Day 4 at home

In the summer of 2003, my friend Sami and I spent a month in Mexico together serving at  a place called the Mexican Indian Training Center. We spent a large portion of our time there scrubbing bricks…using bricks. There were concrete splatters all over the building, and we scrubbed them until they were clean, bright red, and beautiful. At first, it wasn’t so bad, but soon, the task became mundane and we began to hate those bricks. And we complained. And then the Lord convicted us. So we decided to change our attitudes and instead, share things that we were both thankful for. The rest of the day, we spent praising the Lord for all He had done, instead of focusing on our momentary, selfish afflictions.

Lupus is kind of like those bricks to me. I don’t really like it, to be totally honest. But, despite that, when I look beyond all that is happening, I can see God at work, and He is doing great things! So I want to use this blog post to brag on Him for a minute.

- Many people do not get the symptoms of Lupus all at once, which generally can lead to a years long search for a diagnosis. My body went a little crazy all at the same time, which enabled my doctors to figure out within a couple of days what was wrong with me.

- Also, I didn’t have to search out for the right doctors – the Lord just brought them to me. And they turned out to be excellent doctors who would sit and talk with me for hours and answer every question I had.

- My husband has been an invaluable support for me. Before I got stuck in the hospital, he would give me back massages every time I asked, take me to doctors appointments, take care of the house, do not only his job but my job at work, grocery shop – pretty much everything. He would get me Sprite after I threw up, and the poor guy had to watch and hear it happening pretty frequently. I didn’t sleep much, so neither did he.While I was in the hospital, he would drive an hour every day to come see me. He loves and serves me unconditionally. God has blessed me with an incredible husband and I cannot imagine going through this without him.

- In case you don’t know this about me, my main love language is physical touch. God gave me a doctor who was always patting me on the back, rubbing the back of my head, giving me hugs, etc. I didn’t just feel well cared for physically, I felt loved.

- My mom was able to take 2 weeks off work to come down and help take care of me while I was in the hospital, and she has been unbelievably helpful at home as well. My house has seen remarkable improvements since we got home. And I’ve mostly been propping my cankles up on the couch.

- Though this all happened while I am away and in a foreign country – I have family here that has been a great support for me, including Chase’s brother David and his wife Kristina, and Chase’s sister Joanna (who lives with us). And I got my first niece during this whole mess!

- Also, He has shown me that he does answer prayer. Did you pray for my nightmares to go away 3 nights ago? Because they did. Did you pray for the insomnia problem I had 2 nights ago? Because I slept for almost 8 hours (waking up several times, but always able to go back to sleep) last night. Little things, but real things that shout that “God is good and faithful to hear our prayers!” Thank you for standing with me and petitioning the Father on my behalf.

- The Lord has been teaching me many things. That I’m selfish. That I’m not as good at communication as I thought I was. That I believe too easily. But also that He loves me and has not forgotten me. That He refreshes my soul and leads me beside still waters. That He is my peace, my hope in the midst of the storm. My cup overflows.

Well, that is just a few of the ways God has been at work. Praise Him with me? And those bricks? They’re nothing compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord!