Two days before Denise was born, my doctor had me do a 24 hour urine sample as a precautionary test. He had me do all kinds of precautionary tests, so I didn't really think too much about it, except that it was a pretty big pain to do! Anyway, the day before I went into labor I dropped that off at the doctor's office.
Jeremy and I celebrated our 9th anniversary three days after Denise was born. I woke up the morning after that feeling terrible. I mean, I really felt bad. It's hard to describe the pain. It was very intense, and I told Jeremy I felt like I was dying. It hurt so much. I hurt from my neck down to my lower pelvic area, and even the movement of breathing hurt. It was a Saturday, so I told Jeremy I needed go to the emergency room at the hospital where Denise was born. Something was really wrong, I could tell.
So, we drove to the hospital, and I explained the pain to the nurse in the emergency room. They ran some tests and found that I had a bladder, bowel infection and kidney infection. That explained all the pain. The doctor said maybe I had picked up the infection while I was in the hospital having Denise. They gave me several antibiotics and sent me home. Because of the amount of pain that I was in, I thought they might admit me, but I was thankful that they didn't.
Now, Jeremy had taken THREE weeks off work, so we were really looking forward to having all that time together with our new little baby girl and the other two kids. Unfortunately, I was in so much pain I just went home and pretty much stayed in bed. I couldn't keep anything down. Everything that I tried to eat just went straight through me. It was crazy. I usually drink a lot of water, but I couldn't even drink that because when I did it had a terrible metal taste. So, I drank Crystal Light lemonade to try to cover up that metal taste. And, I basically didn't eat anything, because when I did the pain became more intense, and it didn't stay down anyway.
We set a CD player up in our room, and we put in a healing songs CD that we had. I listened to that CD constantly. It was just a few songs, all scriptures set to music. I kept taking the antibiotics, but I wasn't getting any better. It was crazy. Jeremy's whole three weeks off of work went like that. He took care of Denise all on his own, because I could hardly even get out of bed. I couldn't eat, and I just laid in bed listening to those healing songs over and over again. The pain was so intense throughout my entire stomach area that I could hardly move, but Jeremy and I just kept reminding each other that I would get better soon. The infections would heal and leave.
I also kept reading my Bible, especially Psalm 103. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all of His benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Those words blessed me so much at that time. I clung to those words. I read them and spoke them and read them and spoke them some more. I thought about what that scripture was saying to me. I thought about how God heals all my diseases. And, I really liked the part about Him satisfying my desires with good things. My strongest desire at this point was to feel better so that I could take care of my three children, especially my new sweet baby girl. I would tell the Lord my desire, and thank Him for giving it to me. I would thank Him that He was renewing my youth like the eagle's.
I didn't really understand that part. My Uncle Larry, my dad's brother, is a Baptist minister, and he has always liked eagles for as long as I can remember. I wondered if this scripture had anything to do with that. I decided to email him and ask him what he thought that last part meant about "your youth being renewed like the eagle's." His response blessed me so much. He explained that eagles were one of the only animals that can lose their wings and grow back new ones, just as if the eagle was a newborn eagle. I wish I still had the email, because I can't remember all that he wrote, but it was something like that. I hung onto that as well. Isn't that amazing that the Lord would choose the eagle to use in that passage? It encouraged me that God would renew my youth just like that, making me just like new, even better than I had been before I got pregnant with Denise.
We, of course, were so thankful to have Denise, but in the natural it didn't look like my body was holding up very well after the birth. We hadn't even thought about that. I guess that's a great benefit to praying in tongues. You can pray out things that you wouldn't think to ever pray. Guess maybe we should have prayed in tongues more when I was pregnant. :) Anyway, Jeremy's three weeks off work were quickly coming to an end, and I really wasn't any better at all. I still couldn't keep any food down, and I was still in a lot of pain.
But, I did have a lot of Word in me from reading and meditating on that scripture so much. And, I had listened to those healing songs so many times. Constantly, really. So, on the Monday morning that Jeremy left to go back to work, I was in a lot of pain. It hurt to even hold Denise close to my stomach to feed her her bottle. It hurt so much that it brought tears to my eyes. But, what is a mommy going to do? What I wanted to do was call Jeremy and tell him how much pain I was in and that he better come right on back home from work. But, I knew at that moment that if I did that, I would have the pain. I knew it in my heart. I had a decision to make. I could call Jeremy and tell him how awful I felt or I could believe the Bible and get better.
So, I stood up and grabbed my Bible in my hand and held it up. I said, out loud, "This Bible says that I am healed, and so I am!" I put it firmly back down on the coffee table, grabbed Denise's bottle, picked her up, and started feeding her that bottle. I thanked God that He was renewing my strength like the eagle's. I thanked Him that He was giving me my heart's desire, and that my heart's desire was to be able to take care of this precious baby that He had given me.
The pain did not leave instantly. It was still there while I was feeding Denise her bottle. I got up and just went about my day as if I felt perfectly fine, taking care of Denise and things around the house that needed to be done. Several hours later I was out in the kitchen, and I stopped and just stood there. I realized that every bit of the pain was gone! I didn't feel any pain at all, and I hadn't for a while, and I hadn't even noticed! I cannot tell you when it left. It seems odd that I wouldn't know, but it was all gone. When Jeremy got home from work, I had dinner ready and I sat at the table and ate it just like I normally would have before I had gotten so sick. It stayed down. From that day on, I was completely fine. It was nothing short of miraculous! I was so thankful that I could take care of my three kids now. Jeremy was thankful too! :)
And, that's the end of part 1! Part 2 of this story will be out soon! :) Love you all! Thanks for reading!
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