This morning as I was sitting in our game room floor feeding Princess JR (as I do every morning) I was looking at the lake outside the window.
As I sat there I noticed the peacefulness of the lake and how water has this amazing ability to slow everything down for me and put things back into perspective.
I began to remember the weeks after giving birth to Princess JR and how I was intense pain for 2 weeks solid.
I had a tubal ligation after Princess JR (we figured 5 was enough on our income) and once my doctor actually “got inside” he realized my right tube was covered in polyps and he ended up taking most of the tube (so IF I ever get pregnant again it will truly be an act of God).
Well, the fact that I had an epidural for almost 36 hours… through the labor and delivery as well as through the night to be ready for the surgery the next day… did not fair well with my body.
Once I finally got home, I could barely walk the first week because of intense pain from just below my incision site. I had to go to the ER where I quickly discovered I was allergic to morphine and they were unable to find a physical reason for my pain (which didn’t mean it wasn’t there).
But, on top of all that, I also had a spinal headache that made my head feel as though it was going to explode at any given moment. I would sit in the recliner and cry most of the day.
My older 2 had to do most of the baby duties and my poor hubby would do what he could when he was home (his boss barely wanted to give him the full day off to have the baby let alone days off afterward).
This was the first time we walked down to the lake after moving into our new house and I had to grab my camera to snap some shots while we were there!
All of this to say… the ONE thing that would stop my pain was a shower.
I would take 10 showers a day just to ease the pain. I could step into the shower, drop my head under the stream of water and just stand there for 30 minutes completely free of pain.
No medicine (including the morphine I was allergic to) could stop the pain… just water!
My kids thought I was crazy for taking a shower after every feeding (which is basically what it became) and then continuously through the night. There was simply something amazing in the water.
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
John 4:14
Just as water is essential to our everyday physical life, the Living Water is necessary for our eternal life.
I do not know why I am constantly amazed when God shows up all around me.
His word proclaims,
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”
Matthew 21:21-22
There are reminders of his grace and faithfulness as I go about my daily routine I simply have to stop and pay attention.
When we drink from the Living Water and bathe ourselves in it daily it is wonderful how it cleanses up from the inside out and renews our entire being.
As a family, we were excited to be moving by the lake a few months ago, but never knew how incredible it could be. We take nightly walks down the road by the lake and watch the sunset over its banks.
SuperDad likes to sit and put his shoes on where he can watch the water outside the window. Our backyard has a gate that opens up to a filed where we can walk down to the lake anytime we want and become rejuvenated.
We love it!
God led us to the perfect house on the lake and I am reminded of that today!