I never thought that a sudden and unexpected root canal in Guatemala would bring me closer to God and His Body, but once again He used the unexpected situations to show up in big ways.
What started as an annoying pain in my mouth, grew to the whole left side of my jaw being in constant pain in a matter of hours. I have a fairly high pain tolerance and I also hate the dentist, so at first, I didn’t mention it. I was hoping and praying the pain would just disappear. I’ve never witnessed healings, but I thought maybe that’s why I’m going through this pain, God is gonna reveal Himself in a way I’ve never experienced Him before.
As it got worse my teammates, my squadmates and leadership all started praying for me, but the pain didn’t decrease, if anything it was increasing. At first, it was bearable, but the longer it hurt, the more it hurt and the harder it was to function, eat and even participate in ministry. My leaders were able to quickly set up a dentist appointment. I had x-rays done which lead to the conclusion that I needed to see a specialist and get a root canal. Because of this, I was out of ministry for a couple days, recovering from the surgery. I’m not someone who likes sitting around doing nothing, and due to the medication I was on, it was hard for me to stay awake to do anything. I felt sort of mad. I didn’t understand why I had to go through all this pain and now was unable to do ministry let alone stay awake to read my bible.
Then as my teammates started coming in praying for me and caring for me, it started to hit me. I already felt close to my team and squad, but He was showing me His love through them. A huge way I hear from the Father is through the Body of Christ. I realized how important these people are to me, and how loving they are. The Lord proved His faithfulness once again by providing me with people to love and look after me, encourage me, pray for me and speak life into me when I felt like I was dying. He showed me again that even at my lowest moments, the hardest times, He’s still right there – He’s always there. I have nothing to fear because my Father will always take care of my every need. He will use the hard times for His glory to bring His children closer to Him. I was reminded that we are all important parts of The Body, with specific passions and talents.
I am so unbelievably thankful for the community of amazing men and women of God that the Lord has surrounded me with over these 9 months.
