Virginia the Blogger has been busy the past few weeks pulling Extra TLC duty for her precious Mama who is suffering from Excruciating Pain (the nerve kind that totally wipes you out.) Usually my feisty Mama zooms around in her wheelchair (‘tis often hard to catch up.) Occasionally she needs a ‘Be Nice to Her Knees day’ (ice-packs inclusive with her loving daughter to assist.) But now she needs help with Everything: getting up, getting down (carefully), getting around, & getting to those pain meds on time.

…& your Blitzed-Out Bi-Pap Breathing Machine Night Monitor is up at all hours not just for Papa, but for Mama, too. 🙂   (yaddi dadi dah – Zombies of the World Unite!@!) Zombie Virginia wrote the following last week &, well, not much time to format pics, so here you have it, a few rough edged thoughts on smiling & PAIN MANAGEMENT.

It’s hard to smile when you’re in pain. I know my last post of Mother Teresa quotes focused on smiling (reminder to self: SMILE! : )  Methinks she knew something about pain (of all shapes & sizes..)

That’s fine, you may say, Mother Teresa is a SAINT (!!) she got that smile thing going with extra Heavenly Graces.

But in the depths of sleep-deprivation doldrums, neck pain, kidney stones, pain in general (broken hearts inclusive), when even the deepest, darkest vat of chocolate will not take the pain away (altho as a temporary fix it can lift spirits a little!) how (the heck) is it possible to smile?

(& that I should want to? smile? exactly, you gotta’ be kidding..)

Physical pain is, well, PAIN (note the capital ‘P.’) It hurts! Unfortunately Calamity Virginia knows a bit too much about this kind: back pain from falling down a flight of stairs 20+ years ago, ankle pain from fracturing both ankles (multiple times), nerve pain from misbehaving neck discs (pre-&-post surgery), pain from misbehaving knees post-post surgery & more recent kidney stone pain (busy internal factory manufacture rate = TOOO HIGH..)

Then there’s pain of the heart – from the loss of a loved one, or a broken heart when a loved one turns out to be a Beanhead (or Beanheadette.)  It hurts, sometimes much worse than physical pain.

There’s pain we suffer for others – the pain of helplessness when facing daunting odds (disease, bleak opportunity horizons, poverty, conflicts.) More heart hurt(s.)

Stuff happens!  or not.. it’s also painful when our hopes, dreams & aspirations are dashed to dust… or when we wait.. and wait… & God doesn’t seem to hear our VERY fervent prayers (the ones we pray on our knees?)

Sometimes when life is hard smiles are miles away from our hearts & joy, well joy seems like an intangible impossibility (for REAL!) Our hurt is just Too Big. Our pain is Too Deep. Joy seems overrated. No sunshine squeaks through our dark clouds of pain.

But God is bigger than our pain. His love goes deeper than the darkest drain in our hearts. Not in some sentimental sappy way – but, for REAL. God is with you. And Me. And those who are hurting. The warmth of His sunshine lifts our spirits (ok, so sometimes God doesn’t take the pain away – it’s still there: PAIN … but His Heavenly Sunshine dissipates dark pain clouds with grace to COPE WITH THE PAIN.)

As you face whatever pain (literally) is lurking about your life (& heart), ask for God’s grace to help you cope.

It’s simple:  GOD PLEASE HELP ME! MORE GRACE NEEDED TO COPE.

…it may take awhile, but as you feel the Smile of His Love for you (even amidst those excruciating pain bursts)… your heart can smile in faith-filled assurance that He WILL PROVIDE the grace & gumption to face the next minute, hour, day of pain, even if it is a bit messy.

Love, afterall, is a messy business (triple diaper changes, ‘hanging in there’ when our loved ones mess up, tending our precious ones battling disease… losing those dear to us…) just as life can sometimes be messy.

As God loves us in OUR messes – so too, we can love others in & through their messes… (first letting our own broken hearts open for business again, maybe after a little mending? the ‘please help me, heal me, oh Lord kind?’)

In the dark harshness of life, God softens our hearts with His Light.  Believe it (or not) even when we’re in pain (& life is A Mess) He shines through us.

Maybe we can’t save the world (the whole world, anyway), but we can do our part to share a little Light – make that special meal, clean up that mess, share that advocacy piece (for peace!), give a little extra from our safety stash, Try Not to be So Grumpy to our loved ones (or co-workers) when those pain bursts hit high decibels (or tireditis hits new lows) Sometimes the best way to help others is to first Take A Nap!

… & Smile.  It’s a good place to start

(It’s amazing if you smile at soldiers, a smile that says God loves you? even pointing that uzi at me? sometimes they get distracted why they’re pointing the uzi in the 1^st place – & put down their guns … so it worked a few times for Virginia the Relief & Development Worker in Conflict Zones…other times ‘twas good to seriously frown & … PRAY LIKE CRAZY! : )

… or even smile in the grocery line? When you’ve been waiting for eons (Wal Mart comes to mind… grrrrr.) Those grocery line workers could use a little smile amidst their challenging jobs & the other grumpy people in line? Maybe they’re in lots of pain (or maybe they’re just RUDE…whatever… saying a little prayer for them can’t hurt.)

We CAN smile in the knowledge that God loves us in our pain. Yep. That’s a twister when we’re busy asking “why God? Why me?” (…& revving up Mercy, Mercy prayers when kidney stone or heart pain hits) … but if we stop & listen a little (‘tis hard when pain pounds out most everything in us)

…When our hearts are breaking & our bodies are wracked with pain…

(crying bucket loads, trying not to drown!)

… our spirits don’t need to be weighed down with frowns…

… we can REST in the knowledge that GOD LOVES US…

…God loves YOU…

…God loves ME…

…we can (try) to love each other…

…(or at least smile)…

 “I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something; and though I cannot do everything, whatever I can do, I will do, so help me God.”   Edward Everett

grace, peace & Pain Management

Virginia : )