Going Into The Fight With Thankful Singing

As we were coming off of a wonderful birthday celebration for my oldest son, who just turned thirteen over the weekend, there was a routine CT scan and doctor's appointment with my surgical oncologist that was awaiting me Monday morning.

More than comforting was what I read the night before my check up, of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah and son of King Asa, who put his trust in the Lord as his enemies decided to attack. Love what the Spirit of the Lord instructed him and the people of Judah through Jahaziel saying, "Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed . . . for the battle is not yours but God's" and "You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf . . .  the Lord will be with you."

Then in an unusual start to battle, the king appointed singers to go before the army, singing to the Lord and praising Him and giving thanks. Read 2 Chronicles, chapters 19 and 20 to see the events that followed, for it is quite awesome!

So when Monday morning rolled around, I put on some praise music by Paul Wilbur in the car for the ride down and thanked Him for all He had brought me through over the years.

Stopping at a red light at the top of the exit ramp, a dragonfly came up to my windshield and hovered all around in front of me. I hadn't seen one in awhile and so excitedly thought, hey little dragonfly! It seemed to dance around for me and then took off just as the light turned green. I proceeded to the hospital singing. This would prove to be much more meaningful later!

Going up to the radiology check in desk, I saw this card facing up at me from the base of the computer. This made me smile indeed and made my heart happy as I read this little love note from Him.

As I sat in the waiting room, I noticed the people around me and often wonder what their experience has been and how they are feeling. I always get the sense that people want to connect more but don't know how, at least that is how I feel. In a row facing perpendicular to mine, was a painfully thin man in his early seventies who glanced over occasionally and smiled. I wanted to say something more than, "hello" but everyone is so quiet and so I just watched an episode and a half of Property Brothers and glanced back to him and smiled several times. All the while, wondering if I should just get up and start a conversation with him.

Then I hear the nurse call out, "Christina" and I go back to get ready for my abdominal and pelvic CT scan. (Decided this time to give thanks for the barium shakes and surprisingly the banana smoothies weren't bad at all!) The nurse and I had a deep conversation and she talked about the Charleston shootings and Bill Cosby and how sad the news had been. I shared with her about my husband's shofar outreach and she said her husband had felt led to buy a big horn but didn't know why. We had a quick connection and then it was time for my scan. Again, God gave me an awesome conversation with another radiology team member, who encouraged me greatly and I hope I did the same for him. It felt so good to connect and converse with the people around me, worrying less about staying in my comfort zone.

Once upstairs, I had the privilege of talking with two Greek Orthodox nuns, one of whom was the Mother Superior and a patient herself who shared the same surgeon along with me. They were very sweet and kind and then I started up a conversation with a Muslim female medical student who was from Syria.  She was very happy to talk as she was waiting for a doctor to return from lunch and told me that she watched many American movies but her favorite was Gone With The Wind and that was one of the reasons she wanted to come to Georgia for college. (Never, would I have guessed that.) She wished me well as the nurse called me back and I thanked her for chatting with me. She smiled really big!

After chatting with the nurse, there's always that time where you just sit and wait for the doctor. My surgeon was booked up with twenty nine patients that day, so I thought about all the wonderful and interesting people I met that morning. Then I looked up and my jaw dropped. Painted on the ceiling tile was a dragonfly! I laughed out loud and thought . .  Wow, God you are so awesome! It was another moment where I felt strongly that God was saying, "I've got you!"

Had a short but sweet visit with my doctor who was doing his best to see all his many patients. He said it would be a couple of days before my results would be back in. As I left, I got to chat with Ms. Barbara, who runs the check in desk. She was the one who came out from behind her desk two years ago and hugged me like my mother would have,
after I started crying and couldn't rein in the tears, right there in the waiting room. Now, I smile big when I see her and always tell her how I always remembered her kindness that day.
 
While waiting in line for my lab work, I met Jan, an older lady in a wheelchair, and Angel, a young lady in a baseball cap sitting with her girlfriend, and got to chat with them. Then upon leaving, about an hour later, saw Jan again, who smiled and grabbed my hand and said excitedly, "Guess what? My doctor said he didn't need to see me for another six months!" She was by herself, like me, but we had each other to encourage. Total strangers but with a special bond and I was so happy that I walked over to her when she first smiled at me!

UPDATE: My doctor called several times today and had to leave the results on voicemail due to issues with my phone placing calls directly into voicemail instead of ringing. This may have worked out for a reason because I could replay the message over and over again to better understand. Here's the message, "So your scan looks fine. There are some very non specific lymph nodes that are slightly enlarged in the distal part of the small intestine, that I don't know if they're just the way they are or whether they are related to the neuroendocrine tumor you had in your small bowel. So we are getting what is called an Octreotide scan and so they will be calling you about that and after we look at that scan. I'll let you know if there's anything else we need to do."

This I know for sure, Jesus loves me, He's got me and I'll just keep singing!

Christina

To find my facebook page, click on humble & bold.

Stay humble & be BOLD!