A Beautiful Brain

The brain is an amazing organ. I believe it points to an amazing God. Yesterday morning, our science lesson for the day was about the brain. This was quite appropriate, as I was scheduled for an MRI of my brain in the afternoon. Let's see how many times I say the word "brain" in this post. This will be a fun game. It will be a no-brainer. Brain, brain, brain. Say it enough times, and it suddenly becomes a foreign word that you've never heard before. Seriously. Holly and I used to play that game when we were kids. Pick a word. Say it a million times. Freak out because you no longer know what this word is or what it means. Try it, you'll love it! It's a completely brainless, meaningless thing to do!

Okay, where was I? The brain. Right. Even on a first or second grade level, it is obvious that the brain is a complex and wonderful machine.

I mean, come on. It can gather data from a particle of scent floating off of a paper bag, compare it to the files in your memory bank, and cause you to recall a long-forgotten incident in which you were in your grandma's kitchen looking for something to eat but investigation of the cookie jar revealed a very dead mouse. This made you scream your head off which caused your grandma to rush in and ask what in tarnation you were making such a fuss over. This memory makes you miss your grandma and that special way she always said "tarnation", so you go into your kitchen and bake cookies and write "mouse traps" on your shopping list. All this from one little scent particle that went up your nostril into your brain! Now, that's amazing, isn't it? And it makes you wonder what was in the paper bag.

The brain being the vital organ that it is, having something go wrong up there is fear-inducing. I know I've already shared all that part of my story, but I would just like to say, once again, how thankful I am that I've had Jesus walking with me through this whole thing. The message at church on Sunday was about fear, and how it can cause us to sink, like Peter did, when he was walking on the water toward Jesus. When Peter's eyes were on Jesus, he actually walked on top of the water! For real. That is amazing. But as soon as he looked at his surroundings and lost his focus, he began to sink. But Peter didn't drown. No, Jesus was right there, offering His strong and steady hand. 

He's been right next to me, too. Every time I look around me and start to become overcome with fear, Jesus pulls me up before I go completely under. As I drove to the hospital yesterday, contemplating all this, I was reminded of Isaiah 26:3, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." I like the wording of the King James version. It describes the mind as being "stayed on" God. That makes me think of a fixed position. Unmoving. Being of one mind. Focused on Him. And when we do this, He gives us perfect peace.

I looked forward to this day for six months. I was excited to have the medical world confirm what I already knew: that my brain has been beautifully healed by the best doctor in all the land. So, I made it through the MRI by thinking about Jesus, and then I had a really nice visit with Dr. Nice! Dr. Nice makes me smile. He is such a cute, little doctor. I did not expect him to be very expressive or excited about my good report. That is not his style. But that's okay, because I was expressive and excited enough for us both.

I smiled real big at that guy when he came in the room. I just knew it would be good news.
 "Well, I looked at your MRI, and it looks beautiful," he said with some hesitation.
"That's great!" I was beaming.
"There is no trace whatsoever of the lesion that you had...that is pretty rare...um...this is very positive, but I don't want to say you are out of the woods yet. Come back and see me in a year, and then we'll see what happens."
I wanted to laugh. I said, "You know, this is an answer to prayer. God healed me! That is why there is no trace."
Dr. Nice glanced at me quickly from the corner of his eye and went back to his notes. "Well, whatever you're doing...keep it up, 'cause it's working."

Okay, Dr. Nice. I will. I will keep it up. I will keep taking my Scripture medicine. I will keep my mind fixed on the Great Physician. I will keep thanking Him for every wonderful, healthy day He gives me on this earth. I will praise Him forever until I die, and then I will praise Him some more.

Forever.