30 Days of Gratitude - Day Nineteen

I took care getting dressed this morning. I had an appointment with the Interventional Radiologist and I wanted to be sure that he saw me as a vital, productive person. Someone worth saving. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would he just humor me? Tell me my skeletal structure was too far gone and there wasn't really anything he could do? Or would he see me as an exciting challenge?

With every doctor I've met, I tell them the same thing. I have a lot to live for. I'm willing to do what it takes to prolong my life. In other words, don't give up on me. Which is why I dress up for my doctor visits as much as possible, regardless of the way I feel. I may not be the person I was before, but I'm still worth the effort. It's important that the doctors and caregivers see that.

This morning as I read James 1:18, I was reminded, "He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession." I looked up the word "Prized" in Webster's and it says "something exceptionally desirable".

Believe me, I don't feel exceptionally desirable. Those days are long gone. My face is fat from the steroids. My torso is squished from the compression of my spine. I walk hunched over. Still it was wonderful to leave for my appointment knowing that to God, I'm still a prized possession. I don't even have to try. God sees me for who and what I am and he loves me anyway.

My heart is filled with gratitude.