Tag: medical tests

Watching and Waiting

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I remember as a child watching out the window for my daddy to get home. He may have a surprise for me, but he always had a big hug and a smile. As I grew older, I watched out the window for a date to arrive, anticipating but also a little fearful. Once I got married, I watched for my husband to come home from deployment. I knew the general time of his arrival, but I never knew how long it would take him to finish the process so he could actually come home. So, I watched and waited. Once we had children, we watched and waited together for daddy’s arrival, making signs to welcome him home and some baked goods that he enjoyed. Now that I am older and the children have moved away, I watch and wait for phone calls, FaceTime and letters or cards. The watching and waiting never stops.

In the last six months, as I have faced numerous medical tests, I have been in a season of watching and waiting. But it is the Lord that I am watching and waiting for. I know that He is always there for me, so I am watching to see what He will do in my life and I wait for His answer. All of the doctors have their own opinions, but it is only God who has the real answer. So, I watch and wait and know that God is hearing me. He hasn’t failed me yet…years of watching and waiting have taught me that He is faithful and the last six months are building my trust. One more test on Monday, an MRA that the neurologist ordered to see if there is something going on with the blood vessels in my brain. Maybe. Maybe not. God knows. So, for Him, I watch and wait. He made me, He has healed me too many times for me to count, and He will also take care of this problem in His own way and in His time. His way and His timing is always perfect. Thus, watching and waiting while I hope in the Lord is a good, encouraging thing for me to do. It’s a blessing to know that God is right there, ready to send the answer to my prayers.

Prayer and Peace

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

Just when I was beginning to think that I was on the mountaintop, looking down into the valleys of all my trials and worries, a new medical test comes along, and boom! There I am, calling out to God for help to get through this one. I awakened a lot during the night, knowing that my EMG is early this morning. Each time, God would bring a praise song to my mind and I would drift back to sleep. It doesn’t help my state of mind that I have had this test before, know that it’s uncomfortable and takes about an hour of pins and electric shocks, simultaneously. Nevertheless, I am trusting God to get me through it without tears of anguish and frustration. The last time I had the test was over eight years ago, after my stroke, so I don’t recall a lot, just the pain and the feeling that it was taking a long time. I think a “long time” is relative when you are in pain that is being dealt out by a machine in the hands of a technician who gently says that it will be slightly uncomfortable. But, just as God has been with me through all the other tests, He will walk with me through this one, too. It reminds me of the wilderness experience of the Israelites. God took them through the wilderness, not around it. So, through this trial I go and I am confident that I will come out the other side, more compassionate for others going through tedious and painful medical procedures.

Fixing my thoughts on God helped me sleep during the night, so I know that fixing my thoughts on Him will help me get through the pain of electricity coursing through my body. Honestly, childbirth does hurt more, so there is that. And I know that my Lamaze breathing helped the last time I had the test done, so I will take deep breaths and with each inhale, I will say a prayer of thanksgiving that I am able to have the test done and a prayer that the test will show what the doctors need to know.

I think that peace comes as a result of prayers, so I am wearing my full armor today, including the shoes on my feet that come from the peace of God’s Good News. As He continues to remind me, nothing will happen to me today that He and I cannot handle together!