Debbie the Valiant

Sometimes you just write so you won't forget the stones in the Jordan. And maybe this random blog should be just that, stones in the Jordan, making a pillar to look back on and remember what God has done.

Memory 1: Debbie.

Debbie went on a recent trip with me out of the country. She has an anxiety disorder and fibomylagia (a chronic pain disorder that might or might not be in your head but renders your body hypersensitive to pain and fatigue). She is usually the type of person who is a medical doctor’s worst nightmare.  But over the course of this last week I saw her exert a tremendous amount of Courage.  Now courage is not really about doing hard things, and it is not about be fearless. It is about seeing something and being afraid- but choosing to do it anyways.  She had more fear than all of us combined and she took amazing steps of faith each day. She cried and gripped my hand as the plane took off and landed (and knew she would since she has a fear of flying).  She worked harder than she had ever worked in her life and spoke more boldly than she had ever spoken before. And I saw her change before my eyes. She did not come back the same person. She was a valiant warrior and she was beautiful. When I think about Debbie, I have hope for difficult people...for those that the world would ordinarily give up on…for my patients who are paralyzed in a cycle of helplessness. I have hope for change for them. And then I can also look at my own life and have hope for change from the same Hands.