Just
a year ago, I “was invited” by a physical therapist to become part of the
Cane Carriers Club even though I had no desire to join. However, with some reluctance, I bought a
cane and did find it helpful with walking because of balance and stiffness
issues. I have found strangers can be
quite nice in holding doors open. One
lady even offered to accompany me up a stairwell recently even though I am very
capable of getting up stairs as long as a railing or wall is close.
Now,
after a doctor’s suggestion to get checked out at the Mayo Clinic almost a year ago, I am on a trip that I didn’t
really want to take. I have been a
perplexing composite of symptoms for many years. At the beginning I was put into the
fibromyalgia pain bucket. In 1991, very
few people had even heard of the malady, including me. A syndrome of symptoms exists, many of which I
have, but more than one rheumatologist has told me that I am not a good
fit for fibromyalgia only. Fast forward to 2014 with symptoms, now
worse or even new, have put me at present with a diagnosis which again, no one has
heard of: Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS).
Only 600 people in the United States are said to have this difficulty—or
maybe 601.
My
husband called the Mayo Clinic last summer when I became very sick with flu-like
symptoms, including some significant pain, similar to what began the health
difficulties in 1990. And now on this
November day, we have journeyed to Rochester, Minnesota, seeking a good medical
going over, especially for finding pain management better than strong pain
pills and virtually no assistance from a pain management doctor. The trip I
didn’t want to take—ever.
Yes,
there have been a lot of doctors, but thankfully, there have also been many
prayers and many “spoken words” from that still small voice, a voice I have
found to be comforting, encouraging and consistent. The powerful God and the amazing miracle
working ministry of Jesus seem to be diminished in today’s presentation of
Christianity. Where is the earnest
seeking of God? Where is the effort and
time commitment to study and prayer? My
physical limitations have provided more of an opportunity to use the “down time”
necessary for me every day to become more tenacious and passionate about
seeking Jesus, the One who has promised us so many things.
Earlier this morning, my husband and I spent a little time as we often do reading a devotion
book and praying. One of my very
favorite psalms was in a reading, emphasizing two key lines of Psalm 46. “The Lord is my refuge, a present help in
trouble” (46:1). Of course, it is encouraging
to know God is a present help. However,
it is verse 10 that God brings me back to over and over through the years of
many kinds of situations. “Be still
(cease striving) and know that I am God.”
God wants to be exalted in our lives and that characteristic follows
verse ten as a promise: “I will be exalted . . . “
May
it be so, oh Lord, may it be so.
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