Detach yourself

The last month and a few days with groups has been a bit of a blur sometimes, I do admit, but the blur I had on Thursday was much more concern inducing. After the group spent the morning at the hospital, we were getting ready for the milk project, playing with the kids outside. It was a good turnout for a day of the week that normally does not find them meeting. This was a special occasion however...with cereal and doughnuts on the menu among all the activities the group had planned (they were busy working and playing with the kids from just after 1:00 through 4:00)

 

I was roughhousing a bit with some of the kids while things were getting started, had picked two up, was running...and then fell. I thought we were all alright, and the kids were...but then I started seeing jagged lines running through my left eye...and there were fans seemingly moving everywhere I looked. (At this moment, I felt my inner monologue ask “When are you going to stop making foolish decisions?” and instantly answered myself with “Yeah, probably not anytime soon.”)

This was...a bit disconcerting. I went over to see how Valerie was doing, and ask for an eye exam. My vision was decreased, but there was no pain...just all the interesting color shows going on wherever I looked. She dilated me, and found a patch of blood on my retina...but was not sure if it was a retinal hemorrhage or just normal. Hours later everything returned to “normal”...but there was quite a bit of prayer there for sure as we discussed the situation.  I did make sure to get a picture or two of Valerie in action...to remember how pleasant an experience the BIO exam was...pleasant in the sense that she was able to see what she was able to see, that through a normal exam would not have been visible.   

 

 

Valerie’s foot problems went South this week, to the point she visited another doctor, got a steroid shot, and then was on crutches. She will need an MRI to see how much damage there is on the tendon being affected, and what will need to be done to fix it long term. The ideal treatment right now is supposedly a boot or crutches and rest. That did not stop her from seeing 17 patients yesterday though of course.

There is that fine line between detaching yourself and pushing forward....and taking care of the body God has given you to push forward in the long run. I’ll admit...we do not respect that line much, and that is another sometimes foolish decision. Join us in prayer for God to guide us, and heal/protect us for continued service in His name...because much beyond these two things I know that only by His grace and prayers on our behalf have we been able to get this far.