Shot#35 Are we missionaries in our daily  walk into the unknown?

Recently my daughters Rebecca and Kristina are abroad on a mission's trip in the Dominican Republic. They are there with our church and a group of teens that make up the mission team. It is awesome to see a group come together for a purpose of spreading Gods word, Gods love, and helping people whether with food, clothes comfort. I am very proud of my girls and the work they are doing. This has been a growth opportunity for them, one that they will not soon forget. They are in a foreign country away from the comforts of home and walking into the unknown.  

I sat here and thought about what it means to be a missionary and can this apply to us in our various states of illness and treatments. I am not out preaching The Good News to the lost, or spreading Gods word to others in another country, but I am a missionary in regards to my MS and my diabetes . Having any Illness whether its MS or diabetes, or cancer, or Aids, or Hep C or whatever your illness has  kind of put us in a strange and foreign land  walking into the unknown.

I did some searches on the online dictionary and this one I think applied :
Mission: "The task, together with the purpose, that clearly indicates the action to be taken and the reason therefore"

I actually liked what this said.
The "task" at hand would be to fight this disease.  The "purpose" would be so I can stay healthy and be here for my family, and live life as best I can. Based on that "purpose" I can understand the "action" to be taken which in this case is a treatment and in my case  it means taking a needle I hate and am fearful of . The "reason therefore", to live life as best I can and be healthy for as long as I can.

We are all missionaries, we don't always know what to expect from our illness from day to day, but we press on for the higher purpose, which is living. We sometimes are walking into the unknown, whether its with a new treatment, or a new curve thrown our way in regards to our health. We walk into it blindly with hopes for a good outcome. We put our faith and trust in the medicines we pump into our bodies ,( some with horrible side effects, some that are dangerous and can be life threatening ) We trust in our Dr's who care for us, and the tests that tell us how we are doing. We reach out to others who are in similar circumstances as ourselves as best we can with empathy , love and support. Today I feel like a missionary in this fight to stay healthy.

So I am getting ready for my shot, and I am staring at pictures of my daughters Rebecca and Kristina from their Missions trip, and I began to cry that I am scared, it took about a half an hour to get the shot done. At one point I looked at my husband and cried Tina's not here, and he pointed to the pictures and said "she's right there just look at her and becky". I did and in went the shot. Afterwards I cried to my husband and said "do you think Tina remembered about tonight ?"  I wasn't being selfish I really didn't want Tina or becky to be worrying about us but I was a tiny bit wondering if Tina remembered , my husband said if she remembers that today is thursday she remembered but they probably have no idea what day it is. The girls called about an hour later, and after answering some questions and sharing their experiences Tina stopped me in mid sentence  and said " Oh mom, how did the shot go?" I told her it went great. She remembered.

Shot #35 is done and over, I am thinking of my little missionaries, and of all of you, who like me are missionaries as we travel forward into a foreign land with our health and daily walking into the unknown.
Until next week,
Be Blessed
Cindi