Prayer Request!

"...and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).

Dear Friends:

You may remember that back when I was in Jamaica, I insisted on being one of the boys. I sweat, I toiled, I lugged concrete buckets down and up the side of a mountain in the sweltering heat, helping the guys create a set of stairs for the orphanage.

It was difficult, but gratifying work, resulting in, not only a new set of concrete stairs, but a little mini-victory within myself: I did it!! (Or helped do it anyway...)

Well, the part of the story I didn't tell you, was, ever since that day, I have been experiencing rather intrusive heart palpitations. Some days it's mild: I'll only have a couple small, momentary flutters - no big deal. Other days, I'll have upwards of twenty to thirty palpitations, ranging from mild to knock-the-wind-out-of-me startling. At first I thought it might be anxiety. Shortly thereafter, I realized I was very wrong.

On a day like that, when I felt as if my heart would stop if I had one more stinkin' skipped beat, I called my doctor's office after hours and explained my problem - they sent me to the E.R.

Two thousand dollars and no diagnosis later, I was sent home with a simple, "it's nothing. It will just be an annoyance to you. Follow up with your doctor when you can if it continues."

Seeing that I don't have health insurance, I really didn't want to go to the doctor for this now that I've already wasted all this money on nothing. Besides, in my mind, I hadn't keeled over yet: I could wait another month or two.

Well, one day last week, I took an antihistamine for my allergies, and it suddenly seemed that my blood pressure dropped. It was exhausting to even just sit on the couch. I was having palpitations like there was no tomorrow, and I thought my heart was going to leap right out of my chest - NO GOOD.

So I finally gave in, called my doctor, made an appointment, and saw him two days later. He listened intently to my heart and told me two things:

1. You have a murmur. (Okay doc, plenty of people have murmurs. What else?)

2. You have a condition called Mitral Valve Prolapse. We can put you on heart meds so you experience less of the symptoms, but they'll make you real tired.

Okaaaaaay.... I choose to stay awake, thank you!

So from what I understand, it's really not life-threatening. All it is, is a faulty valve that in turn, can cause some really WIERD side-effects (ie: the palpitations I've been having, fatigue, anxiety, among many other things.) It is fairly common (as far as heart conditions are concerned), however, upon reading more about it on my own, I found that it can also cause more serious complications if it gets worse, that of which I'm not going to get into because they're no fun, really scary, and more importantly....

I'm believing for healing. So I'm not going to worry about them.

So this whole big long story, is all in an attempt to ask you for your prayers. God has me headed on a mission in two and a half months, doing something I've never done before - doing nothing but HIS work for three straight months! I want to be in tip-top shape!! I don't need some "heart thing" slowing me down!

So please keep me in your prayers that God will heal me of this. The funny thing is, something like this would have normally sent me in a tailspin, absolutely freaking out with a ton of "what if's" about what this will do to me. But you know what I've learned more recently that has kept me at total peace about this whole thing?

My God is bigger. He's BIGGER than this heart problem, He's bigger than anything that I could ever imagine or conjure up that might slow me down or get in my way, or any sort of curve ball that the enemy might try to hit me with. Jesus is bigger, He's better, and He's my protector: and please just pray that His healing touch would come down upon me before I leave for this trip. I'm already thanking Him for it, so let's make it happen!

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up" (James 5:15).

Thank you friends, for all your support and prayers in other areas in my life- and thank you in advance for your prayers in this as well.

Have a blessed week everyone!