Before you begin reading, I want you to swallow. Did you do it without any difficulty? Well, for many months, I had difficulty swallowing. Even the simplest liquids like water were very difficult for me to swallow. In fact, I was given a prescription for some liquid medication to take to numb my throat and down through my esophagus so that I could swallow more easily. The pain was excruciating and indescribable, so I am thankful today for swallowing. When I had my surgery in March to push my stomach back where it belonged, the surgeon also had to put a wrap around my esophagus. Because stomach acid had backed into it for years (who knows how long, really?), my feeding tube was badly worn and damaged. So the wrap strengthens it and makes it so I can swallow more easily. Even after the surgery, there was about six weeks in which swallowing was so painful that I didn’t want to even try to eat anything. That’s when I was on a liquid diet and then progressed to softly cooked fish and veggies. In spite of my travail, I came through everything and I am healed! I can swallow! I am so thankful that when I pick up my cup of tea or my glass of water that I can swallow without pain. Are you thankful for swallowing? Think about it.

We are definitely fearfully and wonderfully made!

Have a blessed day, my friends, and remember not to take the small things like swallowing for granted!