Psalm 9:1-2

"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad & exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High."

Hello all!  Its's Jen again!  I am able to finally tell of His wondrous deeds.  Today I have been able to sit up in bed & actually get out of bed by myself, if only momentarily.   Praise the LORD!  I am off oxygen & a few other contraptions/wires as well!  Its much easier to try & move without all those cords.  So I first praise Him for that!  Secondly, I praise Him that I am off the morphine completely!  It took all day, but tonight i am only on 650 Tylenol (the pain is higher, but better than dizzy, dopey & low bp!).  Praise Him for some sleep last night too!  Fourth praise:  I got to have clear liquids today!  A sip of apple juice has never tasted so good!  Ice chips have been all I was allowed since surgery...and I only had clear liquids all day Monday.  So we are on a good path back to real food!  A slow path, but a slow path that is covered in His glory!!!

  

Now to update you on everything as best I can.  My surgeon was wonderful, he still is.  God send!  He explained that while he initially started laproscopicly, the way my body is & the way the tumor was did not allow him to continue laproscopicly - he had to turn it into a "classic" incision. (doctor speak for big - lol!)  So the pain greater & recovery longer, but he got everything he needed to!!!  Did you know your body will function completely normal with only half of your large intestine?!?  God is so neat.  And he took out my appendix as well, simply bc I "don't need it" & "why bother having appendicitis down the road when I can take it while I'm in there?" Another praise as far as I'm concerned.  And praise God that he basically played with all my other organs & they all look good!  Its kinda weird to think about, but oh well!  Glad they look good!

As for the pain issue that was posted... there was a slight complication post-op.  I've always had blood pressure on the lower side.  At 9 months pregnant my "high" BP was only 120/80. Normally it's only 110/70 at its highest, 100/60 lowest.   My BP coming out of surgery dipped to 80/50ish.  They couldn't give me enough of the pain meds I needed bc of the super low BP.  So I was in recovery a while & have very foggy, painful memories of it.  You know the dream where you scream & can't be heard?  I was as close to that as I think you can be...I'm being graphically honest here.  It was scary.  My family says once in my room, I was still REALLY out of it & in pain.    Its all very very fuzzy...but i am just glad to make it through that 1st night & am much better now.  My morning exercise is to sit up & put my make up on.  Never thought that would be my only task before needing a nap... I've made it up 6 times today & actually sat in a chair!  Tomorrow I tackle walking outside my room.  Yup.  That's how basic things are right now & how blessed I feel to even be in a chair.

So often we take for granted the simple gifts God gives us everyday. They aren't miracles by any means - nothing supernatural about walking down the stairs or fixing (and eating!) a bowl of cereal.  But it is a gift.  A very precious gift of life Yahweh gives us each day.  He gives us the simple abilities to live.  And we don't, or can't really, appreciate those little things until each little thing becomes a mountain to overcome & eventually a victory. He teaches us how to rely on Him for EVERYTHING in circumstances like this.  Who asks his Creator for the strength to get out of bed & walk 3 feet to the bathroom, or collapses back in bed, praising Him that He got you there AND BACK?!?  God is good.  And He is faithful. He cares about us so much that He listens to those bedside prayers.  

Growing up, I've seen Philippians 4:13 used every which way & sideways too.  It has almost become a fill in the blank verse for whenever someone needs a new car, job or has a huge test.  I see it differently.  "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." says to me that I can sit up in bed bc HE gives me strength.  I can walk across the room bc HE gives me strength to do it.  I can sit in this chair for an hour bc HE gives me the strength.  And His strength is all I need.  Every day.  Every hour.  Every minute.  And now I can more fully understand the previous verse, which so many people either forget, or choose, to leave out: Philippians 4:12 "I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any and EVERY circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty & hunger, abundance & need."  And that secret is the strength of Christ 

So my heart song today?  An interesting one...bc I have been literally been "torn up" & "put together".  Amen.

"Your Love" by Shane & Shane  (from "The One You Need")

I'm overcoming fear
With Your perfect love, Your perfect love
You're opening my ears to hear
The sound of a lover's voice
You're calling out, You're calling out
Let me see Your face, Your loving face

Your love tears me up
And when its done
Puts me together
Oooo

I'm overcoming fear
With Your perfect love, Your perfect love
You're opening my ears to hear
The sound of a lover's voice
You're calling out, You're calling out
Let me see Your face, Your loving face

Your love tears me up
And when its done
Puts me together
Your love calls me out
Of my death and my failure
Love

Your love

YOUR love