It was what followed that would cause me to go into a sleepless overnight vigil of watching live footage and praying. Although the epicenter was offshore, it spawned a tsunami that reached 23 feet high as it crashed upon the northeastern coastal city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture (state) which was closest land to the epicenter.

Footage from cellphones and helicopters, security cameras and other such means documented live as the churning ocean surged inland taking sizable boats, buildings, trucks, cars, houses, people . . . everything in it’s path was being devoured and destroyed by this sudden natural disaster.  Suddenly, Tokyo which was over 230 miles away from the quake’s epicenter was literally being rocked and shocked as the specially designed earthquake resistant buildings swayed with great strength in the middle of the bustling workday.

EVERYTHING CHANGED IN AN INSTANT

In a moment… the blink of an eye, people were jerked out of their everyday workday routines into a state of controlled panic. I say “controlled” only because it is true that Japan is noted as being one of the most practiced in emergency readiness countries in the world. Truthfully, the footage of many people did show remarkable calm being maintained as they seemed to act by rote practice of emergency drills. Only — this was NOT a drill, which was apparent as slabs of drywall fell from the ceiling of a department store, a bronze statue lie on the sidewalk next to the pedestal upon which it had been perched while a citizen was performing CPR on a victim and others cried as yet another aftershock (some in 6.0 range) caused even more of building frontages to fall down narrowly missing people moving about. Meanwhile, there were two women holding some kind of pillow over their heads, standing in doorways trying to avoid further harm.

In that moment… members of the Japanese Parliment were forced to stop there stately deliberations as more urgent matters had presented themselves in the strongest possible “tabling of a motion”. At this same time, co-workers in office buildings were shown hustling under their desks while books, papers and computers fell all around them. Another person was seen in a supermarket with grocery packages crashing to the floor amidst the isles of rocking shelves while the attendant struggled simply to remain standing on her feet!

What we did not see in these video snippets were the no-doubt terrified children in daycare and school situations. Oh how my heart cried out for them and their mothers. I remember what it was like in the mid 0′s when tornadoes struck in the middle of the day when we kids were separated from our families (and that was in an era before cell phones). Since power went out with electrical grids, phone service and the nuclear power plant wisely shut down, the ways of connecting between family members was suddenly shut down.

Roads could be seen with gigantic fissures and cracks of displacements running 4 feet apart. The overhead highways were closed for closed to prevent further damage during the severe after shocks under heavy load of traffic. Additionally, the Bullet train transportation lines were shut down as the lines would need to be inspected before further use. There were even people literally stuck inside airplanes at the airport and others who made there way from the terminal to wait on top of the building. What we viewers don’t realize is that it was also frigid cold and raining!!

There are now famous video footage clippings of waves crashing over bridges and roads while cars try to speed away in vain. Tsunamis travel at 500-700 miles per hour! I saw a sea of debris consisting of buildings, floating vehicles, a large white boat, houses, surging across obvious villages and farmland. I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. It was so catastrophic!

GROWING AREA OF CONCERN

I think it was about 3 a.m. or so when the USGS announced that the entire Pacific region was in a state of high alert with Tsunami warning going out to Hawaii Islands and even the Western Coast of the United States! The footage continued and they soon put up projections on when the Tsunami would hit Hawaii at about 8 a.m. our time and then U.S. about 11:30 our time.

There was NO WAY I was going to be able to sleep now!! I was watching the footage, crying out to God in prayer, calling upon the truth of Scripture to try to make sense of what I was witnessing. I saw people standing on bridges as hundreds of cars and fragments of villages churned under the bridges they were standing on.

I tweeted to #prayforthepacific which was a hash tag that was coined by one of my creative friends in Italy. And since it was going to involve more than #Japan I though it was best. However, the main thing that I wanted to do was keep up with information as it came live and post much to #indyprayer and #prayer. This area of prayer is my foundational rock in times of trouble… and this was definitely such a time.

One of my FaceBook friends was in a Westin Resort about 1/8 a mile from the western edge of Maui. He was telling me that the sirens had been going off for hours, it was the middle of the night there. There had been an earthquake at Hawaii registered at like 4.6 within half-hour of the Japan big quake. A few of my Pacific coast friends were still up late and we were talking to David. He told us that although CNN was reporting that the Western Coast of the Hawaiian Islands were in danger and should evacuate, his hotel would be doing a vertical evacuation. They believed the resort would withstand the coming wave and would simply move guests up two or three floors.

The constant waiting and prayer was so hard, but I was feeling more and more peaceful about Hawaiian Islands and Santa Barbara, California (where we had lived on West Coast of U.S.for ten years). The scientists were saying that the reefs had a tendency to diminish the wave height. Still I did remember when the Santa Barbara Pier was quite damaged from a particularly bad storm and the beaches were a mess afterwards. It also threatened a few of our favorite restaurants and a bike shop where my husband and I had worked which was below sea level. That was then, this was now.

See NEXT POST . . . Tsunami of Prayer

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You see, I have been praying since January 11th, when I learned from a mutual friend that Joanne Heim (great Simple Life blogger, Christian author, wife and mother) suffered a sudden and severe stroke. Her young daughter found her in the basement shaking and an ambulance came to rush her away to the hospital where the family’s journey was about to take a drastic turn into a dark tunnel of unknowns.

There have been many ups and downs throughout the last month, seizures, brain swelling, surgery, coma, tracheotomy, monitoring of the brain activity. I have prayed for the two little girls Audrey (12) and Emma (not sure of her age) and of course, her husband, Toben who has curtailed his normal work in order to be by his beloved’s side.

It was interesting to hear Joanne’s situation mentioned on the local Moody Bible radio station that I listen to on a national program called Midday Connection. Then, apparently her blogsite registered 4,000 hits as people came to read about her and lift up prayers and comments of encouragement.  Friends have helped with updates being posted to her blog and even set up a way in which people could help the Heims out financially since this is taking Toben away from his normal job and also anticipated to be a lengthy and costly recovery.

I totally love how the Brotherhood of Christians come together and show the Father’s love at such times!! People who are thousands of miles away, still our brothers and sisters, can be reached through this wonderful tool of the internet. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and even Skype are all powerful tools to connect with people in a way that some have viewed as too technological and therefore “cold and insensitive”. However, I disagree. This ability to communicate electronically has offered us great opportunities. That’s why I so love using it to practice my 5E’s of exalting; equipping, edifying, examining and evangelizing!!

Because of my own experiences with very rare Foreign Accent Syndrome since May 12, 2009, I am even MORE enthused about the process of communication and it’s many modes. Although I sound like a foreigner these last almost 2 years, I still count myself incredibly blessed to be able to sing and write normally.  This condition is so rare that many doctors don’t even know what it is, let alone how to help us. Consequently, I am so driven to have Linguistic Programs and Speech Pathology and Neurology labs to examine my and others’ brain via functional MRI or other means to learn more about the truly untapped wilderness of the human brain. I KNOW that a different area of my brain is functioning when I sing than when I speak. There is much to learn and I want to help.

Now; to the fantastic news that spurred this writing. My dear sister-in-the-Lord Joanne in a Colorado hospital, has blessed her caretakers and family with one simple act (simple, to someone who has NOT had a stroke nor been a coma).  Joanne cannot speak because of Tracheotomy and she’s had a hard time trying to use a pen and paper to write, but Toben had an idea to put an i-Pad in front of her. As she was in bed with the iPad, she utilized a doodle program and drew with her finger :

“Do we have Otter pops in the freezer at home?” A breakthrough!!! Then when therapist asked her what her favorite flavor was, she used her finger to spell out “orange”.  A great Hallelujah moment! I became emotional as I read the news and can only imagine the unspeakable joy that her husband Toben and the witnessing Speech Therapist were experiencing. I also am most rejoicing for dear Joanne… she can communicate!! How wonderful!!

It is a sign of progress that she is allowed to eat popsicles instead of only ice chips that they had been giving her. But this added ability to communicate by the use of an iPad is outstanding!!  She continued to write about being uncomfortably hot, and having a bit of trouble with her tracheotomy that medical staff were then able to address.

As exciting as all this news is; experience has taught me that this activity is especially draining on the brain.  She, no doubt, will get very tired, very quickly as she takes the extra effort to communicate. So that is a continuing prayer concern; her strength, endurance and ability to STOP and rest. (If you but read her blogsite postings, you’ll see that it is not generally her nature to just stop). I do pray for her, as I do myself, to make the time to stop; be still and know that He is Lord. She has seemed to me to be a driven person to “do” things. Now, the Lord has caused her to “rest in Him” an “be” rather than “do”. Oooh, that is a lesson I have frequented a LOT myself : P

At last nights prayer meeting Bible lesson, Kurt taught us out of  1st John 5: 1-5 where the apostle Paul talks of being “overcomers”.  It is through the Power of Jesus Christ that we are able to endure what appears unendurable; to more than survive a trial, but actually thrive in new ways as we come out of the other side of a dark tunnel of this world’s trials and into the Light of hope that is ours by being a Child of God and KNOWING that God promises never to leave or forsake us — He is our LIGHT through the darkness. His Word tells us these trials are “light and momentary” — not to belittle our experiences of suffering, but as a reminder that this world, in this decaying body… when viewed in light of eternity . . . is fleeting.

As I close, I invite you, my friends,  to join prayers for Joanne’s continued healing, that the testimony of the Goodness of God be evident to all who witness their responses of God-given peace and joy in the MIDST of the trial,  as well as praising God for his incredible mercies to her and her family.

Toben: I pray that you will share this with Joanne and the girls, so that they can know that God is at work through your situation, among His people, throughout the world.  They will know we are Christians by our LOVE.

To read Joanne’s Blog here is the link: http://thesimplewife.typepad.com/the_simple_wife/

For updates from Toben via Twitter: @tobenheim

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Baby Jonah 2011-01-03

WARNING: the family want to share photos of their baby Jonah fighting for his life right now, but also are sensitive to the fact that some people may not be up to viewing his medical process photos. Others will find these photos a wonderment as they see the extremes that medical personnel are employing on behalf of this tiny little boy. Therefore, I have placed the medical photos as a link [med photo]- if you want to see for yourself. You decide. In any case, I will at least post his pre-surg photo to spur on your prayers <3.

Here is what Jonah’s parents said about the photos:

If you would be willing, we’d like to share more of our burden with you. If you are willing and able, we’d like to e-mail a picture of Jonah to you, we believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. We do not wish to offend or disturb any one of you. We are merely seeking to share our heavy burden and believe if you were able to see our little baby, you might be able to even better pray for us. The picture may be disturbing, so if you are willing and able to see it, just click on the link [med photo]. Thank you again so very very much.

Two pictures are of Jonah before he went for his first surgery (Mon. 1/3).  The other two are of him [med photo] 1 day after his first surgery (Wed. 1/5) AND [med photo] The next day (Thurs. 1/6) he was taken into surgery again to open up his vein to open up a blockage that was preventing him from fully draining the fluids from his body.  Even more lines and tubes and meds were placed at that time. (no pics of that).

Please pray that he would continue drain the fluids so that the doctors will be able to close his chest.  The original plan was to close it on Monday, but he had an episode on (Fri 1/7) – he was moved in order to take a CAT scan because his eyes were dilated and they were concerned about possible swelling on the brain.  When they brought him back to his room, his blood pressure dropped and his heartbeat was erratic.  So they had to give him fluids and more meds to get him stable again.  So that put off the surgery for at least one more day.  He has begun a round of antibiotics, because the longer his chest is open the greater his risk of infection.  So again please pray that they would be able to get the fluids out and the swelling down enough that they would be able to close his chest.

Thanks again for all of your love and prayers, Marty & Val

Additionally, here is a photo of Jonah’s Big sister with him. Let’s keep her in our prayers as well. God is at work in a mighty way in this tiny little one. Remember, YOU can leave comments to encourage them.

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Kay Russell and Sarah Colwill

had a story about Foreign Accent Syndrome on it. This reminded this acquaintance of me and he told me about the broadcast as well as sent a “God Bless You”. I love that! He remembers that I have had it since May 12, 2009 after a major migraine makes my midwest farmer’s daughter accent turn into Dutch/Swedish/German “Eastern European” sounding speech. I just praise God I can still sing regularly.

I regularly monitor the topic Foreign Accent Syndrome on the internet and web trying to get latest scientific news. That’s how I found out about Sarah Colwill last Spring. I reached out to her on FaceBook and am happy to have another FAS friend.

So I went to NBC Today online and there I found this video article about my British friend Sarah Colwill and Kay Russell who both have Foreign Accent Syndrome. We have been Facebook talking since Sarah came down with it also as a result of migraine back in the spring of this year.

It turns out that Kay Russell lives only about an hour away from Sarah so they got to meet each other with all the excitement that I had in meeting Fisher Fran last year. To find someone else who suffers from the same rare malady helps a person feel less alone. Even if there isn’t a cure. There is just something blessed about being able to share in the depth of understanding that comes from such a thing.

I am grateful to the NBC Today show for doing the story to help bring more awareness to the fact that Foreign Accent Syndrome does exist and that it does so greatly impact peoples lives. Yet, even when science doesn’t have the answers to the “why” or “what do we do about it” questions, people can carry on with hope. That’s a message that everyone needs to hear!

Well, here is the embedded link to watch the story, enjoy. FAS Women Bond on Today Show

And if you would be kind enough to comment to NBC for doing the story or here, it would be an encouragement.

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Since I always have my digital camera with me, and my curiosity was peaked, I took out my notebook to collect some news. This is what I discovered.

I had stumbled upon RANDOM ACTS OF IMPROV. This was one of several surprise activities that will take place throughout the city during the ten days of the SPIRIT AND PLACE FESTIVAL taking place November 6 – 15th. (see Spiritandplace.org for more details).

This particular display, put on by Susurrus Performance Group (website click here) happened right at the noon hour, causing many city pedestrians stopping on the sidewalk and asking me what was going on. They joined me watching in wonderment momentarily before they continued on their way.

I believe that this is one of the goals of Susurrus and the many other performance groups partnering with the Spirit and Place Festival as they encourage some people to interrupt their mundane routine long enough to get involved in their surroundings; to stop and take notice of what is happening in their neighborhood. How refreshing it is to enter into a moment of wonderment and to take time to engage with other people that we would normally just walk by.

In that regard I challenge those of you in the Indianapolis area to keep your eyes open for surprise happenings and the opportunity to engage. There are going to be dozens of happenings over the next week that are unannounced. Thus, the Random Acts of Improv will surprise people. So keep your eyes open. Maybe we will learn to be not only see our community with fresh eyes, but perhaps, we might take it a step further and become actively engaged.

NOTE: not all events are surprises.  There are also 40 events–nature walks and driving tours, dance and theatre performances, conversations and workshops, panel discussions and potlucks, and much more! Over 85% of these activities are FREE!

Former Indianapolis Mayor Bill Hudnut will be present at the marque event on the last day. There is simply too much to cover here… so please visit the Spirit and Place Festival web site by clicking here.

Thank you to Susurrus and the Spirit and Place Festival (and the many other partners) for being such a blessing to our community by reminding us that we all can bless one another by just taking a moment to engage with another person in creative ways.

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Here is the sound file from this morning’s interview.

09-0901-wibc-no09

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However, I did continue to go to speech therapy in order to attempt to correnct my Foreign Accent Syndrome speech.  Just recently they have increased the frequency of the sessions, so I hope to improve even faster.

Here is the radio interview I had with Terri Stacey on WIBC radio 93.1 FM in Indianapolis on Tuesday, August 4th.

Click here >>2009.0804 WIBC.08 SMALL to listen to radio interview no. 8.

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Here is the interview: 09-0728-WIBC-no07-sm

Basically they recapped a bit for those who had never heard me speak on the radio before and also talked a bit about the brown recluse spider bite I received recently. The funniest part of the interview was the very beginnning before I was even put on live with them. Joe was frantically trying to put back together Terri’s microphone which had a missing screw. I was cracking up!! Terri had a screw loose. Imagine?!

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It was funny, because one of my friends tweeted me fearing that she had missed the time slot of the report. She usually is driving into work at that time and finds the topics we discuss interesting. It has been eye-opening to see how very many people are familiar with Eastside Ellen’s foreign accent syndrome story. They all tell me that it is fascinating, which it is. I’ve run into people at the grocery store, church, the bank and recently the hospital who ask if I am Eastide Ellen. All of them smile!! Yes! They are also so kind as to show true empathy. These people are not just listening into a report, but are identifying with it. What would they do if this happened to them? That’s part of what I love about growing up and living in central Indiana; people really care about their neighbors.

At this point I am unsure as to whether I will continue to report at WIBC on Tuesday mornings. Perhaps the story is no longer newsworthy. I don’t know how programming decisions are made. All I do know is that I am going through something that is so very rare that even mainstream medical doctors don’t know how to handle it. There is an opportunity for pioneering medical research to be made, and I am the kind of person that will share it all. I totally believe that God remains in control of every detail. I trust that there is an ultimate good that will be realized as a result of this trial and the events that are happening even now. I derive great joy in knowing that there are people who are standing beside me in both “good thoughts” and prayers, who are as perplexed as I am. and who are as fascinated and dumbfounded as even the local medical community.  We may not know the answers yet, but it is comforting to know that Hoosiers join together in an attempt to help each other.

It is for just such a reason that being on WIBC 93.1 FM “the News and Talk of Indiana” has been a great source of comfort, inspiration, intrigue and humor in a time that otherwise could threaten to undo a person. I am so very proud to call myself a Hoosier — albeit one that sounds like some kind of foreigner.  I am still a farmer’s daughter, even though my voice may stand out a bit more when calling in the cows : D

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09-0630-WIBC-no.06-ed-sm

Summary:  refer jokingly to the French Connection mystery at the radio station, excited to see neurologist tomorrow for EEG results, singing is fine but speaking is accented, different parts of the brain?  Speech therapy scheduled to start in two weeks. When  you dream do you speak with your accented voice? Working on words to make it better. Is the accent getting better or not? One step at a time. Happy July 4th everyone!  Have a “Bangin’ Time”!

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