In Spanish, the word Mono means Monkey. But thankfully I did not get attacked by a monkey. Actually, there are no monkeys in the desert. Only in the jungle which was last month. This month I have a new kind of attack. Un enfermedad (a sickness). And let me tell you it is no fun.
Mononucleosis is what I have. And sadly this is not my first time. I first had mono my senior year of high school. It was the worst then. I missed a week of school. I was never so sick or in so much pain in my life. It was a long terrible week. And what the doctor told me was that once Mono is in your blood, you have it always. That is not news I wanted to hear. Usually Mono is dormant, but at times it can become alive and cause symptoms. Right now is one of those times.
At first I thought I only had a headache. That would not go away. And next thing I knew my throat hurt. I am now congested and my lower back hurts. So I concluded that I am having what I call, a ‘flair up of mono’. There is really no medicine to help me, but just to wait for the sickness to leave, or I guess become dormant again. Who knows how long that can take?
It was hard for me to slow down in ministry. But I know I won’t get any better until I relax and rest more. Only rest and sleep will help my body to recover. I think it is God telling me to slow down some this month. Not to be stressed out. To know that it is okay to rest some. To know and understand the limits of my body. I need to make it through 9 more months, and not completely wear myself out on month 2. And that is what I am learning through this time of mono.
Tuesday I missed work to stay in bed and watched a movie. (Totally felt like I was at home which was nice). Wednesday morning I missed work in order to sleep more and in the afternoon there was no work so I stayed in bed watching another movie. Thursday morning I was able to work a little before I was tired and then in the afternoon I stayed back from going to the daycare. It is hard to stay in bed while everyone else is working, but I know I will not be of any help to them until I am fully healthy. And I won’t be healthy again until I slow down and give my body time to recover.
Where I have been spending most of my time.
Please pray for my body right now. That the mono would clear up soon! And that I will be able to give my 100% to the work the Lord has called me for.
