February 3 2015

February 3 2015 Greetings My Friend Right now I am absorbing the quiet of our home, the beauty of birds feeding on suet hanging from the porch and the warmth of a dog snuggled in my lap. I am a bit worn out from a barium swallow test done yesterday. I was not worked on for about 2 hrs. after my scheduled time to be worked on due to ER emergencies. The test itself was long since I had to have 4 views done and wait 15 minutes between each view. I was to fast the night before and by the time I walked out of the hospital it was 2:30 in the afternoon. We stopped and I ordered breakfast. As I ate I felt revived a bit. So today is a slow moving day and I am good with it. “In all things give thanks to the Lord.” To be honest yesterday was not a day I felt like being thankful or even patient and nice. I wanted my grumpy side to be allowed out and to voice my discontent. With God’s help though I maintained a pleasant demeanor. I was able to be silly to some extent. In my silliness I was able to let people know I was hungry. A technician walked by with a bag of Bugle chips and I asked her to share with me. In a silly voice she informed me she wasn’t big on sharing. She understood my discomfort and at the same time reminded me “no food” for the test. I am having trouble bringing up food still. The Zantac and Protonix both have settled my stomach down a whole lot but I still manage to bring up even water so my Doctor scheduled further testing. Today after the discomfort of yesterday I am waiting to see what if anything there is to help me with my struggle. I am grateful today. I am grateful for tests that help me to be on top of health issues. I am grateful that with these tests the likelihood of finding the problems earlier than later means there is a chance to fix the problem before it is out of hand. My breast cancer was found at a stage 0 so I am a believer in doing preventive screening. The screenings are unpleasant to say the least but it is worth the discomfort. Again I learn to be grateful for all things. When I was learning to be grateful I felt this meant only “happy” things like a raise, a kind word etc. I did not associate unpleasantness with being grateful. Today though I find there is gratefulness in the discomforts of life as well. In the struggles of life tends to be the major growth of life. When I do the look back at a struggle I am amazed at what I was able to endure, to learn and how this struggle has helped me grow. I also see that God has walked beside me and I am thankful to learn of God’s steadfastness. The confusion of two moves in two years has taught me to be more flexible, to redo routines in a new way. As health issues came along I found myself accepting the changes easier because of the moves. I struggled and at the same time I was able to be flexible. “In all things be grateful” grows deeper in my spirit and in my life. The lessons God gives us are never ending and I love the learning and growing. Thank you Jesus. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet