Let Me Brag on my King, 
This morning bright and early, along with the stresses of a new school semester, work and meetings, I had the "privilege" to go to an appointment to one of the most anxiety filled doctors offices in American culture, The Dentist.
Now don't misunderstand, I LOVE my Dentist and her staff, It's just the unlikely circumstances that call me in to come and catch up with all of them that seems to stress me out . Which after all is understandable, I'm an out going, talkative personality so when you ask me a question and I try to respond, it's slightly uncomfortable to tell you about my life with sharp, pointy, metal objects in my mouth riding across my gum line.
I rush inside, 5 minutes late, sign in and within seconds I'm called back by an unfamiliar voice of a new dental hygienist. "Oh Great," I thought, Now not only I have to risk the life of my gums to talk to you, I also have to start from scratch and tell you supposedly interesting things about myself while your at least knuckle deep inside my mouth.
She immediately says hello, and has quite the cheerful personality, she then asks me really random and slightly personal questions about medications I'm taking and medical history that is completely irrelevant to my dental care. Then proceeds to put a 12 lb adult sized bib over me to start working on x-rays and such.
As conversation evolves she tells me about her children and asks the basic questions about my life and some how we got on the topic of travel and mission trips and in a moment of opportunity I began to tell her about the Race and my upcoming adventure.
Conversation sparked as she began to tell me about her daughter and how she taught English in a tiny village in Namibia for a year. She told me so many interesting stories about her experience but the things that stuck out most to me were her personal experiences and trials as a mother.
Her daughter was 22 years old, the only westerner in the village, and had only a slightly dependable cell phone to have any communication with the outside world. "She was basically Isolated.", she told me. "The only things in the village were a school, a bar, and a church." In order to even get food her daughter would have to walk to a tree in the center of the village, sit, and wait until someone would drive in or out of the village and then they could discuss the prices for a ride into town. She told me about her daughters living conditions and mental conditions as well as her take on it as a parent still here in the states.
Here's the crazy part, I've been recently praying for my own mother and her adjustment to me being gone, with slim communication and her anxieties for me as I am in unfamiliar areas of the world. My mother has her dental appointment two days from now and my hygienist assured me that during her cleaning a good pep talk would be in order. She went on to tell me that she would personally be there to support my mother in my absence as well as a sponsor in prayer and resources.
As I walked out the front door with my new tooth brush I couldn't help but be completely overjoyed. I serve a God that shows up, answers my prayers, and provides for my needs even in the midst of a bi-annual dreaded flossing!
"Rejoice in the Lord Always. I will say it Again, Rejoice! (even at the dentist!) Philippians 4:4
I pray we will be empowered to praise him at all times, and remember to floss it out!
Braggin on my King,
-C
