Tip of My Iceberg

I don’t sleep well when I have to get up early. I get panicky that I’ll sleep through the alarm, and anyone who’s depending on me to be responsible will be disappointed.

Type A’s have it hard.

Thursday I got out of bed at 3 a.m., not needing to leave the house till 5:30 to get Deb to the surgical center for the first of two operations.

Our family’s had our share of hospitals and operations lately. This one is to restore Deb’s knee so she can remain active and not have to worry about a knee replacement or arthritis for a few more years. Neither of us was thrilled about it. Deb’s had ACL surgery and her share of sprains, hematomas and bruises to last her a lifetime.

When Deb checked in, the nurse asked which knee was to be operated on. She told them the left; the nurse wrote “yes” in permanent marker on that knee.

When her surgeon came in to give her an overview of what would happen, he checked his charts, looked at her knee.

And signed off on it by putting his initials by the “yes”. In permanent marker.

There’ve been times when operations have been done on the wrong body part. When the wrong limb’s been amputated. When messages have gotten crossed and what was supposed to happen didn’t.

I didn’t want them to make a mistake on my daughter. I was grateful they’d come up with a protocol that could prevent the oversight. There was no question about where to operate.

This surgery, and the one following in five weeks, are necessary for her to regain strength and mobility in her knee. It’s not been pretty. The pain is greater than anticipated. The medication they gave her makes her nauseous. She hates sitting around but doesn’t have the energy or strength to do more right now.

Sometimes, to get better, we have to go through pain and discomfort. Choosing a path of pain seems ridiculous. If temporary pain can move us to greater comfort, better circumstances, it makes it worth it. Right?

I rarely appreciate pain in life. Especially if it’s happening to someone I love. I’d rather take the hurt for them then see them walk through it. To do without pain at all? That would be awesome.

It won’t happen this side of heaven. Everyone and everything is broken. You can’t find a perfect person among us who won’t ever hurt anyone else. No matter how great our intentions, skills and resources.

Jesus said we don’t have to walk this pain path alone. For those who’ve written “yes” on our hearts to allowing Him to bear the burden of our wrongdoings, He’s signed off on us that we’re His.

He’s written a huge JC over that “yes” on our hearts. Stating we’re His. No mistake.

He guarantees He’s walking our path of pain with us. Holding our tears close to His heart. Weeping with us in our sorrow. Never letting us go.

That kind of guarantee makes waiting for things to be better more than tolerable.

As long as I know I’m His, I can be willing to wait.