No way to lead into this but to say that the pathology results from my surgery were benign = NO CANCER!! Praise the Lord and thank you to every prayer warrior! My 2-week checkup is tomorrow, Friday, August 25, and I’d love to have your prayers for continued wonderful results.
This is going to sound way too cliché but…I’ve been looking to cultivate relationship results in all the wrong places. It’s true. I was focused on developing stronger relationships with family members who just recently became a part of my life. And I haven’t abandoned that effort. What did I learn that changed my direction? Relationship opportunities are all around us. Trust. It’s all about trust…opening our hearts.
My medical team was amazing as I shared in my last post. Now let me tell the impact on my life by my nurse from Mississippi. She is an angel through and through! I fought the good fight to be allowed to keep my Sabbatical coin with me during my surgery. She gently won the battle and I gave my coin to Galen. He held it tight in his hand while I was in surgery; he told me later that he’d felt such a strong connection with me during surgery through this symbol of The Whole Armor of God; pray always. Definitely a part of His plan, not mine.
I talked with my Mississippi nurse as we walked to the operating room and we continued our talk, when we arrived, as the rest of team scurried around us. She kept the conversation flowing by asking more questions about this “coin” to which I had such a commitment! I shared with her about our first Sabbatical Year in 2010 and that I received this coin during my send-off and I’d kept it with me since that day. I explained that, once again, 2017 is our Sabbatical Year which allows me to, among other things, refocus on the deeper meaning of my Sabbatical coin. I was sure she feigned interest in my coin just to distract me and keep me calm prior to surgery. No trust.
The next morning my Mississippi nurse came to my hospital room. She’d completed her shift and came to see me on her very own time. That resonated with me, trust was born and my heart opened. She said she just had to see me to be sure I was doing okay. Then she did it. She picked up my Sabbatical coin which was right in front of me on my little lap table along with my Jesus Calling devotional. Her next words kind of sealed our relationship forever. “So, this is THE coin. Tell me why you fought so hard to keep it?”
We talked for more than an hour that Saturday morning. I took out the little document that accompanies our Sabbatical coin in its case and shared this with her. [Note: If you haven’t read the story of the Sabbatical coin you really should!] She shared her faith with me and a whole new perspective on Satan that rocked my world. We’ve talked several times since I’ve been home and we’ll get together soon too.
God blessed me with this amazing faith-filled woman in my life. We’ve already established a bond that will not be broken. Someday we can talk more about the conversation on that Saturday morning. The voice-to-voice or face-to-face is the only way to do justice to the story of my nurse from Mississippi.
The topic of trust seems to all around me in my conversations and readings. I now carry with me an excerpt from my August 22 Jesus Calling daily devotional.
“Trust Me, and don’t be afraid; for I am your Strength, Song, and Salvation.”