Six Weeks

Nobody appreciates wellness until they've walked an ill mile.

My six week post-op appointment was this afternoon. I sighed with the thought of another exam. You would think that after having three babies, two major surgeries and kidney stones three different times, that this would be a piece of cake.

It was an appointment to remember. Aside from checking things over, my doctor sent me away with a clean bill of health. There will be no more hormone injections for the time being, surgeries are kept at bay and I won't have to see my doctor until next year. Wow! It felt like I was given a get out of jail free card.

As I drove away from the medical building and past the hospital, I felt so grateful to God for carrying me through yet another storm. I peeked at the window of my third floor hospital room, and wondered who resided. Was it a child? A grown-up? Were they ill or just out of surgery? Can they feel God's presence? He IS there.

Pulling out of the driveway, I spotted a man smoking a cigarette outside of the hospital's entrance. He was dressed in one of those wonderful gowns. An IV stood by. Our eyes met, and in that moment I realized exactly what I had been delivered from.

I will never be able to say it enough. Health is a gift. Every single breath, every bite of food that digests, every rested night - it is all a precious gift. I prayed for that man as I drove away into freedom this afternoon, wondering what ailed his broken body.

I couldn't help but wonder what treasure awaited that man, and every patient in that hospital. It takes a trained eye to see the sparkle.

Lord, help them find you.