I am intrigued at how different people handle stress.
With the Imp's surgery fast approaching, I find myself just wanting to either keep very busy or be very withdrawn. I'm not really wanting that in-between down time when my imagination can go wild.
We fly out to Omaha early Sunday morning. Her first surgery is 7 am on Tuesday. This is to remove her endometriosis and her ovarian cysts. 10 days later she'll have a laparoscopy to remove the Gore-Tex material put on her ovaries to prevent scar adhesions.
I've spent the last few weeks creating her a Surgery Survival Bag. When the girls were little I found the summers exhausting with all the requests for different outings (movies, ice cream, Bush Gardens, etc) so I started the tradition of Summer Survival Bags. Included in them were gift cards to the movies, Dairy Queen, Blockbuster, as well as sunscreen, small pool or beach toys and homemade coupons for things like 'a week doing no chores' or 'unlimited reading coupon' where they were allowed to stay up as late as they wanted reading. These gift cards and coupons took the pressure off of me: they had their options available and could decide whether to go to movie A or movie B, and whether to use their gift card to go in June or July. I was no longer the bad-guy saying 'no' all the time (since they'd ask about every movie).
The bags were a big hit and something the girls looked forward to. They are in our past since they are grown. But with the surgery, I decided to make a Surgical Survival Bag. Included in it: new fingernail polish (something she can do without much movement) and fingernail polish remover pads. Fun colors like orange and pearly grey and a DVD of Despicable Me with inflatable minion (she's gonna love this). iTunes gift cards for her to purchase music or movies to enjoy and Amazon gift card to purchase books to read on her kindle. I also made new coverings for our ice packs so they're nice and soft against her skin.
Thinking about what else I could ad to the 'bag' to make the 2 weeks in Omaha more pleasant keeps my brain occupied.
I've also started a new crochet project...again to keep me busy (and something constructive to do in Omaha). 2+ weeks in a hotel room in Omaha is not really a vacation but the Imp is so laid back that we'll have a great time. The hardest part will be that laughing hurts after surgery and we like to laugh. We are planning an outing to see Despicable Me 2 the day before her second surgery hoping it won't be too painful to laugh through that movie.
Today is July 4th...Independence Day, but a meditation I read today touched on the fact that Christians need to be dependent...on God. And that some of our problems today stem from our desire to be totally independent from any constraints...not realizing that true freedom can only be achieved if we live out a life we were designed for...that is a life in harmony with God's plan for us. Sounds contradictory to say a life of freedom comes from living according to God's rules, but it's true. I'm very aware of my dependence on God with the trip and surgeries.
I'm enjoying our study at church, 'Engaging the Struggles of Your Heart' by Ascension Press. This week's 'struggle' is fear. How appropriate. Just like working out physically regularly just 'feels' good, so does actively strengthening my faith. It just feels good.
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