Powering Through

Happy Monday! May I tell you a little story?

This past Tuesday was supposed to be my first speaking day of 2018. I was scheduled to speak at a mini-retreat at a church about an hour from home, and I was really looking forward to it. As I prayed over the church and the planning committee, I prayed specifically about the weather. It is, after all, Indiana in the winter. Enough said. I prayed specifically that God would make the decision unmistakable for the committee. (They had a backup day planned for a week following the original date.) I didn't want them to wrestle with whether or not they had made the right call if they felt they needed to postpone.

About a week and a half before the event, I received an email that said they needed to postpone for a variety of reasons...weather being one of them. It was such an answer to prayer (for me!) to know God had been clear with them, and I shared that praise with them.

Well, this past Tuesday night was when I shivered under a blanket on the couch with the start of the crud. Who could have foreseen that, but God!? I was grateful in a whole new way. 

So my second scheduled speaking (now moved up to first for the year) was yesterday. A little church here on the edge of Kokomo invited me back to speak to them. I've been there a handful of times before and just really enjoy them so much. Such kind people. And boy, did I ever need them to be such kind people this time. I packed all my tissues and cough drops and water bottles and profusely thanked the Lord that they knew I was capable of sounding better than I did in that very moment. 

I'd even gone so far as to request prayer for my voice, because as of Saturday, I wasn't sure it would hold up for even 20-30 minutes!

So imagine my surprise when I woke up on Sunday with my left eye swollen almost shut. WHAT?! Where did that come from? I have never had such a thing happen before. It didn't hurt or itch or even water. But it was all read and definitely swollen.

I knew better than to touch it excessively, and I knew better than to put any makeup on it, for fear of contaminating my makeup with whatever was happening. It was definitely a first to think about going out with only half my makeup done, but I didn't really have much of a choice. Thank goodness for freshly cut bangs!

It was super foggy here yesterday, so all the squinting in this picture is definitely not from the sun. I just looked like I was winking all day, I guess. 

I was careful to keep my distance from the good people at church. No hugs or shaking hands. Just air-high-fives from five feet away.

(One of my friends even surprised me by showing up to hear me! I was going to ask for a picture with her, but didn't want her to have to stand that close to me if she didn't want to.)

I was so thankful that I made it all the way through my entire talk without dying from coughing or any other uber embarrassing thing happening! And I guess from a distance, you can't see the half-made-up face too much.

The people were so, so nice to me. Bless them. And as one of my friends later pointed out, I must have really had something on the schedule that Satan did NOT want someone to hear, because he sure went to a lot of lengths to keep me from sharing those words. I don't know what it was or who it was for, but I powered through and said what God had impressed on my heart to say!

I guess the people weren't too horrified by my looks and sound, because they invited us to join them for lunch after church. And then it was home to Mo for the rest of the day. 

I have three weeks before I speak again. Here's to hoping I have a regularly sized face and normal sounding respiratory system by then!

Linking up with Tamar!