Wednesday, April 13, 2011

i love drugs, but not as much as Jesus.

I was born with bad teeth. Cavities straight from the womb I'm sure. I scrubbed and brushed just like my mom always made me do. I even had to take fluoride pills smashed up and melted in my beloved grape juice every morning. Sadly however, it just never did the trick and I was very familiar with the numbing needle that the dentist is trained to hide from you.

As I positioned myself in the laid back but never comfortable dentist chair yesterday, the Doc took one look at my X-ray and decided that "that tooth needs to come out." The lovely assistant quickly prepped me and the room for extraction. Mouth full of a goop for an impression, paper bib, needle full of the ultimate numb out, life was a blur.

My first clue as to what was about to happen started when the beloved needle bent while in my mouth. Does that even happen? The Doctor said, "that's a first."

Numb now, He starts the procedure, and wouldn't you know it..

ok so here's where I need to tell you about a book I'm reading with a few ladies. Long story very short the one line that the whole book is based on is.. " Eucharisteo proceeds the miracle." Which means.. well, again very short that thanks proceeds the miracle... easy right? Well, at our last book club meeting I was lamenting that this whole concept was eluding my everyday life.  Wow, did i even say that out loud?

I needed a miracle as the doctor all but had his knee on my chest willing my tooth to come out with a plier in hand. Grabbing my jaw, he even swore a bit. Top it off there was this lady in the next door exam room that was talk talk talk talk talking about nothing nothing nothing. Head in full tilt, mouth open, hands ready to punch the doctor, and tears on the cusp of falling. I remember that Eucharisteo proceeds the miracle, and I centered my thoughts on what the heck I was thankful for at the moment.

The booger free dentist that I hadn't punched yet.
Steady hands who knew what they were doing.
The air I was breathing
I wasn't wearing a skirt.. so I could contort my legs in positions that at least seemed to help?
A place where that lady could feel free to talk talk talk talk talk.

yah, really small stuff. But i'm telling you there REALLY wasn't much to be thankful for in that moment.

But God showed up, my whole body calmed and the blasted tooth finally came out.  Shoved full of gauze and prescription in hand to kill the pain of the next few days I head home. This morning, I'm super thankful for the drugs, but not as thankful as I am for how Jesus came and preformed a miracle in my soul while at the dentist.

3 comments:

Jodie Bachtle said...

I LOVE this post! I was about crawling out of my dentist/office chair as I felt like I was going through the gripping pain with you. However, as I reflect on my somewhat difficult morning, I TOO, can begin appreciate my life and all that I can be thankful for. It's so difficult, when you find yourself gripping on the handrails of life! Through all the frustration and hurt along the way...you still make it through...But I'd really like some of your drugs. What's the name of your dentist? haha

Unknown said...

Oh man, I hate the dentist. I'm glad the tooth finally came out and that you have some good pain medication. Glad that you were able to find the thanks in all of it.

Unknown said...

Dang it, Kelly. Sometimes the Holy Spirit shows up in your posts and I'm convicted. Loving it and cringing at the same time.