Wow. Are you tired yet? I am. This has been a multiple month process so props to anyone who has made it this far in such a short amount of time.
Leaving debrief I was ready for what was next. At least I thought I was. Until I found out what was next for me was food poisoning on travel day from Thailand to Cambodia. Let me tell you the story.
We started our travel with an 11 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, 6pm- 5am. It hit me at 3am during that bus ride. I “woke up” and immediately felt terribly nauseous. I thought it was just because I hadn’t eaten much and God told me I should eat something so I ate some Pringles. Bad idea…not that God’s idea was bad. It just didn’t go over well.
Next I thought I heard him telling me to eat the chocolate banana muffin I had. I told him there was no way I could. I felt so nauseous. We went back and forth. Then it came. I went to the bathroom and threw up. I came back and decided to eat the muffin to see if it helped. I had just told God the day before that I would follow him no matter what, so I did not want to take a chance with not obeying him in this small instance, especially if it was going to help. I ate the muffin…again, that did not go over well. I felt so sick.
I also felt like I was being attacked spiritually because I had some pretty deep spiritual conversations with God on the bus earlier that night. So I asked my squadmate Rob to pray over me. He did and about 2 minutes later I went back to the bathroom and threw up again. Yikes..
We arrived in Bangkok at 5am. We got off the bus and grabbed our big packs. I got out of the way of the bus and onto the sidewalk just in time to throw up again…I had no idea what was going on but I knew I had to keep going. We still had a long way to go to get to our host in Cambodia.
Next we had a 4 hour van ride to the border. I threw up once during that ride and then almost as soon as we got to the border and out of the van.
By this time I was not just throwing up and nauseous, I had excruciating pain in my stomach. My sweet friend Nicole grabbed my day pack and my other sweet friend Frieda carried my snack bag. I just had to worry about getting myself from point to point.
We successfully exited Thailand and started walking to the Cambodian border to get visas and enter. On that walk I finally broke down. I was in so much pain and I was not sure I could make it much farther. Frieda held me as I cried and then walked me inside and sat me down. She filled out all my paper work for my visa and then walked me to the next point. I told her I just wanted to make it through the border and then I needed a hospital.
We made it through to Cambodia and Nicole and I went to a clinic as quick as possible. The rest of my squad continued on to their destination 4 or 6 hours away, depending on where they were going.
I threw up again when we got to the clinic. They started me on an IV and gave me injections for the pain. They also gave me fever medicine. I felt awful the rest of that day. After 7 hours of no vomiting the doctor said I could drink some water. He came back a little later and said I could try eating. He sent Nicole to get some rice. I also took a couple gulps of sprite and it all came back up. I threw up 2 more times. I didn’t eat or drink anything else that night.
The next morning I woke up feeling so much better. I was exhausted and weak and achy and sore and lightheaded, but I didn’t have any more pain, nausea, vomiting, or fever. I rested that morning and we left for our host around noon. I went through 4 IVs, 2 rounds of injections for pain, and 2 doses of fever medicine while there. I spent the next few days recovering.
As awful as all of that was, I truly believe that was the physical act of God scooping out my insides and crucifying them. It was awful and miserable and I would never want to do that again. But ever since then I have had more of an intimacy with Him than ever before. Crazy? For sure. Impossible? Not a chance when it has to do with God.
And another thing, He took such good care of me through it all. Whether it was my squadmates taking care of me, my mom and so many people back home praying, the amazing company that we booked for travel, or just His nearness through it all. He was walking side by side with me the whole time.
You thought you were tired the beginning of this last part. Now you’re exhausted and ready for a nap.
But if you get anything from this series, get this. A lot of times in our lives, we just need to Be Still and Let God.
Because he can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20
