Happy Very Belated New Years! and Post-Procedure Update

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

- Jeremiah 29:11

Hiya!

Thank you for the prayers, meal support, and all your support during this last occipital nerve blocks procedure and recovery! Truly! 

Boy, oh Boy. This recent procedure and time of recovery has been a doozy for us.

In general, right after receiving an occipital nerve block one can expect not to be able to move hardly at all for about 4 days. I, for some reason, had trouble with my arms and hands for almost ten days, used them excitedly to make Christmas reels, and then had a setback for another couple of weeks. This also impacted my ability to sit up on my own. So, it has been really nice to recover some use as I’ve been able to do so this new year. 

However, no one explains that the procedure also affects one's ability to think, process, and word recall for speaking. 🙈

Perhaps it indirectly affected some aspect of the encoding process for me, but, after two rounds of nerve blocks with the same “crawling through thick mud” brain fog to understand and communicate, I find myself having to trust, wait, and rest on the Lord and know that He is being glorified in it. For God is good and His timing is perfect, even when my hopes are otherwise.

With that in mind, this old Facebook memory timely reaffirmed my seemingly endless waiting:

“I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do enter your room, you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling." 

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Praise the Lord that my waiting is not endless and it is not without purpose!

For me waiting is a different type of pressure cooker, or refining process, through which more of myself - my flesh, and my desires - are revealed and I get to see where in my life, even discern how, to further reach to gain Christ. 

I think in midst of any type of pain and isolation, it could be easy to revert to old ways - to grow callous and reach for easy whims and old angers. So, as I wash myself with scripture, renewing my mind, I'm glad and refreshed to be reminded "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24) And through Christ Jesus, God will help me do the rest! (Ephesians 4:25-32) 🙌

Thankfully, these particular ailments from the my type of nerve blocks have started to diminish. I really hope to hold onto these lessons, carrying them into the next thing, circumstance, and season that is laid before me.

Needing Jesus moment by moment, multiple times a day, and praising the Lord all the way,

And May God have all the glory!

Thank y'all for your time! Much Love, Na'Cole. 💕 🤗