Adversity makes us stronger

I read somewhere that we must partake of the bitter with the sweet. There's a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and they also bless. When you look at life that way, it's a little easier to accept trials as they come.

Today I spent the first few hours of the morning in the hospital having some tests done. Apparently, I have polyps growing in my stomach. The doctor wanted to do an EGD, a test where they take a lighted hose with a camera and a cutting tool on the end of it and run it through your mouth down into your upper intestines. I've had it done once before when doctors were looking at a hiatal hernia in my belly so I knew what to expect. It's weird to be conscious one minute and totally out the next. When the anesthesiologist told me they were going to give me Propofol, I immediately thought of Michael Jackson for some reason. No sooner than I'd begun that thought, the room went dark. The next thing I knew, a nurse was fiddling around with some paper in my room and I was wondering how long I'd been there. Scary.

My husband came in a few minutes later and then the doctor. Dr. R explained that I had some erosion in my esophagus lining, a large hiatal hernia, about 20 or more polyps in my stomach and a few more things I can't remember. He told me he'd biopsied all of the suspicious areas and I'd get the results in a week to ten days. I'm not worried at all, which is really strange. I have a wonderful peace about everything and I know that's the result of many prayers going up for me.

When it was time to leave, a beautiful black nurse came to wheel me out. She had the sweetest smile and I told her so. I could tell by her sweet spirit that she was a believer and I told her I could see Jesus sticking out all over her. She laughed and thanked me. She said she needed to hear that and said she was indeed a believer. I told her how blessed we are to have a mighty Savior and she agreed. It was so nice to share a little of our faith with each other. God always plants special people in my path and as I listen to the Holy Spirit's prompting, I know which ones to share a word of encouragement with and when.

We left the hospital and my hubby asked if I was hungry. I hadn't been able to eat anything before the tests and although I wasn't really hungry, I knew he was so I said, "Sure." We ran by a fast food restaurant and grabbed a couple of biscuits and headed on home.

I'm feeling remarkably well today and I have a lot to accomplish including reading some of my new book, "Never Fear Cancer Again." Although cancer is always in the back of my mind, I'm trying not to let it come to the forefront again. I'm continuing to do everything I can to stay healthy and strong. So far, so good! If adversity truly makes us stronger, then I must be a power lifter.  I've certainly had my share of trials and tribulations, in fact, enough to last a lifetime but I'm sure God doesn't have the same view I do. I know He has used my trials to teach me some very valuable lessons over the years and I wouldn't take a million dollars for any of those lessons. I am thankful for tough lessons but I'd rather have easy ones. Don't we all feel that way?

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