The Shingles Shuffle.

I really need to pound out a post here. So much has been going on.

This week has been hard, hard, hard. I knew I was going too fast, doing too much. I even knew I had to slow down or I'd go nuts/get sick. As it turns out, I just didn't act on that knowledge fast enough.

So, I've got shingles. As in, an unwelcome, miserable encore to the chickenpox. I guess the deal is that the chickenpox... thing... holes up in a nerve in your body and sometimes -- in general, when your immune system is compromised -- rears its ugly head in the form of itchy welts/blisters. It's really an old person thing. Or its also common in cancer and AIDS patients. But, no, I got it. On my face, eyes and scalp, no less! I think I compromised my immune system by letting myself get ridiculously stressed out. So, yeah, I've pretty much been in misery this last week, scratching and listening to not just one, not just two, but THREE doctors tell me I had shingles. (I was in denial for some time.) And naturally my first question was, "What does this mean for Africa?"

(Are you getting the feeling I should have posted about this before and sent out a mass prayer request? Yeah, me, too. Anyway...)

My fear was that I'd be contagious still when I was in Africa -- they say shingles lasts four to five weeks -- and that if I were to go, I'd start some horrible chickenpox epidemic, so AIM would keep me home. After a five days of fretting and itching and moping and all that, I think I got the answer to that tonight. And it's the answer I wanted!

Dr. Schuler (Mark's cool dad) tells me I shouldn't be contagious. That I'm likely already past that stage. At worst, I'll be uncomfortable. Yaaaaay!

(Don't worry, for those of you who have seen me in the last week -- if you've had chickenpox already, you're fine. For all the wee children who haven't had it... I'm sorry. But, take heart, shingles is no where near as contagious as chickenpox. I'm praying I didn't pass it on.)

God has been teaching me through all of this. First, he showed me that, though I once held this trip with an open hand, I had, as my departure grew closer, tightened that grip. I did not want God to "take this away from me." So praise Him for divine humbling and a right view of what I will do -- if the Lord wills, I will live and do this (go to Africa) or that (minister to Sudanese women). And, second, I need to slow down. That's pretty straight forward.

So, that was The Drama. Sorry I didn't let anyone in sooner; things were really uncertain. But it was awesome to see the Lord answer the prayers of the people who were by my side.

That's all I've got time for. I have a church appointment far, far away tomorrow morning and I'll already be skimping on sleep. My last presentation -- praise the Lord!