It's a Good, Good Morning!

I love that Mandisa song, "It's a good, good morning! Wake up to a brand new day!"  I am so thankful today that I woke up feeling SO much better! I picked up this computer a couple of times yesterday afternoon to give an update, but, honestly....I was feeling yucky and a wee bit discouraged.  I was fighting nausea BIG TIME and was starting to question the whole thing.  Oh, the drama....I came prepared though, knowing that nausea was a complication of the gastric sleeve procedure and if ever I'm a baby, it's when I'm nauseated!  I really didn't "eat" or drink much yesterday....didn't even take my pain medicine because it was in liquid form and I couldn't bare the thought of putting anything else in my itty bitty, raging mad tummy!  Thank God my pain through this entire experience has been minimal.

So, due to the nausea, I was kept overnight...third night.  Again, I was disappointed as I had hoped to be back home with the boys by last night.  It was definitely necessary, though. It is very easy to become dehydrated following this procedure if one is not careful.  That of course, requires a trip back into the hospital to get an IV and fluids.  Definitely want to try to avoid that!  I am feeling so much better this morning and am anxiously waiting Dr. Diaz's visit and the discharge papers that will soon follow....hopefully!

When I say I came prepared, I am talking about having come to the hospital armed with a couple of books that I could pull out and read through, knowing I had favorite bits and pieces of them highlighted, pages turned down, etc. SO, yesterday when I was feeling a little sorry for myself and beginning to cave to some of those negative thoughts that were crossing my mind, I pulled out one of the books I brought with me to the hospital, "Duty or Delight?" by Tammie Head.  This is the last book that my women's life group studied together and I loved it!  Close to the beginning of the book, Tammie talks about our "inner GPS," you know...those voices that say negative, doubting, self-destructive things to us.  She talked about how she and her husband had given their lovely lady with an Australian accent on their GPS the name Sheila.  She went on to ask:

"I wonder if you have a Sheila? I'm not talking about a GPS named Sheila.  I'm talking about a Sheila who beckons you away from your identity in Christ.  She's obsessed with giving directions.  For some of us, she suggests a counterfeit version of God's will for our lives.  Soon our heads are spinning with thoughts such as, Nothing is really working or changing anyway.  Aren't you sick of this God thing? Look. So-and-so doesn't walk with God and things are wonderful for her.  For others, Sheila works in opposite ways.  She says, "Wow, you are such a mess.  Don't you think it's time you worked a little harder? Got your game on? Look.  So-and-so has it all together.  Why can't you?"

She goes on to discuss discerning your inner Sheila's voice from what God is saying to you. I LOVE, LOVE what she has to say next:

"We've got to know God ourselves.  We must come to a place where we can say, "You know what?  That is not my God. The way I'm feeling is not my God.  That's not my God's voice going on in my head.  That's not God's voice in my heart.  That's not the way my God things toward me.  That is not what my God would say to me.  My God doesn't feel that way about me."  Knowing our God intimately helps us sort through and correct all these false thoughts in our heads."

What is your inner Sheila saying to you today? It's time to tell her to "Pipe Down Sheila!" and move forward with the life and work that our heavenly father created us for....remember....you are "fearfully and wonderfully made!" Oooo....goosies!

Have a wonderful day! Hopefully, my next post will be from home....minus the TED hose and IV:)

Peace,
K