I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post that I had some dental work done this week. I also mentioned how vital the needle in the gum is when it comes to having your tooth drilled out!
The needle in the gum did its job marvelously! My mouth was completely numb for the procedure! (Thank you needle in the gum!)
And my mouth was still completely numb three hours later … when I was back home preparing dinner for hubby and myself.
The dentist had advised caution when attempting to eat, so as not to accidentally bite my lip (and cause damage).
Therefore, I decided that soup would probably be a wise choice to have for dinner. Soup seems harmless enough. You don’t have to chew anything … soup can just slide right on down.
Voila! Soup!
It is a bizarre experience trying to eat when you can’t feel your lips or half of your mouth! I couldn’t feel the spoon. I couldn’t feel the soup. I just had to trust that everything was normal, and swallow as if everything was normal.
The soup I chose to have was homemade lentil/brown rice soup – which was thicker and more like stew. This was a very purposeful choice! Something along the lines of Chicken-Noodle Soup or Tomato Soup would most likely have dribbled out all down my chin (and made a mess everywhere!).
Have you ever thought to be grateful for the ability to feel things??
After attempting to eat without any feeling in my lips, I now am supremely grateful for the ability to feel things!
Oftentimes, we take our ability to feel things for granted. We don’t even think about the ability to feel a soft fuzzy blanket. Or the soft fuzzy fur of our beloved pet.
Or the warm sand underneath our toes.
Or the touch/hug of someone we love.
Have you ever thought about the ability to feel grains of rice.
Or the feel of dirt as you work in the flowerbed … or the feel of grass under bare feet.
Or the feel of hot pavement under bare feet.
Have you ever thought about your ability to feel ice cream as you eat.
Or Key Lime Pie.
Or your ability to feel popcorn or potato chips as you eat. Or your ability to feel a hamburger as you eat. Or what a salad feels like.
God didn’t have to give us the ability to feel things. He could have made us with the ability to eat … but not the ability to feel what we are eating.
It’s not until we lose our ability to feel what we are eating that we realize just how much the enjoyment of eating is tied to being able to feel what we eat.
And not only that, when we are able to feel as we eat, we can then eat without creating a mess all over the place! Just like the dilemma of not being able to feel my lips … and worrying about soup dribbling down all over my chin.
In life, if we don’t have the ability to emotionally feel things … we likewise can create a mess all over the place!
Being able to emotionally feel things is also a gift!
* God has given us the ability to feel joy!
* We can feel cheerful!
* We can feel sad.
* We can feel lonely.
* We can feel scared.
* We can feel anxious.
* We can feel annoyed.
* We can feel offended.
* We can feel frustrated.
* We can feel angry.
* We can feel bewildered.
* We can feel amazed.
* We can feel grateful!
We feel emotionally because God has given us this gift of being able to feel things!
Sometimes we don’t know what to do with these feelings. That’s when we get into trouble. And the feeling “dribbles out” and makes a mess all over the place in our life!
The anger explodes in disaster all over everyone in our life.
The fear shuts us down and keeps us from doing anything!
The offense develops into decay of bitterness in our soul.
Thank you God that when we don’t know what to do with our emotional feelings, thank you that you are there to help us! Thank you that we can bring our feelings to you!
Thank you God that you help us control that anger.
Thank you God that you help us with that loneliness.
Thank you God that you help us with that fear.
The ability to feel things is a beautiful gift from God!
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel things!
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel what we eat!
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel a loving hug/touch from someone who cares about us!
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel warm sand underneath our toes, and tiny grains of rice.
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel cold rain pattering down on our head.
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel emotions.
Thank you God that you have given us the ability to feel amazement! Amazement at how great you are! … and all you have done for us!
Thank you God for giving us the ability to feel gratitude!
