Sunday Thoughts

This does get lonely.

I have a song for lonely days--Japanese Exchange Student by The Rocket Summer.  Right before summer started, my car broke down.  I live quite a ways from most of my friends, so I haven't seen a whole lot of them since school got out.  But without a doubt, the toothache makes it worse.

Today I found out that I don't have work for the rest of the summer!  So I can concentrate this week on packing for school and nursing my tooth back to health.  Or getting a root canal and then nursing my tooth back to health.  However that works out...

I wish I saw my friends more.  I wish they would come to visit me with my aching tooth.  But come to think of it, I don't even know if they know about my tooth.  Sometimes being a private person gets lonely.

Breaking news:  my mother just talked with the dentist.  If we want, he can fix my tooth, and I can be out of pain in 20 minutes.  Or I can wait till tomorrow morning and go see the specialist.  But how is that even something I can choose?  My dentist is someone I know, and it would be so great to be able to sleep tonight.  But on the other hand, if the surgery would turn out better at the specialist, it'd be worth another night of sleeping poorly for.  Anyhow, we're meeting him at his office in 45 to get some medicine from him and to see what we wanna do next...

The cousins are over right now.  Goodness, I love those guys.  We sit around and play board games and sing and tell jokes.  I'm gonna miss them while I'm away at college!  But whaddya do?

Well DANG.  Back from the dentist--he drilled into my tooth and took out some pulp.  I'm supposed to go back in on Thursday for the full procedure unless I can't sleep well tonight, in which case I'll go back in tomorrow morning.  My face is so numb.  But my mouth still hurts...guess that's possible.  I should take some pictures!

...Here's me, not sleeping well tonight.  One in the morning, waking up from the pain.  I get on Facebook.  And what do I see?

A fundraiser group for a boy I knew in high school.  He was on his mission on the other side of the world for five months, and he had to return home to Utah to battle melanoma.  Fighting cancer.  At nineteen years old.  His mother runs the page, and every one of her posts are saturated with love and hope for her son.

And here I've been complaining about a toothache and being lonely.

If I've learned any one thing from this tooth situation, it's that I want, more than anything else, to show love for others in their trials.  As I've been in so much pain, I've had people chat with me, hug me, rub my feet, rub my back, and pray for me.  Friends came to visit tonight, bringing cookies they made.  My dentist has texted my mom several times to ask how I'm doing and whether I'm sleeping well.  There's so much love in the world.  There are so many people with so much love for me.  I want so much to show my love for others.  I want to bear others' burdens, to comfort those in need of it.

We can't always fix other people's problems.  But we can be there with them, encouraging and loving them while they struggle through their challenges.  I believe that Christ would (and does) do that.  I want to follow His example.