Grinding Pain

What's goin on with us right now...

Planning times to meet with friends and family, planning times to meet with different congregations, and Elders to talk about China. Planning separate times to talk to "M" committees about support. It's so exciting!! When we left China, I knew this Summer was going to be exciting....and busy. I knew it would, but like in any situation it hasn't effected me the way I thought it would. I don't want to speak for Stan and myself, but I can say that we are so very grateful for the opportunity to speak anywhere people let us. And we are so very grateful to have the opportunity to spend time with friends and family! We are at the half-way point, and we've already had a blast! Within the past week, our schedule has filled up even more with friends, family and extended family meetings!

Well, a couple of weeks ago Stan said, "You've started grinding your teeth again at night." Bummer. (Background info.: I have a long history of T.M.J. from grinding my teeth at night.) I was telling the following story today... When I was little I would grind my teeth at night and my parents could hear it through the walls into their bedroom. So, my mom took a stuffed monkey's tail and put it in between my teeth so the grinding wasn't so loud and detrimental to my health! haha!! It's funny to think about now. Well, I have been to the dentist about it, and he said I should just keep using my mouth guard I got from Wal-Mart. He said if it continues to be a problem, then I should come back and he will make me a professional one. When we moved to China, the teeth grinding stopped. Completely. Stan has told me he can't remember a time when he woke up from me grinding my teeth at all!! So, when we came back to America I decided to leave my mouth guard in China.

Well, it's back. I guess with these particular blessings of having the schedule we have right now is also added stress. I didn't realize I was stressed until my jaw began to lock up again, like it has before. It's literally a pain. (haha, pun intended!) Well, the good news is, all I have to do is just go get another mouth guard at Wal-Mart. So I'm going first thing in the morning so I can stop this craziness! Yay! It's crazy how things can sneak up on ya when you're not paying attention! I have a lot to be thankful for, and I'm trying to turn this situation around to be thankful for it! :) So, I'm thankful for pain, because without it, I would do nothing to prevent my jaw from further damage.

That got me thinkin about what His Son did for me. I am thankful for His pain, because without it, I wouldn't know what it's like to be part of His family. Without it, I wouldn't know what it's like to feel guilt from a sin...none of us would. It always helps me when I'm in any kind of pain to remember what He did for me and it really makes the pain not as difficult to handle. It shrinks my pain, and puts things in perspective. Culture shock is a form of pain and suffering. I hope this experience will help me when I feel that, because without it, HE would not be brought to China through me.