I really debated all week whether to share with you about my cold sore. After all, talking about cold sores are definitely not fun. But I want to share with you the things it has taught me over the course of the week.
Ever since I was little, I got cold sores. They are painful and ugly. As I’ve grown older, I know what triggers it for me. Stress and spending too much time in the sun, and not protecting my lips. All I have to do is to use a Chapstick with SPF and that’s usually good enough. As I was on vacation, I was definitely not stressed about anything, so that wasn’t the cause.
I went away for a week to the Caribbean, and not once did I apply my Chapstick. Matter of fact, I didn’t even have one in my possession. I thought multiple times that I should just purchase one, and then the lazy side of me said I didn’t need to. It had been years since I’ve had a cold sore.
So, after a lot of time in the sun, and a lot of debating with myself, I ended up not buying the Chapstick. Then I woke up the last day of the trip, with the very familiar tingling sensation in my lip. Oh no! All of a sudden, I was applying lip gloss (which is of no use in this situation). Lo and behold, the dreaded cold sore started showing itself in a matter of hours.
As I was headed for the airport for the return trip, there was not much I could do, except wait until I got home and head straight to the pharmacy, which is what I did. And then began consistently applied Abreva and my new Chapstick. This is where the saying comes in, ‘an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure’. Yup, that’s so true in this case.
You see, I could have easily prevented this, but I didn’t. I think of all the situations in my life that I get myself into that I could have easily prevented, but I didn’t. I think of the consequences of those actions. Thankfully, all it was this time was walking around with an ugly cold sore with everyone asking what happened to my lip. Is that what happens too when we do things that we know we shouldn’t?
My daughter is especially teaching me how I think God responds to these situations. She looks at it thoughtfully and then comments that it’s ‘yuck’, but she proceeds to try to make me feel better by planting little kisses all over (not on my lips). While I don’t think God will wink at our faults, I know He’s there with open arms ready to welcome us back, once we acknowledge what we’ve done and come to forgiveness.
In this process, I’m also learning something about myself. Over the last few months, I’ve gained control of myself by letting go of things that would drive me crazy. Normally, I would have tried to pick and prod on it, which would make it only worse, but this time, I’m allowing it to run its course, and giving it time to heal, on its own.
So while this week you may look at me and see an ugly scar, and not know the story behind it, I’m seeing the progress of how far I’ve come. Sometimes, when we see things in other people’s lives, let us not jump to conclusions about what they’ve done, instead, let us try to help them in love.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the way you see us and treat us, even when we’ve created situations that were our own silly faults. Help us to come to you first, knowing that you are the only one that can fix whatever situation we find ourselves in. Let us look to you for guidance in everything we do.