My Own Domain!

This has been a time of learning new things and applying them to my life and to my business.

Showing off my new domain name! www.bienleindesign.com

I learned last week how to get my own domain. I went through www.godaddy.com and purchased 4 domain names for my eBay business. Now instead of having a LONG domain I can't even remember, I can use www.bienleindesign.com and it goes straight to my store. Go ahead and try it! Isn't that cool! I can now add that to my emails for additional exposure and advertising. www.bienleindesignfinds.com will also get you there! Or try www.beanlinedesign.com for those who spell my name the way it sounds!!! cool huh? The last one was www.beinliendesign.com for those who get the "e" and "i" mixed up!

I am so blessed and excited about all the new things that are happening with my business, etc. I can't wait to get my new logo and everything branded. Hope you will stop by soon and check out the things I have on auction and in my store.

Currently listed

Right now I am doing mostly consignment work for three clients. I just listed a whole bunch of Bible related reference books and will have a lot more of that coming in the next few weeks. I also have some beer steins left from a recent collection I just listed. Seems kind of ironic that I have beer steins and Bible books in the same auction but hey... that's part of the business... never know what will come up to sell. However, I do draw the line and will NOT list XRated anything - even though those items sell for high prices. I will not put that trash back into the system. That trash goes exactly where it belongs.. in the trash can!

Here's to both yours and my success! And as in everything I do, I give to God the glory. Thank you Lord for being involved in all this! I am truly blessed!

Taking my eBay business up a notch

Exciting news! I took a giant leap of faith and took my eBay business up to the next notch. I have to start at the beginning.

Learning about DOUA - Disabled Online Users Association

I really don't remember where I first read this but I think it was in one of Skip McGrath's newsletters. Skip is one of the several eBay guru I get newsletters from. Skip happened to mention that he was a strong supporter of DOUA which stands for Disabled Online Users Association. I decided to check it out so I went to their website. It is free to signup so I did. They have all kinds of classes there teaching how to get started on eBay and there are forums where you can ask or answer questions. Its a lovely community of people helping other people. Anyone can belong to DOUA - whether your disability is physical or something only you know about. They don't ask questions about that. They are just willing to help anyone who needs a "boost". Its a great site to learn about eBay. Their link is http://www.doua.org/

Learning about OSI Rockstars

While on DOUA, I learned about Janelle Elms OSI Rockstars www.osirockstars.com/ so I checked out that site too. I couldn't afford to pay for the membership but I could get the newsletters for free. For several months I faithfully read the newsletters and I really wanted to get a foot in the door as I felt this was the place I could really learn to improve my business. I also really liked that Janelle freely talked about her Christian faith in her newsletters and we already had that much in common as well as succeeding on eBay.

One day I decided to write to Janelle and shared with her that I wanted to become a member but could not afford it and also... this site was based on Podcasts which are audio interviews. There were also some videos with voice overs. The podcasts I would not be able to get anything out of. The videos were 50/50 if I could figure out what was going on by watching only. I knew that even if I could afford the membership fee, I would not get full benefit as the other members got.

A door opens at OSI Rockstars

I got a response from Janelle's organization. They suggested that I go to DOUA and talk to Margie there. Margie would then refer me to Janelle and I would be able to have access into the OSI Rockstar site. How cool is that! I was SO THRILLED that I cried. That was a BIG day for me. I knew my business just took a turn in the fork in the road.

A Humbling Experience

That was three weeks ago and I can't believe how much has changed! First of all the people on OSI Rockstars are the BEST! They just bent over backwards welcoming me, etc. I got involved with the forums asking questions on how to improve my eBay store and improve my blogging experience. Others became aware that I was not able to listen to any of the podcasts and one by one people started to write to me and offer their services to transcribe classes. I couldn't believe it! They would give up their time and energy for me?

I am very humbled by this whole experience. I know Janelle told me at the very beginning that transcribing all the classes was almost impossible as there were so many of them. However, one class is already transcribed and more are being done as I write this. One by one classes will be transcribed and EVERYONE will benefit from this.. not just me. That's the part that I like best about this whole project. We are all helping each other. I am not able to help with this project but I know there will be other projects I can help with in the future. We all have something to teach someone else.

Blessings Overflowing

OSI Rockstars is an awesome community of like-minded people. They all have businesses on eBay and we all help each other to achieve success. I even have a person who offered to help me create my own logo for my store. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. Soon my eBay store, ME page, PROstore and auction listings will all be branded and coordinated. That is something I desperately need.

Thank you Rockstars for inviting me into your "world". You ALL ROCK and I am very blessed knowing you.

Thinking back 16 years ago

Where were you April 23, 1992?

Sixteen years ago.. at 10:30am...on April 23.... where was I?

I was in the maternity ward at an hospital in Montgomeryville, PA about to give birth to my second son. Today that little boy is 16 years old and over 6 ft tall. Happy 16th birthday Tyler!

The adventures before birth

Let me tell you about Tyler... he was in such a hurry to be born but then decided to stay in the womb after all. When I was 6 months pregnant, I was at work and contractions started. Since they continued into the evening, we went to the ER and I found out I was in early labor. I was given some kind of medication to stop labor. It worked.

Two major things happened after that... I was prescribed full bed rest (yeah.. had an excuse not to go to work!) and I was to have medicine 24/7 to prevent contractions again. This was a new thing back in 1992. Today they use the same idea for diabetics and their insulin injections.

The medicine came to me in test tubed shaped containers. We snap these tubes inside a credit card sized box. From that box, a plastic tube came out and a push pin type needle is at the end. That needle was jabbed into either of my thighs. The site for the needle had to be switched to the opposite thigh every other day. That became my husband's job as I simply couldn't tolerate jabbing a needle into myself. He was very gentle and very good to me (he still is!) and he always apologized for having to "hurt" me. It was only a moment of pain but for 3 months I was attached to that box. As I was on total bedrest, I could only leave my bed to go to the bathroom. I had to take sponge baths and wash my hair in the sink.

Blessings overflowed - God used others to help us

Wonderful blessings came during those 3 months. I was able to get medical leave from my job so we still had checks coming in. A couple from our church made up about 50 "TV" style dinners for us (WOW!) Our freezer was stocked! Friends from church came to help with cleaning the house and babysitting my oldest son who was 4 at that time. He was attending morning preschool and a mother of a classmate would come and pick him up and drop him off every day.

A time of rest and growth

I actually enjoyed those three months. Did a lot of reading and sleeping while watching my belly grow and everyone give me so much attention! There were no further problems with major contractions. I had a nurse who came to check on me every week and every day at the same time we had to call some company and give them the readings off my "monitor" that measured the contractions. I also had visits to my Dr. every week for checkups. That was the only time I left the house during those three months.

Finally the day came I was "unattached". We allowed our oldest son to "cut the tube". Now the contractions could come whenever nature said it was time. We waited 2 weeks and nothing! My husband's mother, niece and nephew had driven to PA from Michigan and were visiting with us that week. They wanted a baby too!

The big day finally comes!

On April 22nd, I thought I felt contractions hard enough to warrant a hospital visit. We were told while labor had started, it wasn't hard enough and I was barely dilated. They gave me some medication... sent me home for a good night sleep and told me to come back in the morning and see how it goes. The next morning, April 23rd we are at the hospital again and things proceeded slowly. Tyler was in no hurry at all! They decide to break my water and after that the action happened! Tyler was born later that afternoon. A healthy full term (really over term!) 8 lb baby boy.

It was interesting as we really thought Tyler would be a girl. We did not want to know the sex before birth but the Dr. had teased us that according the heartbeat, it was a girl so in my mind I had a girl. It was a delightful surprise to have another boy. Tyler had a head full of beautiful auburn hair...nothing like the bright red his older brother was blessed with.

Now here he is.. 16 years later. He has been a delight and a great kid. A quick sense of humor and quiet personality. I would thoroughly embarrass him if I talked more about his growing up years. I love him lots and very proud of him!

Happy birthday kid! Here's to many more!

Trails and Blessings

"When You're Down to Nothing, God is up to Something"

"Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up."

A week of Trails and Blessings

Last week and weekend was a series of ups and downs. A friend of mine sent me the above quote and it was a reminder I need to look UP! I can count many problems that popped up (one is that our van died so we need another vehicle soon) but on the other hand, I can count many unexpectly blessings that came our way.

I sang (signed) a song yesterday in church. Its a repetative song that has a beat. It goes like this...

I, I, I love the Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord...

I, I, I love the Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord...

He's my Savior!

Praise! Praise! Praise! Praise!

(clap clap clap clap)

and repeat.

You can change the third line to whatever you want. I had

He is awesome

He forgave me

He is worthy

He's my best friend

Its a nice praise song I like to sign when I'm feeling down. Its a reminder to me to push aside all the worldly problems and concerns and turn my eyes to the Lord instead. This song makes me feel better and more positive.

Praise Praise Praise Praise!!!!

Spring in Michigan

Sunny and 75 degrees today!

I think it is finally safe to say it is spring in Michigan - or at last the central to southern portion. Upper Penninsula area did have a foot of snow just this past weekend. wow... pity sign to them!

Michigan had a rough winter and we are SO looking forward to some sunny warm days! I think my area was just shy of breaking the all time most snow in a season record. My snow shovel got lots of use! Last winter we hardly had any snow at all so its just a cycle... sometimes we do... sometimes we don't.

Sharing thoughts

I was reading my devotions this morning from Ecclesiastes 11:5. It says:

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

No. I do not try to attempt to understand why things happen the way they do. One day when I'm in heaven (and I know I will be!), we will have all understanding. I look forward to that day.

Remember Making Deals with God

I know when I was growing up, I hated being deaf (really at that time, I was hard of hearing). I thought God was punishing me. I can't remember how many deals I made with God IF he would only made me hear.

IF I could hear... then I could serve Him better. IF I could hear...all my problems would be gone. IF I could hear... so on and so forth....

Of course, that is all foolishness of youth. I understand now God had a purpose for the way He created me. I CAN be of service to Him no matter if hearing, deaf, black, white, purple, orange, etc.

ALL of us are valuable and are of use. We all have a purpose in life. Do you know what YOUR purpose is?

Here's one of those cute vidoes that put some adults to shame as this little girl is a toddler! I pray she has a wonderful relationship with the Lord as she grows up. Jesus said... let the children come to me!

A request for Prayers

April 7... a bittersweet day

On my heart today are several things but one of the top ones are about a little newborn baby girl. She was born on April 7. She was born full term with no delivery problems and was a big girl at 9lbs. She is beautiful and has red hair just like her father! I am a good friend of the baby's grandmother.

But.. unknown to the parents and family, Madison had a wounded heart. She was diagnosed early (less than 24 hrs old) with an Interrupted Aortic Arch and a heart murmur (hole in her heart). She was rushed immediately by helicopter to Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI.

This past Monday on her one week birthday, she had open heart surgery to fix the situation. Problems developed the next day and they had to reopen her heart to make an additional fix.

We Wait. We Pray NonStop

As I write this, things are stable and its a wait and see atmosphere. We wait and we pray for Madison's healing. The doctors are giving encouraging reports which we all need to hear.

The father has been keeping a daily dairy about the situation so it feels like we are right there as we read the updates. Please keep this situation in your prayers for the Lord's healing. In today's update, the father ended wth the following words I wanted to share with you...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

"This is your Captain speaking. Although we may encounter some turbulence, we will be cruising at a comfortable altitude and speed, not too fast nor too high. I have provided a cabin crew for support during this trip, please feel free to ask them any questions and remember to be open to making new connections. The in-flight movie will be very inspiring and thought provoking, although, sometimes dramatic. Experience and character will be given out indiscriminately, but with purpose. Have Faith, for only I know the flight path and direction we will travel. At the end of this trip, everyone will have jet-lag, but not care, because the purpose of the journey will be understood."

Love, God

Cairo Egypt Deaf KFC

hey... if you ever go to Cairo Egypt.. check out this deaf owned and operated KFC!

How cool is that!!

A cool eBay story

The Story of the Black Robes

I've been doing eBay as a side business since 2000. I want to share one of my favorite experiences with an eBay transaction I had.

Several years ago, we were cleaning out the pastor's office at my church. He found a box that was filled with old black choir robes. Our church, Lighthouse Chapel of the Deaf, had newer yellow choir robes so we did not need these black ones. The first thing the pastor said was to throw them away.

I said... no, let me try to sell them on eBay. Never know maybe a group is looking for these. So... I did just that. I listed them on eBay.

I got several requests from potential buyers who wanted just ONE robe for graduation purposes. I preferred to sell them as a lot and not one by one. Then one day I got an email from a lady named Mary in Maryland.

Mary from Maryland entered my life

She explained that she was starting a choir and she was looking for black robes and my auction was perfect but... she didn't have a lot of money and wanted to know if I was willing to sell all of them for xxx amount of money (I can't even remember now what she said). I told her I would get back to her after speaking to the pastor.

My pastor said yes.... that was fine. Sell them to her for what she asked. I emailed Mary and told her and she was SO excited. Later that day the pastor emailed me and said he was thinking about the robes and said to tell Mary she could have the robes for FREE. She just had to pay the shipping costs. WOW... Mary was practically jumping up and down at this blessing. It was thrilling.

New information makes it extra special!

Somewhere along the line, she happened to mention that her choir is a signing choir! They were all hearing but they signed in ASL. Now this was super exciting as the robes were coming from a DEAF CHURCH! This made our connection even more personal.

I sent her the robes. I really didn't look at the robes that carefully but Mary said it was amazing as they had a child in their choir and there was a child (or small adult) size robe in the box. AWESOME the way God works.

I later received a video tape and photos of Mary and her choir wearing "our" robes. For several years Mary and I kept in touch but as sometimes happens, we lost touch with each other. I tried to contact her again last summer but she had since left that church and they didn't have a forwarding address.

Anyone know..

a Mary from Maryland who used to have a signing choir in Silver Springs? If you just so happen to read this post, contact me! I would love to catch up with Mary again. I hope you are still signing wherever you are!

Smile From God

I don't know about you but I need a smile today and the best smiles come from God. Here's a cool one I'm sharing with you!

This is just one of those days and I know this too shall pass. I will continue to serve and make God smile!

A blessed day to you too. Thank you for stopping by.

"I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right side, I shall not be moved." Psalms 16:8

Deaf Cafe, Flint in April - Thank you Soldiers

A record attendance!

Yesterday we had our April Deaf Cafe program. We had a record of 122 people there. wow... Praise the Lord! Let me tell you about our program.

Our theme was Freedom is Not Free

This month we focused on giving thanks to the soldiers who died for our freedom. We went all the way back to the Revolutionary War and worked our way up to the current Iraq War. During one part of the program, we shared how many soldiers died in each war... curious how many soldiers died for our freedom over the centuries? Approximately 631,065 American soldiers... that's over half a million people.

A cool demonstration of 1 = 10,000

To demonstrate this, we put rice in cups... we used 64 cups and each cup of rice represented 10,000 soldiers. We then pour those 64 cups into a water jug and it was 3/4 full when we finished. It was impressive display of REAL people who lost their lives over the centuries fighting for the freedom that American enjoy today.

It doesn't matter if you are for or against the current war... we can still show our support and appreciation for those who are fighting so you can live in a free country. We are truly blessed living here in America and I for one am proud to be an American.

Deaf fight? No... but we served too

Obviously, Deaf people cannot serve in the military but we can give our support. Some of the older folks worked in the factories during WW2 making the tanks, etc... especially since some of those were made here by General Motors in Flint, Michigan.

Some of the Deaf have hearing family members who have served in the past and today. We honor those who make the ultimate sacrifice. Those soldiers fought for our physical freedom.

What about our Spiritual Freedom?

Question.... How many stars are in the universe? No one knows... its an impossible number but we want to make the point that that unknown number is also how many souls are lost who do not yet know Jesus as their personal Savior.

When Jesus died on the cross, he also made the ultimate sacrifice and gave himself. He died to save us from our sins. If we believe in Jesus and accept Him into our hearts, we will have ETERNAL freedom!

Do you have a relationship with Jesus?

If you don't know Jesus but would like to, you can write to me. I'll be happy to share my testimony and answer whatever questions you may have. To have life forever, its as easy as the spiritual A...B...C...

A: Admit you are a sinner
B: Believe that Jesus is the son of God and died on the cross for your sins.
C: Confess your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart.

You can pray something simple like this...

My Heavenly Father. I am a sinner. I'm sorry. Please forgive me for my sins. I believe Jesus is the son of God and that He died on the cross to save me from my sins. Please come into my heart and change me. I want to be like you. Thank you, Amen

Please let me know if you made the decision to follow Jesus today. I want to welcome you into the Family of God as one of His children. You will be truly blessed!

Thank you soldiers for our physical freedom. Thank you Jesus for our spiritual freedom.

A Video just for fun...

This is just something to give you a giggle today.

I wonder if my husband and I will one day have this happen to us!

Better keep my dentist appt next week!

Have a great day!

Deaf Communication and Technology

Yesterday I was at the home of an older Deaf man. I did not know this man. I was only at his house to help a friend clean up to get his house ready for an estate sale.

A TTY is a telephone for the Deaf

While there I noticed this man had probably 5 TTYs. A TTY stands for Text Typewriter. It looks like the illustration here. This is how it works...the Deaf person calls another person or "relay service" rep that also have a TTY. They put the phone on top of the cups and wait for the phone to be answered. When the person they are calling answers, it shows up as running type just above the keys. When the person is finished with their sentence, they type GA.. that means "Go Ahead".. its your turn to type. This goes back and forth until the conversation is over. At the end, the person who is ending the call typed SK. That means "Stop Keys" and the call is finished and the phone is returned to the hook.

Explaining "relay"

A "relay service" rep is in the middle... they serve between the Deaf person and hearing person they are calling. What the Deaf person types, relay voices to the hearing person. What the hearing person responds, relay types to the Deaf person.

Technology and Communication for the Deaf

TTYs were a very very popular way (and pretty much the only way except face to face) to communicate for many years. The first TTY was huge! I have a Deaf friend who actually still has one of these old giant TTYs. Just like computers got smaller as technology developed, TTYs also got smaller and more portable. A Deaf person could easily take a TTY with them when they travel, etc. I had one of these myself for many years. Some of them come with paper so you can print your conversation after you hang up. That's really handy if someone gave you directions or an appt time, etc.

But... the TTY is becoming a dinosaur as more and more Deaf now have moved on to the computer where they can communicate with emails or instant messaging - even blogs like this. They can also call a "relay service" and make calls very similar to TTY to hearing people on the computer and guess what! Its a free service whether calling local or long distance!

The invention of VP

However... it is a fact that many Deaf people are not comfortable with writing or reading. They much prefer one to one conversation in their own language. A few years ago the VP which stands for Video Phone was developed. This was HUGE news to the Deaf community. That meant two Deaf people could actually see each other on TV monitors and have a conversation in ASL as if they were face to face.

This is the preferred method of communication today if they can't meet face to face. This is also cool way to show the other person material items. Last night I was talking to a friend on my VP and she was showing me an afghan she was knitting. Cool!

Putting a web cam on the computer works the same way as the VP and many hearing people who can sign talk to Deaf people that way.

What to do with old TTYs?

So now I have a bunch of old TTYs from this old man's house. Some of the older Deaf still use TTYs as they are not comfortable with computers and VP systems. Some people just don't like change or learning new things so they stay with what they know and are comfortable with.

The fax machine is another way the Deaf can communicate but again it is hard for them to write clearly and understand reading. This is the least favorite way to communicate as it takes time and paper to fax back and forth until both understand.

One more thing...

oh.... I can't forget cell phones and pagers that accept text, emails and Instant messaging.. this is another marvelous invention that the Deaf can benefit having. This makes communication much easier when a Deaf person is not home to use any of the above methods.

Regardless of the many ways Deaf communicate, technology has been amazing over the past 20 years. We've come a long way! Its a good time to be Deaf as there are so many ways to stay in touch!

Songs and Hymns in ASL

I love watching a skilled signer "sing" in ASL. It's so fluid and yes, it is beautiful but more than that.. its expressive and it tells a story.

Old Traditional Hymns in ASL?

I am part of Deaf Cafe and every month we do 2 to 3 different songs during the program. Most of these songs are new to me and I love learning new songs. New songs are easy to learn as I don't know how the tune goes. However... I grew up in church and know most of the old gospel songs... at that time I could hear somewhat - and therefore, I also know how the tune goes.

Those old gospel hymns do not translate very well at all as most of the time we don't even know what the writer is talking about with their flowery words but after singing them Sunday after Sunday, they become a part of you and you just sing it that way.. whether you understand the words or not.

ASL is not English in individual words.. its taking English words and making concepts. I don't fully understand this myself as I'm still learning this as I go along. This makes all those old hymns I love so well into new songs and they don't always match the tune that is going through my head! I also tend to sign those old favorite with English instead of ASL. I'm learning all the time!!! It's not easy to change old habits.

Roy Boltz "Thank you for Giving to the Lord"

But getting back to singing in ASL...One of my favorite songs is from Ray Boltz. He sings "Thank you for giving to the Lord". Its interesting that a few years ago I found a t-shirt that said just that at a yard sale. The back said "I'm a life that was changed". I bought that t-shirt before I knew those words were part of a song. When I first "heard" his song, I was so excited and said.. I have a t-shirt with those words on them! This song touches me so deeply that I almost always start crying when I hear it. It is such a blessing to serve the Lord and to change lives.

The music director for Deaf Cafe kindly translated that song from English into ASL. I asked her permission to share it with you and she agreed as long as I left these credits.... Glossed by Vonnie with help from the Lord. (Thank you Vonnie for giving to the Lord!)

So.. here you go...if you know ASL, give it a shot...
the black is English.. the red is ASL...keep in mind this is just like telling a story!

Thank you for serving the Lord

By Ray Boltz

I dreamed I went to heaven
Me dream Heaven go

And you were there with me;
You with me

We walked upon the streets of gold
Street gold two-us walk (use both #1 hands side by side to show walking together)

Beside the crystal sea.
beautiful ocean near

We heard the angels singing
angel sing, we listen

Then someone called your name.
hear, person your name call

We turned and saw a young man running
We looked young man come- to you (sign both # 1 hands like person come to other person)

And he was smiling as he came.
He smile
And he said, "Friend you may not know me now."
say Friend now don't- know who me

And then he said, "But wait,
but wait,

You used to teach my Sunday School
before my SS you teach

When I was only eight.
me only age-8

And every week you would say a prayer before the class would start.
every week before start you pray

And one day when you said that prayer,
one day you pray happen

I asked Jesus in my heart."
accept Jesus my heart

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
Thank you for for? serve Lord

I am a life that was changed.
my life change

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
Thank you for for? for serve Lord

I am so glad you gave.

me much happy you serve

Then another man stood before you
Other man come to you (sign like two people meet)

And said, "Remember the time
say Remember before

A missionary came to your church
missionary show up church

And his pictures made you cry.
show picture you cry

You didn't have much money,
you money little bit

But you gave it anyway.
you give anyway

Jesus took the gift you gave
Jesus accept gift

And that's why I'm here today."
I became saved

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
Thank you for for? serve Lord

I am a life that was changed.
My life change

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
Thank you for for? serve Lord

I am so glad you gave.
me much happy you serve

One by one they came
One come one come one come (alternate #1 hands coming toward you)

Far as the eye could see.
(mime long line people) see end can't

Each life somehow touched
all you influence

By your generosity.
how? you serve

Little things that you had done,
simple thing you do

Sacrifices made,
sacrifice you give

Unnoticed on the earth
here world notice not

In heaven, now proclaimed
but Heaven announced/showed

Making a Difference

I am writing this April 10th and on the news they are reporting strong storms and tornadoes in the midwest. I am praying for those folks this morning that all will be safe. Things can be replaced but people cannot.

Who made a difference in your life?

Are there any people in your life who have made a difference in who you are today? I can think of several. I am grateful for my parents who raised me in a loving Christian home. I often tell my friends that my life was boring as "nothing" ever happened while I was growing up. My days were very stable and predictable and routine. My parents celebrated their 60th year of marriage this past February. I have 7 brothers and sisters.. all of us are happily married. All of us have children. There are no divorces in my immediate family and that includes aunt and uncles and I have A LOT of them (my mother is oldest of 13 children and my father is one of 7 kids). Its only when you get to cousins when divorce appears in the family.

What made the difference?

That's pretty amazing considering today's divorce rate is over 50%. Why do I think our family was so stable? I think it had to do with our religious upbringings. As far as I know, all my aunts/uncles, grandparents, parents, brothers/sisters (except 1), nieces/nephews are all actively involved with their churches. Most of them belong to the Church of the Brethren faith which is very common in the state of PA where the majority of them live in the Lancaster and Lebanon Co. areas.

Deaf Friends make the difference too

I am also grateful to my many Deaf friends who welcomed me into their world when I made the gradual step over from the hearing world. They tolerated with patience my slow - often with mistakes - attempts at ASL and this is still a learning process. I will never be expertly skilled at ASL as I did not grow up with this language but I do have enough knowledge to communicate clearly with almost any Deaf person. Those who are pure ASL and do not mouth at the same time remain challenges to me. I do depend on lip reading still. An old old habit from growing up in an oral world that has served me well.

I hope in some ways I make a difference in other people's lives. I tend to be a positive person who sees the glass half full. I have a strong belief in the future and know I can depend on my Lord to take care of me.

I care about you. Thank you.

I want to thank all those who made a difference in my life. Most of them will never read this post as some of them don't have a computer, etc but I'm going to start telling these people face to face over the next few days or weeks as I see them that they made a difference and I appreciate them. So happy the Lord crossed our paths during this journey here on earth! I am TRULY Blessed!!!

Deaf Humor in Video

Deaf like to make fun of themselves too!

This is one of the funniest Deaf videos I have seen.

This guy, Billy Kelman, is a pro fingerspeller!

I hope you enjoy it too!

Older Deaf Lady's Growing up years

A Deaf Friend visits

Today I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who is an older deaf lady. I believe she turned 80 this past November. She's spunky and still active best she can. She has had some recent health problems but is determined to battle them all.... She is one feisty lady!

New Life!

Yesterday she became a grandma again! However it was a difficult day as both the mother and the baby had health problems. My friend doesn't have a VP (videophone) and doesn't like to write much so she faxed and asked if she could come over to my house to talk. Most deaf people prefer one to one conversations than writing. "Of course", I said. I immediately pushed my own plans aside.

My friend shared what happened at the hospital. While her sons are pretty good at signing, I'm sure there were many times when she was in the "dark" and didn't know what was going on. This is very common for Deaf people and extremely annoying too as we want to know what is going on too.

Remembering Past memories

I asked her about her own children's births and she shared stories about having her babies (she has 5 boys and 1 girl) in hospitals and trying to communicate with nurses and doctors. Back then, they did not have interpreters.

She then went back to earlier memories to when she was growing up in northern Michigan on a farm. Unfortunately, she had a rough childhood and felt her parents and brothers and sisters never showed her any love. She was considered the family outcast as the only deaf child. Her father would beat her (and she would not understand why) and her brothers and sisters would play mean games and abandon her. She did not attend school until she was 10 years old. At that age, her parents finally sent her to the state Deaf school... MSD...Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint.

She had no way to communicate. She was mute and could not talk. She knew no sign at all except a few home signs. It was an extremely stressful time for her. Eventually a kind fellow student took her under her wing and taught her how to sign and how to read.

Today she still struggles with reading and she continues to have a deep desire to learn. She keeps a dictionary by her chair and if she comes across a word she does not understand, she will look it up in the dictionary. How many of us do that?

Makes me appreciate how blessed I was growing up in a "normal" loving family. I was never out casted by my family and treated no different than my hearing brothers and sisters. I also had regular schooling.

I pray for my friend and that her new granddaughter will be ok. There is talk of doing heart surgery. wow.. only a day old...

Lord... watch over this precious newborn child... she belongs to you.. keep her in your hands. Comfort the mother and father. Comfort my friend, the grandma. Give the Doctors the wisdom they need to do their job. We know you are in control and we trust you. Thank you Father for hearing our prayer. AMEN

ASL Music in Video

ASL Music Video

A friend of mine sent me this ASL Video of the D-PAN inerpretation of Christina Aguilera's song, "Beautiful".

D-PAN stands for Deaf Performing Artist Network. If you click on videos on the left side, they have a few other videos as well in ASL.

Just beautiful! Take a moment to check it out!

http://www.d-pan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=35

New Deaf Church in Michigan

New Deaf Church in Flint Michigan

Deaf people in Michigan now have a new choice in where they attend church that speak their language. In March 2008, a new Deaf Church was started in Swartz Creek, Michigan.

The Deaf Church at Cornerstone (DCCS)

The Deaf Church at Cornerstone (DCCS) is the name. The address is 6273 Miller Rd. Swartz Creek, MI 48473. They meet Sundays for Sunday School at 10-10:45am and then move to the chapel for Deaf Church starting at 11am. They also have Bible Study Wednesday evenings at 7pm.

This is a small group with the goal of reaching Deaf (and hearing) in the Flint area who do not currently attend any church. We welcome both Deaf and hearing. Voicing can be arranged if necessary.

Pastor John

The pastor is my husband John Bienlein. He has had a long time dream of preaching to the Deaf and in the past year has been working towards this goal. God opened doors for him and he accepted the challenge.

If you are looking for deeper study of the Bible, a deeper understanding of God's purpose for your life or fellowship and worship with other believers, you should come and see what's up at DCCS. If you have any questions, please contact me via this blog. We would love to come visit you and share Jesus with you.

More experiences being Deaf

The Deaf have a saying... the old past.. the new ahead. Here in Michigan we are looking forward to spring with a passion. It has been a rough winter with record amounts of snow. From my window I see green spouts in my flower beds and I'm itching to get outside to start cleaning up. I will try to do that next week. What have I been up to the past four months?

In January I attended a funeral for a Deaf man.

He's the brother of a good friend. I didn't know the man himself very well but did go bowling with him and his wife once as part of a church activity. He was not well known in the deaf community as he pretty much kept to himself and his hearing wife. He did not have strong ASL skills so it was hard for him to communicate with other deaf. At his funeral, there were only a few deaf present and all but one were from the church community. The rest were family. The whole service was interpreted and my friend did a song in ASL. It was lovely.

In February I got my hearing aid again.

With the help of MRS, I was able to afford to purchase a new hearing aid. They had actually fit me for two of them. I had never had two aids at the same time but was willing to try it. I made arrangements with the office to be allowed to test wearing two aids for a few hours to see what I thought. That was weird. It was awful. The aid on my right ear was just fine as that is the side I'm used to wearing my aid. But the left side was so powerful it hurt to wear it. Everything was greatly amplified and I actually cringed with discomfort. I had the volume all the way down and it still "hurt". My husband and I had gone out for lunch at a quiet restaurant and realized we should have gone to a place with more noise to test this so after we ate, we went to Sam's Club and my left side hurt so bad from the loud sounds that I took it off. I was fine with the right side and I had the volume all the way up on that aid. When we returned to the office, I told them I could not tolerate having two aids at the same time and would only be purchasing one of them. I found out at that point the technician could have been able to adjust the volume on the left side aid to make it more "realistic" but I decided not to further the experiment and just go with one aid. Having one aid was enough for me to function and hear what I needed to hear. No matter how loud things got, I would never have perfect hearing or be able to understand without lipreading. I had since returned to the office and had the volume adjusted on the right side aid so I had a little "room" to increase volume if I wanted. Its cool to see how the computer is able to make these changes in just a few clicks.

So... I've had my aid over a month now and its as if I never lost it for 6 months. Things are normal as they are going to be. I only wear it when I go out in public and not at home. I'm happy that the battery lasts a month or me. YEAH.

Deaf Cafe, Fint continues

Other things happening is my continued involvement with Deaf Cafe, Flint. Next Saturday is our April program. Our theme will be Freedom is not Free. We will remember all the soldiers who gave up their lives for us. Last night I watched the movie GLORY... wow.. all those men are heroes to me! To everyone who gave of their time, energy and yes, their lives for this country and our freedom, I say THANK YOU.

Big Big news.... there is a new Deaf Church in Michigan. I will write about that in my next blog!