Though I am better these days at keeping calm when bees buzz around me, I still grossly overreact whenever I walk into a spider web.
This overreaction parallels the problems I have with my own immune system. The other day when I went to the dentist for a cleaning, bacteria was introduced into my blood stream. This happens for anyone getting their teeth cleaned. And most of the time, nothing comes of it.
But my immune system reacts to this invasion as if it had suddenly been bombarded by something horrible, like scarlet fever or the flu and it responds accordingly.
This is why I'm on an immunosuppressant, to keep my immune system calm, to keep it from flailing about as if the end of the world was upon us.
For whatever reason, the medicine failed me this past week and I've been plagued by flu-like symptoms that have left me weak, feverish and miserable.
This morning at church, I could feel another fever coming on. My legs once again turned to jelly. It used to be that this sort of thing made me panic especially if it happened when I was away from home.
But this morning, for the first time, I felt safe at church, as safe as if I was home. I still had to leave early, mostly because I was running out of the energy I needed to drive home, but I wasn't afraid of being sick and at church.
All these days, these 288 days of coming to Hope, have caused a shift within me, have caused a peace to fall over me whenever I am at Hope no matter how I feel physically that day.
This morning, I was treated to two new ducks, sporting a different coloring that I had seen before. The beauty of God's creation continues all around me.
This overreaction parallels the problems I have with my own immune system. The other day when I went to the dentist for a cleaning, bacteria was introduced into my blood stream. This happens for anyone getting their teeth cleaned. And most of the time, nothing comes of it.
But my immune system reacts to this invasion as if it had suddenly been bombarded by something horrible, like scarlet fever or the flu and it responds accordingly.
This is why I'm on an immunosuppressant, to keep my immune system calm, to keep it from flailing about as if the end of the world was upon us.
For whatever reason, the medicine failed me this past week and I've been plagued by flu-like symptoms that have left me weak, feverish and miserable.
This morning at church, I could feel another fever coming on. My legs once again turned to jelly. It used to be that this sort of thing made me panic especially if it happened when I was away from home.
But this morning, for the first time, I felt safe at church, as safe as if I was home. I still had to leave early, mostly because I was running out of the energy I needed to drive home, but I wasn't afraid of being sick and at church.
All these days, these 288 days of coming to Hope, have caused a shift within me, have caused a peace to fall over me whenever I am at Hope no matter how I feel physically that day.
This morning, I was treated to two new ducks, sporting a different coloring that I had seen before. The beauty of God's creation continues all around me.
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