Time Flies or Grace Poured Out

Wow! Seems like just yesterday I was birthin' baby cows. Friday and Saturday have flown past with lightening speed.

I have been VERY busy the last few days...busy not drinking any COFFEE. I visited a few doctor earlier this week and he ordered a ton of tests. Yes, a real live ton. On Wednesday I had 27 tubes of blood drawn. The lab tech did not even get the joke about me needing a cooking and a glass of Orange Juice. Heh, lab rats. Anyway, the 12 hour fast prior to the blood draw, was not big deal since I slept threw 8 hours of it. Here comes the good part though, additionally, I had to give a urine sample. Minor graphic info to follow: the sample had to be collected for 24 hours. Yikes and double yuck! Drew misheard me when I first told him and he thought I was not allowed to pee for 24 hours. Oh yea, like that could happen.

To prepare for this grand mission I needed to fast...hold on, to fast alcohol (no problem), tea (no problem), vanilla (say what?), and yes...COFFEE. Coffee, can you imagine, me no coffee for three days. The very thought of it sent me into a near panic. Drew offered to send me to a hotel so no one else would have to deal with me. I feigned offense and should have taken him up on it, but then I would have missed all the excitement of the last days. No fun there.

Here's the thing though, I am on my way to sleep, pee in the morning and then have my first cup of coffee in four days. I survived. More than survived, it was not all that bad. A few times I caught a whiff of Drew's coffee and nearly broke over, but somehow I persevered. Truth be told, I know it was the Grace of God.

I drink a lot of coffee, way too much I am sure. I only had one headache, the first night. I have probably drank two gallons of hot chocolate, though it came nowhere near satisfying my need for a fix. Still the cravings were minimal and the real pain almost nonexistent. I know it was a miracle. I know it. I believe God used this in my life to show me that I can survive true hardship, OK...a bit of tongue in cheek. But physiologically, this should have been very difficult for me. I decided early on to not look at the grand scheme of the whole four days, but to only take one day or part of a day at a time. To break the ordeal down into manageable time periods. I ate a little extra dark chocolate. I don't drink soda, so Pepsi held not draw. It may have helped with the caffeine, but my coffee addiction goes way beyond a caffeine thing. I gracefully felt the Hand of God in my life easing me through the days.

I only had faith for the moment, for the day at hand, but that was all, enough, of what I needed. When we try to out worry the grace of God then we run in to trouble. Each day has enough worries of its own. Praise God for small lessons that teach us big things. Going without coffee, is not a true hardship, but to me it was difficult. But God is bigger than all our trials and loves us through even the most minuscule. His love shows no partiality to the big or large; He gently covers all.