The Healing Process

As many of you know, I had hernia surgery almost 3 weeks ago. I have to say that I've never had surgery before and while I've had cuts and sprained ankles, the healing process for this hernia repair has been very different.

For the first few days, I kept Ice on the incision and was very diligent about my pain medication. It was difficult to sit up, get out of bed or do anything that required the use of my stomach muscles. As time progressed I started to get more mobility, less pain, more flexibility and more options for clothing. However, now that it's been almost 3 weeks I've entered into another stage of the healing process. I no longer have intense pain but rather I experience annoying discomfort. The scar is starting to set in and the stitches are dissolving. There's still a little swelling but for the most part I'm feeling pretty good . . . Until . . . I move just right or my pants rub on the incision. That's when I feel a small amount of pain but mostly I feel just an annoying discomfort.

Our church has experienced a fair amount of pain over the past 4-5 months. We've had about 50+ people decide to leave the church. We've see a dip in giving by about 32% and it's been very painful. In fact it's been much like the first week or so after my surgery. Not sure how to stand, not sure where to turn, not sure how much to say or to whom. However, I believe that the healing process has taken place at The Carpenter's Church. The major pain seems to have subsided but the annoying discomfort still exists. Every time we hear about someone who has decided to hide behind an e-mail and blast our leadership or someone comes in and meets with one of our pastors to voice their "concerns" about the the church the pain comes back and you sense this annoying discomfort.

I truly believe that God has allowed this pain and even the annoying discomfort to build up our leadership, solidify our vision and prepare our church for the massive undertaking of reaching Northampton County for Christ. I believe that our church is on the edge of something great. If we can endure the pain and the annoying discomfort long enough, the true healing will take place and the Great Physician will lead us on the next leg of our journey.