"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground
outside your Father's care.
And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
So don't be afraid; you are worth more
than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:29-31
"His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."
The bell choir at church played this song this morning, and then I just read a bit in a Corrie ten Boom book that included the lyrics. Truth and blessed reminder.
I haven't updated here in months. There has really been very little to share, and yet so many of you let me know that you continue to faithfully pray for me. It is humbling to know this.
My symptoms have remained basically the same.......cyclic nausea, inconsistent food reactions, back pain somehow related to gut issues, and just feeling tired and lousy alternating with some good stretches. I've come to calling the difficult stretches "slumps." Since I last wrote, I've seen a new Primary Care Physician locally and gone through several tests which revealed nothing new other than an ovarian cyst that is not problematic. And then I've seen Dr. Matt and gone through another battery of tests at his suggestion. He thinks that it is possible that my gut issues are rooted in neurological causes rather than just imbalances in gut flora. Among the jobs our neurological systems do is the segment that are involuntary, such as heartbeat and digestive processes. When the neurological system gets messed up through viruses or stress, it can sometimes "jump the track" and have a hard time rebooting.
So the first set of tests was to determine whether I have resident viruses such as Epstein Barr and the like. Those came back negative, thankfully. Then I underwent another set of tests (neuro/endocrine) that determine whether there is evidence of "track jumping" as a result of stress. Those results are back, but there are a couple of things standing in the way of getting them read. Hopefully those will be resolved soon.
So, meantime, I am continuing to learn how to navigate the good stretches and bad stretches, and am so grateful that I have a family who loves and cares for me in the midst of it all. And my Heavenly Father Who works all things for good in the process of conforming me to the image of His Son. Which is priceless.
Thanks for your faithful prayers. They mean a great deal to all of us.
