DNGILB: Trust me, I'm a doctor.

I started reading “George Muller of Bristol” again. I read this years ago when my wife’s health was struggling and daily life was a painful battle against a mystery disease, which we now know is abdominal migraines. This book is a biography of George Muller, who was a missionary to England. He ran an orphanage on prayer alone. I found his testimony a great comfort years ago when I read the book, so I started it again. The book starts with his life before accepting Jesus as his savior. He lived a life of debauchery prior to his conversion. Once he was forgiven by grace, he was very excited to enter the mission field. But he wasn’t ready, and God had many lessons and knowledge to impart on him prior to his calling. So God made him wait. And in the excellent vision that we have analyzing the past, we see His plan was amazing. God has my wife and I waiting. Waiting for health to improve. Waiting to return to being able to live normal life. Waiting.  “God, help us to have fait

I remember back to the days just after college. I was in medical school. Everything was new. New friends, new lifestyle, discovery at every turn. I felt like I had finally entered into my own skin. The possibilities for my future, limitless! Life had such potential, like a stem cell, my life was totipotent. It could become ANYTHING! I live in Oklahoma. If you’ve ever driven to the mountains of Colorado you’ll be familiar with the uninspiring flat drive through Oklahoma, Kansas and Western Colorado. There isn’t anything to give you hints of what excitement and majesty lie ahead. It is just a long wait. Much like that long drive through the flatlands, my childhood, high school career and college were merely the long flat road trip, but now, I’m driving into the foothills. I can feel the excitement building. I can see the terrain changing! Soon, I will be out of the car. Soon, I’ll be hiking through the pine trees, headed to the summit. When I turned 30, I was in residency. I’m l

This latest health trial has drug out much longer than I ever expected. At first I thought, “three months and Entyvio will be working.” or Surgery is at the end of September, life will return in a few weeks... But here we are in mid-November talking about possibly needing to do some more surgery. I had not planned on this stressful journey going on this long. I was operating my daily life to just “eek by” for a several weeks… Not surprisingly, I wore down. I was collapsing in a heap of emotional exhaustion and tears almost daily.  What am I supposed to do?! How am I supposed to cope? How am I supposed to “choose joy” ???  I knew I was unhealthy, and Vanessa told me to pursue some “David time.” So, I  met up with Garth. He’s always a breath of fresh air, positivity, and a messenger of God’s hope and love. VISITING WITH GARTH. Visiting with Garth, I was reminded of James’ text, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because

My wife was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) about 11 years ago. We’ve been married for 12, so you can see this has been a major presence in our lives. She would have a major flare about every two years. Flares early on started out responding to steroids really well. But with each flare, getting her back to remission was more and more difficult.  It was no longer a bump in the road. Now, it was a half-year ordeal.   We became used to a life of uncertainty. “When will the next flare hit?” This was often a thought, but rarely spoken. It’s hard not to be superstitious. But I wouldn’t talk about superstition either. Cognitively I know my thoughts won’t make a flare happen, but “why tempt fate.” We also became used to planning vacations that would have little or no penalty if you had to cancel them. Because you don’t know. (This flare required cancelation of three planned trips). This last flare started in February. Humira had failed. When she started this medication two years