17 January 2013

Prayer & Fasting: Day 3

A quick follow-up to the end of Day 2, Yubo had a late enough lunch, and was feeling horrible enough to want to go straight to bed. So he slept as I finished up his laundry, and worshiped silently in the living room to the wonderful music provided by the "Hosanna" station on my Pandora.

Day 3 started off pretty tough. Despite my prayers over him the previous night, Yubo was still feeling really sick, but forced himself out of bed to eat breakfast and go to work. He later told me that after he took a Dayquil, he started feeling better in the afternoon.

I got to see an allergist, who confirmed that I truly do have seasonal allergies (positive for tree, grass, and weed pollens), but couldn't confirm why I was getting them in winter. The only things that would affect me this season are dust mites and (surprise!) cats. Without getting draconian with me (his words), he prescribed a number of things that should help me manage. Also found pretty much nothing in food allergies, although we didn't test banana -- but apparently we tested cantaloupe and nothing happened (very very tiny reaction to watermelon, though).

Left: Food stuff; Right: Pollen stuff and other typical allergens

I don't know if it was just the doctor visit, but it was difficult for me all day to focus on God. I guess I'm not understanding how to go about a normal day and still keep God at the forefront of my mind. Do you just go about your day as usual, and turn your mind only to Him during those meal times (fasting or not), mornings, and evenings?

Yubo said it was easy for him Day 2 -- it was by the grace of God that he even made it through the day.

We've been praying for healing, and protection from further illness, but either our prayers aren't fervent enough, or for some reason, God wants to keep us feeling sick. Or at least, me. Maybe I use sickness as an excuse to not focus so well on Him, when in actuality, that's when I should be focusing completely on Him.

So far, I haven't been to any of the prayer gatherings at the church office. I'm encouraged that I'll be able to make it tomorrow night, though. 

Despite the ailments, I'm not completely discouraged. I mean, God placed me with my boss, who happened to know this great allergist that I never would have thought I'd needed. She also connected me with the doctor clinic she goes to, so I could finally see a doctor.

At our last small group meeting, we were told to think about the markers that showed God was working in our lives. For me, it's definitely been the people He's brought into my life that let me know that He's looking out for me.

During my dark times in high school, He gave me Archie and Akemi. In college, He gave me Yubo and his family. Up here in WA, He provided a home church for us that would be familiar enough to Yubo (through P.Wayne) that we'd want to go, even though we had several church options that were much closer. In the mess that was Fry's Electronics, He gave me Eric, Alex, Albert, and Mushi. In the dark times up here, He gave me so many people to surround myself with, including P.Keith, Rose, Sheryl, and Juliette -- people I could reach out to when I was finally ready to reach out. I never have to wonder about how God has blessed me because it's so easy to look around and see these faces and just know.

I suppose, though, that what I've mostly been doing during this time is just praising and worshiping Him. Not that those aren't good things to do, and I love spending all the freed up time I have doing that. But the seeking Him in prayer hasn't been happening as well as it should.

When Yubo and I come together in prayer, it's been pretty shallow and generic. And that's usually because we haven't set aside enough time for it; or how lately, we've just been feeling so sick that we just go to bed.

But we're still learning. And we have 18 more days to go.

No comments:

Post a Comment