No More Pain and The Greatest Gain

No More Pain and The Greatest Gain 

Every day, for the past 80 days I have had to get a blood thinner shot in my stomach. Now, I know what you're thinking, "you broke 13 bones in a head on collision, why should you care about a measly shot?!" Well, I care because it hurts... Every day, when it comes time for the shot, I have to have one person in my family hold my hand and another tell me a story.  I need my hands to be held so that I don't press or rub the spot that hurts because just touching it makes it bruise. The storytelling is to keep me still and to keep my mind off of the added pain. 

So with that being said, one day while I was at Baylor Rehab Hospital, instead of asking my family for the story, I asked my nurse to tell me a story while my mom gave me the shot. Her story went something like this... "I grew up in Africa. I was very blessed because I didn't have as far of a walk to school as the other kids did, and I wasn't left on the streets like many other children were. In Africa, there are many children wandering the streets at night and you can walk past in the morning and see the ones that have died. I am saving up to go back and build an orphanage so that these children have a home. Most people come here to America and forget where they've come from. I don't ever want to forget." Needless to say, I was blown away! I didn't feel the pain of the shot anymore. 

This story helped me to see that my goal should be the same as hers. I don't ever want to forget where I've come from and where Jesus has carried me from the beginning of my accident until today. 

One night at Baylor, I was in a lot of pain. I had my sister, Mackenna, show me some videos she had recorded of me from when I was in the SICU at Parkland. This was really hard to watch at first, to the point that I had to stop watching and take a break before deciding to watch anymore. To see myself in so much pain, drinking water from a sponge, getting food from a tube, and crying about the pain, while reciting Psalm 23 over and over with loud sobs in between was very difficult. 

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because I know He is with me, He is. But, it’s not that to die wouldn’t be a gain, because I would get to be with Jesus. But, the fact of my survival would be a gain because it would tell what Jesus can do. It’s however you want to see it” 

These two events, my nurse telling me her story and my sister showing me the videos, taught me to always remember what Jesus has done for me. God has carried me through some crazy life events, yet He is never going to leave me. He has brought me through the mountains and the valleys. My trust should not waver despite the valley that I'm walking through. He has been there all along. He has been good, and will always be good, no matter the circumstances.  

So… What reminds you of God’s faithfulness? Try to remember to look back and see the ways God has always been there for you. Marvel at His greatness. Know that where you have been and where you are is not where you are going. If you are a believer, you have a hope. This hope is that one day you will be with the risen Son of God, Jesus, with no more pain, and the greatest gain…Eternity with our Savior.