"I found a mountain in the middle of my road..."!

A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis. It's an inflammatory disease that is affecting my lungs. It's been a long tiring treatment process, but it's better than the lung cancer which the doctors originally thought I had. I thought I was doing pretty well about keeping my moral up. It hasn't always been easy. I am not the most patient of patients, but I was trying to keep a positive outlook on things. After all, I was eating healthy and getting regular exercise. I FINALLY see the inches coming off and was feeling good about my progress.

About three weeks ago, I started having blurry vision. I also had a headache that never really went away. The headache alternated between bearable to migraine. Thinking that my eye-glass prescription needed to be updated, I took myself to the Eye Doctor. Imagine my dismay when I learned that I have severe cataracts in both eyes. The blurry vision is the cataract in my left eye which is clouding the vision-center of my eyeball. The Eye Doctor immediately made an appointment for me to see a specialist to discuss my options.

I have to be honest. This new health issue absolutely threw me. I was expecting to triumph over Sarcoidosis with faith and trust in Heavenly Father intact. Now the news that I was essentially going blind shook me to the core. I threw a really good pity-party...bet you're all glad I didn't invite you! lol I was pretty discouraged to say the least.

I threw a pity-party, but I didn't build a home and live in a pity-palace. I turned to my Father-in-Heaven. I felt His comfort. I felt Him whisper peace and calm assurances to my heart. I leaned heavily on my Savior Jesus Christ and felt Him buoy me up. I realized that I had SO much for which to be grateful; that dwelling on this setback is counter-productive.  I realized again that "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." *Philippeans 4:13

We've since been to the eye-specialist. As he looked at the cataract in my left eye, he said, "Wow! That's bad!" Not very confidence-boosting, let me tell you! lol The right eye was just as bad, but not blocking my vision, yet. Bottom line is that surgery will fix it. YAY! Booo for ANOTHER surgery, but at least it can be treated. The best news is that in fixing the cataracts, they can correct my vision so I won't need distance glasses anymore. That will be amazing! I've worn glasses or contacts since I was 8 years old. I'm looking forward to that positive benefit.

Surgery on my left eye will be November 23 and on my right eye December 14. Recovery is supposed to be relatively quick and pain-free. I'm praying for THAT outcome!  

One thing I'm learning (again) is that I can do "hard things". I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. There is honestly nothing They could ask of me that I wouldn't willingly endure in order to return and live with them again. I have faith that if I cheerfully submit my will to Theirs and endure (again, cheerfully) to the end, I can live with them and my loved ones in a Celestial family forever. That is my goal and nothing is worth jeopardizing that. Sometimes we lose sight of that bigger picture and throw pity-parties...that's ok. It's part of life and learning to "endure well". I KNOW that turning to Heavenly Father and trusting Him to help us through hard-things is the best way to make it.

Hilary Weeks' music video for this song is one that I absolutely love. It's helped me focus on the view from the top of my "mountain" many times...