God's Presence In Our Storms

I recently suffered an accidental injury to my left hand, my pinkie finger, to be precise. While opening a glass bottle of buttermilk, the glass shattered, and my left pinkie was sliced through pretty thoroughly. Both the tendons that control movement, the main nerve on the outside of my hand, and the little artery were all sliced on the glass. I immediately noticed that I could not control the finger; it did not move for me. Finding out the extent of my injuries while getting stitches at the ER, I began to feel a little faint when I realized I was headed for surgery. Now, I don't have blood pressure issues as a routine problem, but when I am under stress (including routine doctor's checkups!) it tends to soar. In the ER that Saturday afternoon, it was spiking a little higher than we wanted it to! One of the issues I faced over the weekend waiting for surgery to be scheduled was what would happen to my blood pressure during the stress of surgery! Second only to that, I had to puzzle out things like getting dressed one-handed (picture it ladies!!) and writing out checks/bills (yes, I am left-handed!!). From Saturday to Monday, I prayed for the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and the nurses on duty that Monday to be rested and focused, and for my body to submit to the surgery without complications and also for God to keep His eyes on me and help calm me. For the surgery, I chose to have a shoulder block injection to deaden my entire arm rather than having general anesthesia, which meant I would be fully aware and awake. When we arrived, the calm and peace I felt during the entire prep process was completely outside my capabilities. The surgery would take about two hours, and my poor husband was to wait in the waiting room without a thing to do to help me out save praying. During the trip to the surgery suite, I chatted with the nurses and the surgeon's assistants. Thanks to my sweet girl who shared her ipod While in surgery, I watched an episode of a favorite BBC drama and listened to praise music. I answered a couple of questions of the surgeon over the drape; I spoke with the nurse stationed at my head; I watched my vital signs. My blood pressure never topped 130/80 and my pulse never raced. I truly experienced the Peace That Passes Understanding throughout my whole day. Whenever I felt a twinge of anxiety, I prayed for my Father to hold my hand; He really has never been more Present to me than that day! The nurses remarked about my calm; they joked about passing ipods out to all the surgery patients! I was able to share with one nurse that I listened to praise music. The whole day was amazingly stress=free for me!! I came home with pain medicines and took one dose that night as the shoulder block began to wear off; I took one more dose the next day and never took any more. The rest of my experience has been amazingly pain-free!! What a gift from my Lord! I have praised Him since then for being my Rock and my Shelter. While healing is still in progress, I praise Him that I wasn't hurt worse; glass flew all over me and could have hit my neck, face, or even wrists. I am thankful it was me and not my husband who would have had to miss weeks of work with such an injury; I am so grateful it was me and not one of my children, which would be much worse to endure. He has worked in me a work of patience and humility which I needed, and I am grateful that I will only bear a scar on a pinkie as a reminder (and maybe a little slower typing skill!). I just wanted to share this experience of the Lord's direct work so that others can see what a mighty God we serve. Praise Him!!