The Shortest Path Between Two Points Isn't Always Best

    

    Have you ever read the story of the Exodus, where God led His people out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land of Canaan?  If you haven't, you can get a high level overview from this video.  In short, the Israelites were freed from slavery and headed out to cross the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula to reach the land that God had promised them.  The distance between these two places was about 700km, or about 430 miles.  Even with the large group they were dealing with they should have been able to reach their destination in just over 40 days, but instead, it took them 40 years!  You see, along the way the people needed to learn some very important lessons.  God knew that the best path for His people wasn't a straight line, but rather a circuitous route like the one pictured above.

    Why do I bring this up?  If I'm being entirely honest, there's more than a little of those original Israelites in me too.  God knew far before we did that I had a brain tumor and would need surgery for it.  He also knew the best way to break it to me and walk me through it.  I believe everything in my life informed and led up to this season, but there are a few particular milestones that stand out.  For example, last December I was diagnosed with a Basal Cell Carcinoma skin cancer on my shoulder.  That was pretty terrifying in the moment, but in hindsight truly not a big deal at all.  What it did give me though was my first call informing me of a cancer diagnosis, an opportunity for a simple surgical fix, and the experience of having to check the box informing future medical care team members that I have, indeed, had cancer at some point. Each of these experiences prepared me for what was coming up next.  So this time around when I got a call giving me challenging news about something found on a scan I was a little more prepared with how to approach it.  I had also been preparing for a couple of months for an intense reconstructive arm surgery where the surgeon would be performing 16 different procedures in my right arm alone. My husband, children, and I had needed to think through the surgery risks and recovery needs. We found out about this brain tumor the night before my pre-op appointment for the arm surgery, which then had to be postponed indefinitely. All that preparing energy was not lost though as the concepts and experiences fed into the new, more difficult surgery.  

    I learned along the way that I was not the only person being prepared in this way.  My oldest son's girlfriend was walking through a similar situation with a co-worker who was having surgery in the same area of the brain and at the same hospital as me a week later. Participating in this process with her co-worker gave her some valuable preparedness as she headed into this season with our family, and, as she put it, gave her the ability to be there for my son in a way she may not have been able to otherwise. Each of my adult children had to face their Mom's skin cancer diagnosis and treatment as well, giving them valuable experiences and tools for what was to come.

    Again, the terrible sinus infection I contracted veered us once more off the direct route to brain surgery. We got the opportunity to think through and "practice" preparing and at the very last minute it turned out we were adding another loop-de-loop to the plan.  If you look back at the map at the top of this post, you'll see their loop-de-loop on the right side of the peninsula.  There must have been something they needed to experience and/or learn from up there before they would be ready for what lay ahead.  I'm counting on that for us too.

    So two days ago, on Tuesday, we headed to the City for sinus surgery.  I felt pretty at peace and unworried, but as we sat in the waiting room for hours, the tension did start to build. My husband saw the whole experience as a practice run and he learned all about the board where you can watch for progress on your loved one's procedure, the waiting rooms, bathrooms, etc. My brain surgery will likely take place in a different hospital, but the setup should be pretty similar.  This was a "little" surgery that took less time and had much less risk and a faster recovery. There were still some challenges with it that I hadn't fully anticipated, and we are continuing to learn from the experience.

Here's the thing: If you've ever watched a season of the Amazing Race you've seen the teams presented with a challenge that they need to practice for a while before they can perform it, like this one. I'm thinking this is our version of the race and that the finish line will be all the sweeter for the yields and speed bumps we've had to traverse along the way. And who knows, we just might learn something!