Well, these last 24 hours have been pretty much the best hours of the last 15 weeks!! Praise the Lord! I feel like I have my life back and I’m praying with all of my heart that it lasts!

If you can imagine with me, I was nearly in despair – physically, emotionally, even spiritually – waking up each day for what seemed like eternity (which was only 15 weeks) and feeling so sick, vomiting almost immediately after I ate 4-7 times a day, feeling nauseas when I wasn’t vomiting, being so weak, tired, and (you can ask David) not so lovable (which I am not proud of). I have lost weight, muscle, strength . . . it just wears me out just to take a shower anymore. My days consist of lying in bed and making runs for the bathroom. When we do have classes or anything else, it’s just really hard to go and sit. I have a new compassion for those who are terminally ill and have to live that way for the rest of their lives! My health is one thing I realized I take for granted, and thinking of chronically ill people just breaks my heart now. I have a lot more understanding and respect for them.

David has been a charm and truly passed the test of love through it all. He’s been patient, kind, loving, helping around the house, and bringing me food in bed the whole time (the reason for that being not only because I was so weak, but also because the smell of this apartment somehow makes me vomit almost instantaneously when I walk out of this bedroom. I’m not sure how we got our bedroom to smell like nothing, but Praise the Lord! That may seem funny to some, but it hasn’t been for him!) He’s such a sweetheart though and never complains, only says “Babe, I just wish you’d ask me to do more for you to make this better.” ONE IN A BAZILLION! I can’t believe he loves me! Praise the Lord!

Well yesterday morning I woke up at 4:30 and my kidney stones were back. All that pain and vomiting for the next 3 hours. I really was ready to meet Jesus!! I was crying out to the Father, I just couldn’t understand “why me?!! why is all of this happening to me?!” I failed to praise Him in this trial. I failed to remember the verses He gave me earlier this week from 2 Corinthians 1:

• vv 3-5 “Blessed be the G and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the Father of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliciton , so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by the Father  For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
• vv 8b-10 “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselve but on the Father who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliever us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliever us again.”

Those verses came at a time when I needed the comfort of the Lord. I was home alone, and sick of course, and just reached my point of exhaustion. I cried out to the Father and after reading these verses I realized, He is the the Father of all comfort! He never gives us more than we can bear! There is a reason for this trial! He has never failed me before and He won’t fail me now! So, on Him “we set our hope that he will deliver us again.” And He has! Those verses go on to say:
2 Cor. 1:11 “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” I am so thankful for the prayers of so many!! I have received phone calls, emails, letters, care packages and they all really did brighten my days! The body of Christ is a precious thing! The result of those prayers, is the Father’s answer in His perfect time of these past 24 wonderful hours! I attribrute it first and foremost to Him and the things that He allowed:

• A new prescription on Friday for nausea and vomiting. I haven’t felt better! Praise the Lord I kept down my meals since lunch yesterday!! This is a new phenomena and I don’t think my stomach knows what to do! haha.
• My parents came to visit and their company is always a blessing and encouragement for both David and I. They also surprised me with air purifiers! Who would have thought of this ingenius idea! When I came home from clinicals today I didn’t even gag upon entering our apartment! I couldn’t believe it. I even stayed downstairs and worked at the desk – something that has not happened in a loooong time.

So, this extremely long post is to praise the Lord for His faithfullness, even when I was faithless, and to thank you all for your consistent encouragement and prayers. We’ll keep you updated!