Thankful

Today is my birthday.  I am 35 years old today.  And I must admit, that I am so thankful. 

 My super yummy cake!

I am thankful for my amazing husband of 11 years - David you rock!  I am thankful for my precious children - A, B, C, D & E y'all are truly treasures.  I am thankful for friends and family, my church, my home, my neighbors, and so much more...

This is a day to celebrate my life!  I would like to share a story with you that to me is an awesome reminder of how precious life is and how the goodness of God is evident, even through difficult experiences.

I have been thinking a lot lately about when C was born.  Right at the beginning of my pregnancy I had an odd jaw pain.  It went away almost as quickly as it had come.  Right after giving birth to him in May of 2007 it came back.

With C (1 day old)

It was the most excruciating pain I have ever felt (and that is saying a lot having had five babies naturally!).  The pain was accompanied by a bump/growth on my jaw.  The pain would come and go but the intensity was always unbearable.  I went to see the dentist and the ENT - both of which were not able to give me any answers.  I finally hat a CAT scan and it was determined that I should probably have my lymph node removed.  Nobody knew anything but a few doctors threw out the c word, cancer.  I wouldn't know the true cause until much later.  I remember being scared and asking God to let me live to see my son grow.  I am not the bargaining type really - I just poured my heart out to Him.  Let me be able to nurse him for the first year of his life, please let me get to know him some and then of course, I was also thinking about A, B and my amazing hubby!

 B, C and A getting ready for a walk

I had my appointment scheduled and David, myself and several dear friends were praying and helping.  I went into the appointment a little apprehensive and I kept asking God for peace, whatever the outcome.  I went in to see this new doctor, he asked me why I had come and advised me not to do anything!  What??  The doctor was telling me not to do this procedure.  I immediately felt peace and knew that this was the right thing to do.  After several weeks, my pain went away as did the bump.  Over a year later a bump returned on the outside of my gums - in essentially the same location.  Fortunately for me, there was no pain associated with the new occurrence.  Why do I bring all this up!  Well, because it was on my birthday in 2008 - almost 1 1/2 years later that we figured out what happened.  My nerve died in one of my molars - no one ever caught it.  The bump in my gums was an abscess that needed to be addressed.  I ended up having a root canal (with a specialist) that seemed like a breeze - they didn't have to deaden the nerve because my nerve had already died on it's own.

 An awesome birthday in 2008 with many unknowns answered!

I remember this and I am so thankful.  I wish everyone had caught it sooner but I remember being scared and in that place of unknown.  Thank you Lord for giving me that year with C and then some - I didn't know then that D and E were to follow!  And thank you for taking this trip down memory lane with me.  To Him be the glory!