Going for a long run.....

I have no business writing Facebook posts.

I don't know if it's a need for character development, a love of details, an attempt to insert wit, or caving to my tendency to over-communicate.  My updates quickly become long paragraph messages that can create some "lost in translation" situations.

Yesterday I posted that we received bad news about a tumor in Garrett's ear.  I managed to keep that post relatively short and was extremely proud of myself considering how many details are involved.  I was overwhelmed by the sweet responses and immediate prayers being offered on our behalf.

The next couple of hours involved me crying, talking to my mom, Scot and I having good conversation, Scot and I being irritated at each other, Scot and I being nice again, a trip to Home Depot and Chick-fil-A for friends, a trip to Whataburger for my boys, and a haircut for Garrett.

Needless to say, by the time we got home, I was a tad frazzled (and bloated) and anxious to get on the phone to find out why we didn't have an appt with Garrett's doctor yet.  My conversation with the nurse was frustrating until we finally had a breakthrough that involved a cancellation allowing us an appointment with the doctor today.

I was thrilled and decided to post the good news about getting the appt on Facebook.

And then I thought I'd throw in something witty just to show that I was actually handling all of this ok.  Here is the post:

Was on the phone with the doctor's office regarding Garrett....getting frustrated because the doctor was trying to schedule surgery and I want to talk to him first but there are no appointments for that when "all of a sudden" they had a cancellation for 10:30 tomorrow morning. Huge answer to prayer because Scot can go. Next prayer? The doctor tells us he was having a bad ENT day and looked at the wrong scan and there is no tumor. Believing BIG!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for the love and prayers!

What I should have done was end the thing after my "Huge answer to prayer because Scot can go" comment.

But noooooo..........

I started getting a few "Praise God" responses which were sweet.  Then a few texts about what a miracle the whole thing was.

Trust me, I was thrilled that we got the doctor's appt but was a little mystified at it actually being a miracle.

Then a few more messages about a huge answer to prayer and I really started to think that I clearly did not give God enough credit for how amazing eveyone seemed to think it was that we were able to get a doctor's appt.

It was the text message from a friend telling me that she would never trust a doctor who had bad ENT days and couldn't even read a CT scan that I realized that what I meant to be a flippant commentary on a prayer request was being read as fact.

And then there was mass confusion among 58 people.

The real story is that there was no mistake in scans.  Our miraculous doctor's appointment was this morning and all four Jenkins were stuffed in a small exam room where all the boys got an excercise in self-control by resisting the temptation to push lots of buttons and race around on wheeled chairs.

The doctor came in and told us that what we had hoped was just scar tissue after last year's CT scan had actually grown in size to 6mm and needed to be removed immediately before Garrett was in danger of losing the last of his three inner ear bones.

For those of you scratching your heads wondering what in the world I am talking about......here is the post I wrote in 2009 when we went through all of this for the first time.

He won't be able to swim for 2 months and can't fly for 3 weeks after surgery.  All our plans for a trip to California to visit friends and family, swimming, a flight home early for Garrett to go to Boy Scout camp in Thailand....all of it out the window.

But it's ok.  It's ok because it isn't cancer.  Garrett's life is not in danger.  We have a wonderful house to stay in all summer and incredibly supportive family and friends.  It's ok.

Then another miracle happened in the form of a cancelled appointment and we were able to schedule the surgery for this next Wednesday.  Scot will still be in town and that is a big, big deal for both Scot and Garrett.

Just prior to leaving Singapore I went crazy for 4 minutes and decided to join a running club that was started by a friend of mine.  I joined not because I love running....in fact, I despise running which doesn't work well for someone joining a running club.  I joined because they look like they have so much fun together and I always like the idea of a good challenge.

I know that I need to be able to run 4 miles by the time I get back in Singapore so as soon as I landed in Texas and went to Chuy's, I started strapping on my tennis shoes and hitting the trails.  Every other day I run and it has gotten easier and easier and I despise it just slightly less now than I did 2 weeks ago.

It makes me think of the verse in Hebrews 12:

......and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.....

Every difficult situation, tough day, depressing moment.....every time we have a chance to choose God, we are running.  It might be a short run, it might be a long run, but every time we choose Him over our temptation to be anxious and worry and melt down.....we are training to have the endurance and preseverance to run the race marked out for us. 

Our little family has had a lot of training over the years.  We aren't perfect and there is much more to learn, but this particular race we can run.  

I can't thank you all enough for cheering us on to the finish line.  

I'll be the one in the back wearing a sports bra, big t-shirt, and long shorts (so my thighs don't rub together) limping across the finish line.....but I will finish.