Coffee? Tea? Serenity?

WOW!  What great talents God disperses for us to help us rise back up when we are down.

Although I had heard many other people speak of massages they had, I had never had one.  I knew a little of what to expect, but you know.....the first time for anything always produces a certain amount of apprehension.  My apprehension was immediately shoved aside within the first few moments of sharing words with the therapist (I'll call her Ms. P.)  She asked my reasons for being there.  I gave a very brief version of what I have been experiencing during the last couple of months.  She immediately said, "That's the sciatic nerve!"  At this point, the diagnosis and name of the muscle matters very little.  My question was, "Can you get me back in shape and to a point of being pain free?"  And the healing began.  That is the only way that I can describe the entire session.  Healing!  She focused on the areas that have been hurting me.  She gave me some no-nos for my condition.  She demonstrated the kind of stretches that I could continue at home.  She also warned me that muscle soreness will probably be felt during the next couple of days.  I left her session 99% pain free.  During the remainder of the day, I did notice some pains return, but very slightly.  They were just enough to be a reminder of what she recommended and warned me of.  I was really waiting to wake this morning with some severe soreness in the hip and sciatic area.  Nope.  None there; at least not yet.  BUT, in the muscle area under and near the shoulder blades, it feels like someone took a bat to me during the night.  I was so focused on what she was doing in the hip and leg area that I almost forgot that she had also worked around the shoulder blades.  The muscles had no mercy in reminding me.

Throughout the afternoon and still this morning, I am thanking God for "talking" to me throughout my time of discomfort.  Because the area of pains were so broad, I had no way of determining what the exact cause was.  He not only talked to me in his still quiet voice, but through the voices of loved ones as well.  From the get go, Mike insisted that I needed a chiropractor.  From the get go, I had the instictive feeling that I had pulled a muscle.  Shortly after seeing the OB/GYN who recommended a hysterectomy, a concerned family member of my sister-in-law who saw me walking in church called her to send word to me that I did not need the GYN, but someone to help with a sciatic problem.  Today, I sit in awe thinking back on the many prayers I said relating to my situation...Lord, show me what is wrong.  Lord, lead me to the place where YOUR healing is in store for me.  Lord, PAY MY BILLS!....whew!  Healing is coming along quiet well, but the $$$ are soaring out of our pocket books at rocket speed!  Lord, I trust that you WILL spread the available funds wisely upon our monthly obligations and those required for healing as well.

Mike is doing better.  Still has a little bit of the cold left to fight, but improved much since Monday.

Scott is quite frustrated with his symptoms.  On Thursday, as soon as we returned home, I made him take the antibiotic that he was prescribed.  I explained that the sooner it is started, the sooner you'll feel better.  A few hours later, he says, "Mom, this medicine is NOT working!  I do NOT feel better yet".  In the kind of laugh that only a mother can keep quiet, I explained how antibiotics sometimes take a few days to begin their healing.  The cough that I heard while he slept was soothed by OTC cough syrup, warm juices, and warm teas.  The fever has begun to subside as well.

This morning, it is I who feels those cold and cough symptoms sneaking up.  It is I who is drinking the warm drinks, gargling frantically, and praying that I can fight this bug in a really, really, quick way.  It is quite frustrating to be feeling "under the weather" after having walked the journey that I have in the last couple of months.  Please LORD, smack that germ right out of me, out of my house, out of my loved ones, out of K. and Z. who are also feeling under the weather, and into the marshes to sink in the muck and be gone for good!

I understand that rain is once again in the forecast for our area.  I pray that with that rain the many strains of germs that are hanging around and making all of us sick are washed away!

May health and prosperity be at our sides, at our backs, and at our forefronts so that we can always sing praises to Our Lord for the goondess that he rains down upon us - even when we are feeling too yucky to realize them.