Pain

I've been thinking about pain a lot lately. Probably because I have been in it for so long now.

Several months ago I did something to pinch a nerve in my back. The pain is inside my left shoulder blade. Originally, it hurt the most when I was either driving my car, or sitting at my desk working (at work or at home). Can I just say? As a working mom, those were two EXTREMELY difficult times to deal with pain. Working at my desk and driving in my car are UNAVOIDABLE, and also completely necessary. Whatever the nerve is that is pinched, it also has caused a facial tick. If I raise my eyebrows, there is what feels like a fish hook in my bottom lip that causes it to quiver. How the two are related is completely beyond me, but they are.

For several months, I tried my best to work through the pain. I would shift on to one hip, sit up on one leg. In the car I would lean back like a low rider just to remove the hot stabbing pain in my back. Ideally if I could just have avoided the positions I had to be in to drive and work maybe it would have gotten better, but it wasn't an option. So for several months I suffered through.

Pain- a huge hot knife like feeling in my back and painful tingling down through my arm. I would take 15 Advil a day to suffer through. When I started getting bloody noses, I decided I better bite the bullet and go see the chiropractor so he could possibly help.

Come to find out the nerve in my back was pinched between a displaced rib and a displaced vertebrae. My doctor was a little shocked about how out of whack things were. So he aligned things back and I have since been to see him nearly a dozen times getting "adjusted."

The fact is, in many ways, things have only gotten worse. This nerve that was pinched has now been released, but the compression of it actually limited it's ability to feel the discomfort. Now this damaged nerve has to heal. And instead of the relief of circulation being cut off much of the time, blood is flowing fully to it, and it hurts all the time.

Sitting and driving still hurt. The knife is a little smaller, and the numbness has subsided considerably, but the pain is still just as intense. But now I can no longer find relief by standing up and moving around. The respite that laying down used to bring doesn't exist anymore, now I wake up and I ache constantly. The hurt is constant.

It's sort of interesting to me how when you remove the source of the pain, it didn't actually bring relief to it. I thought once the doctor adjusted me, things would get instantly better, but it just hasn't turned out to be the case.

I'm finding it not to be just the case in the situation of my back either. Heart pain can be very much the same way. Even when you remove, or move away from the source of it, the pain can linger. Sometimes it can even intensify.

I don't believe that time has the ability to heal wounds, but I do believe that sometimes time must pass for healing to take place. So I guess in both my body and my heart, though adjustments have been made, and sources of pain removed, it's a matter of time before the hurt no longer besets me.

For my body I'll take an Advil and put my salon pas pad in place. For my heart, I will say a prayer and rest in the knowledge that God is with me and for me, and will see me through.

100 Verse Challenge - Week 1

Today is the day! We have finally arrived at the kickoff! We are going to spend the next year memorizing 100 verses in the Bible! Based on Robert J. Morgan's book "100 Verses Everybody Should Know by Heart." If you haven't joined the challenge, it's not too late. How can you go wrong? There is no failure in this endeavor, if you only learn 10% of the verses on the list, a "fail" on any test in the world, you will have a "win" because you will have learned 10 of God's scriptures and hidden them in your heart! Every verse you write on your heart is a treasure for your life! So it's worth the effort.

You can still head over to the event on Facebook and RSVP (click) to join, or you can just follow along here on the blog. Every Sunday evening (Lord, willing) at about 6 pm Pacific Time, I will post the scriptures we are working on for the coming week (between 1 and 3 verses, keeping corresponding verses together). I highly recommend the book, but you don't have to have it to participate. So what do you have to lose? Jump in!

The two verses for week one are the first two of what Mr. Morgan refers to as "The Fantastic Four." They are about "Beginnings," and truth be told, I suspect many of our participants will be relieved to find them very familiar, and possibly already written on your heart. If so, use them as a source of scripture meditation this week. Think upon the word of God.

Some of Mr. Morgans suggestions are to create a sing-song way of saying them, and to include the chapter and verse in your recitation. And say them out loud, A LOT! And write them down, for you visual learners, post it notes, EVERYWHERE!

My suggestion remains, involve others, learn them with your spouse, or your children, or both. Make it a competition, keep yourself accountable with a friend. Make it a goal, reward yourself when you learn every ten or so, make it fun, but as the saying goes, "JUST DO IT!" It will be AWESOME! So you've been waiting, are you ready? Here are your first two verses for week one:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Genesis 1:1

Mr. Morgan refers to this verse as the "bedrock of the Bible" and says it "encompasses the totality of Truth." This verse gives us "roots" - rooted in "the glory of God whose image we bear." And it gives us "routes" Morgan says, "If we are created in God's image, we have eternal potential."

Our second verse for week 1 is:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - John 1:1

This verse Morgan tells us "touches" on the "mysteries at the heart of Christianity, the Trinity and the person of Jesus Christ." He goes on to say, "John 1:1 speaks of our Christ's preexistence, In the beginning was the Word; it speaks of His coexistence: And the Word was with God; and it speaks of His divine existence: And the Word was God. We cannot fully grasp these mysteries, but this verse surely gives us a glimpse into them.

I highly recommend the book, "100 Verses Everybody Should Know by Heart," and you can purchase them for yourself from Robert J. Morgan's website (click to go) and you can also find several free downloads to help you on this journey at the bottom of the page. It is also available at Amazon.com. But whether you buy the book or not, you can participate for sure! So come on, join us on this journey and grow in your own Walk of Faith....

On your mark, get set, GO! Memorize!!!!