show and tell

FIRST OF ALL, I wanted to share that I have been working out since I got my feeding tube put in, and I was able to run 5K in the Salmon Days race on Sunday! I ran the whole way, and I'm super proud of myself for finishing!! :)

Secondly, I was invited to share my faith story with a fabulous group of 9th graders tonight at Sammamish Hills, the kids who will be confirmed this fall. It was such a treat to get to see all the kids again... and I loved getting to share my faith story too!

Here's what I came up with. This is the one that I decided not to go with.
You can pray for something a million times-and it may not seem like God is listening...or that He is not answering in the way that seems "right".

This last year has been like that for me. Sometimes it seemed like everything in the whole world was wrong. I didn't feel like myself anymore. I didn't have the energy to smile and laugh, or run or jump or play... My body was shrinking slowly, until I didn't recognize it as my own. My clothes were too baggy, my hair was falling out in clumps from malnutrition, and I'd already been in and out of the hospital multiple times. This had all been going on for months already, and I didn't know when it was going to be over. I kept crying out to God--wondering when He'd heal me, questioning myself--thinking that perhaps I'd lost my mind. I'd run into folks I knew, and it was such a relief to know that so many people were praying-but so difficult for me to not know what to say them when they asked, "how are you doing?". It was so discouraging to have to repeat, time after time, month after month-----for almost a year-----that nothing was different, that nothing had changed. That I was still vomiting 20 times a day. That I struggled daily with dehydration. That the doctors still couldn't find a treatment that worked. That in the later months, my heart was starting to show signs of damage, and my liver was having problems. And that despite all of the prayers, God still hadn't done anything.

Yet, God was doing something mighty in me. I sort of feel like a half-finished work of art. I imagine that is sort of what those 9th graders feel like too... That God is transforming us into this totally beautiful, super talented, amazingly brilliant, totally strong person--but I'm not quite there yet. I'm starting to feel fabulous, but sort of waiting on the edges for God to finish the project. He's starting to reveal His plan slowly to me, but He's cautiously giving me details, and asking me to wait on Him for the rest of the plan.

I trust that He will continue to work in me, and that all things will be done and completed in His perfect time. I pray that I will be able to be an example to others, that I a masterpiece crafted by the Creator's hand, displayed for all to see.

Amen.