2019: A Look Forward

As the new year begins, a blank canvas lies before us. One can only imagine the colors and landscapes which God will paint as the year progresses. What wonderful new surprises and blessings await us. What hardships and sorrows lie before us.

I look to an email I wrote ten years ago in which I was overjoyed to be alive. A health crisis should have sent me to heaven, but God intervened and saved my life. I was thrilled to have another year lying before me. I was excited to dive into another year. I look with a heavy heart at this enthusiasm. That following year was full of much heartache, grief and sorrow. My health took a downward turn and has continued on the road of unfortunate health.

I now look at each year as a new challenge of endurance. I know many obstacles await me. I know my faith will be tested over and over again. God has promised as we grow in our faith, we will face many trials. My mind wonders what hurdles must I clear this year. Will the pseudomonas infection in my respiratory tract be healed? Will the infection become worse before it gets better? How many doctor's appointments and days in the hospital will this year hold?

I always make a new year's resolution that I will stay as far away from the medical world as possible. However, I know this is always unrealistic as I already have three appointments scheduled for 2019. Instead, I opt to fulfill my dream--being a medical missionary. I know in this dream of mine I see myself as a physician in some far off land saving gravely ill children. I am able to perform some simple lifesaving technique which saves an entire village. However, this is not God's plan for me. Instead, my medical missionary work is completed by being a patient. When I am in the hospital, I am on-call 24/7. I am constantly on the mission field trying to be the best possible Christian and at the same time, trying to save souls. Through kindness and sharing God's word, I work from the confines of a bed situated in a single room. Although the way in which I complete this task is different than what I had imagined, the end result is the same--working the medical mission field.

May 2019 be filled with much joy. May 2019 be your best year yet. May God richly overfill your cup with many mercies, blessings and miracles. Whatever lies before us, may we glorify God in all that we say and do. May we let our light shine, and may we be a beacon of hope to those around us. Shalom.