it is to stay in touch with your neighbors. God tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. I was truly concerned for the safety of not just my own family, but many of the others who live around me. It was refreshing to see, that even as people were settling down for sleep, they came out of their homes and checked on one another. At a time when many news venues report on the selfishness and hardness of so many people, it was heartening to witness people in my neighborhood who haven't forgot how to be neighborly.