death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Rom 8.38-39)
alive part. At our last debrief I spent
the entire time in bed with a fever of 103. That is not an ok temperature. After going back and forth on trying to find an address for the retreat
center it was finally decided, no, I finally decided I wasn’t leaving the
country, Ukraine, until I had been seen by a doctor. Believe me, this didn’t go over well but I
didn’t care much at that point. I know
my body and I know when things aren’t good. Praise God for a very sweet pediatrician whose wife we knew from
ministry. I called and talked to him
over the phone. From what I was telling
him he could narrow it down to three things and either way, any of the three,
without seeing me would be…I couldn’t fly. Again, this too didn’t go over to well, after all tickets were already
purchased. But again I wasn’t leaving
the country without having seen a doctor and knowing what was wrong and how to
treat it. Fortunately Jim the
pediatrician met me and one of my teammates at the metro stop near his house
and walked us to him place. There he did
a very thorough exam where the diagnosis was Strep Throat and Rheumatic
Fever. Now normally I would think a
doctor saying I had Rheumatic Fever was crazy, but not after this year. So the good doctor talked me through his
diagnosis and the treatment and here I am. I am on antibiotics and doing everything possible to keep the fever
down. I’ve stayed in bed and not gone out until today. Today was great. Today I took a walk with Stephanie, enjoyed
the fresh, cool air and praised God for a moment when I felt better.
I have no idea why I have spent a majority of this year
with something wrong with me, and honestly by this point, I’m not trying to
figure it out. I know I have learned so
much through it. I have learned to let
myself be weak and I have certainly learned that it IS ok to put myself and my health
first sometime. I have learned that my
desire to be a Nurse Practitioner has increased. I have learned that no one takes care of me
like my mama does. And I have learned
that God is truly able to do the most in me when I give up my own strength to
His.
So, today I’m in Krakow Poland…in love with the city, in
love with the country an d in a few days I’ll be off to Venice Italy. I have no idea what is to come there…so keep
praying, I know God is leading us exactly where He wants us!
