Today went so great!  We had a ladies’ Christmas Tea this morning with women from my church and it was the first time I’ve been in a group setting with my new CI.  Groups are still difficult.  I’d say that right now, the “group” background noise was amplified more than the specific person I was speaking to was.  With my hearing aid, background noise is amplified along with the speaker, but I can usually “zoom” in mentally and follow quite a bit.  Today that was very difficult to do.  The speaker seemed quieter than the rest.  I think there is a program that will be added soon that will help in those situations.  I am still basking in the joy of being able to understand so much!  After refreshments, we sat down and sang together.  Singing is always tricky with hearing problems.  I really had no idea how it would go.  I’m happy to say that it went great!  I did need for the person next to me to give me some feedback and let me know if I was basically singing in tune (like any hearing person!) and how my volume was.  In the past, if someone will give me some honest feedback about that, I can usually make the adjustments I need to be able to sing with everyone else without drawing attention to myself.  I teared up a little at one point, because I could hear the others singing fairly well.  I feel I was hearing more of the group singing with my CI than I generally do with my hearing aid plus my Domino Pro (the personal assistive listening device I use in church to amplify things even more).  That was so exciting!  Maybe it was similar as far as understanding, but having the extra sounds really filled it out more.  I also was able to sing just fine myself!   I needed a little help with volume, but apparently was ok with singing in tune!  I can’t tell you what  a thrill that was!  It was really not sure if I would ever be able to sing with the church again.  It blows my mind that this is all happening with my nearly deaf ear!  

I have noticed that the distortion seems to be less than before (yay!) and although I do still need to lip read, I have been able to hear much softer speaking than before.  Several times I have had conversations with people who were in an environment where they were speaking very softly and with lip reading I could hear enough to understand the majority.  That is a definite improvement over my hearing aid.  

I continue to be amazed at how God has worked in my life.  I once again thought today about how well He has prepared me for this situation ahead of time.  Everything I’ve had to learn over the years regarding hearing and understanding is helping me to have the best result possible now with the least amount of frustration.  It does still take effort, but I know how great it is going and I couldn’t be more thankful!  I give God the credit and the thanks for this outcome!

Today I also made a trip to the library and checked out 4 children’s books on CD.  I found someone who had a CD player they offered to lend me, so I should have that tomorrow and I will begin working on my “homework.”  

Thank you all so much for checking up on me.  Thank you for praying for me.  It blows me away when I think about how many people have told me they are praying for me and how many times they have done so.  I feel your love and support.  I’ve been reaching into my bag of encouragement from my sweet sisters in Christ and it seems like the notes are always so uplifting and always well timed!  

I can’t wait to see how things go in Bible class and the assembly tomorrow.