Monday came and my tooth hadn’t stopped hurting, so I made the dreaded call and arranged for another extraction. The first appointment they could give me with Dr. Stewart was on Monday the 20th, a day and time that would be very hard to deal with in that it would conflict with Joely’s riding lesson (again) and be only three days from Christmas Eve and Paul’s three day weekend off. I was, however, able to get a Wednesday appointment on the 15th at 2:15 PM, if I was willing to see another oral surgeon.
Bowing to circumstances once more, and realizing that at least I wouldn’t have to face the skeptical Dr. Stewart again, I agreed to the doctor change and accepted the Wednesday appointment. I was disappointed in one way by the change though, in that Dr. Stewart gave very good shots, that I hardly felt going in. Oh, well. With an email approval from Dr. Lane (who is considered my general dentist in this matter) I will have tooth 5 pulled and still have enough time to recover before the holiday.
Right now I’m hoping that recovery will bring a little more mobility-and a renewed ability to see the positive. As it so often is, Monday morning’s devotional was pertinent, and I reference it here because it was the beginning to the day I needed to make a final decision. Although I truly don’t want to do this, I do need to listen to what God is saying to me about all this. Discussing how it takes training before children learn their ABC’s, it then went on to speak of our Spiritual ABC’s: Adversity Builds Character (see Romans 5:3-4). Deciding that I’ve definitely been building character throughout these last weeks (and months?), I tried to refocus my thoughts: Why am I going through all this? And what was/is/should be God’s end result? That is often the unknown on this side of life, and sometimes even at odds with my choice of results.
With all that in mind, and when considering that adversity builds character even if it involves tooth extractions, I hold that thought close to my heart. I know I can get through this day too if I keep my eyes on fulfilling God’s goal in this instead of mine.
Thanking the Lord for all those praying for me through this, I keep on keeping on.