It's 10:30 and I'm just now dragging myself out of bed. I spent virtually the entire night awake due to a non-stop incidence of restless legs - and this after having taken my normal medication. The symptoms have subsided now, but they almost always do by morning time. I woke up at 7 a.m. after maybe an hour of sleep because I had a breakfast appointment with my dear friend Doug Feil, and I was somehow going to drag myself there because I so enjoy Doug's company. Daphne took one look at me and wisely called Doug on my behalf to cancel for today. Bummer. I honestly don't know what to do. I've ordered a month's supply of the Neupro patches from Canada - $300 per month even with a prescription, but this is the only medication I've ever taken that truly allowed me to sleep without any RLS symptoms. If the patches work like they used to, we are hoping that a friend of ours will help us cover the cost to purchase a year's supply. To be honest, I am getting so desperate to get some sleep that even if our friend doesn't help us I would sacrifice something else to pay for the patches myself. I sent in the prescription and the order forms 10 days ago; when I called yesterday, I was told it would take another two weeks before I would get the medication (???). Wow. This could be a rough two weeks. I'm preaching this Sunday and next Sunday at church - what happens if I have another night like this on Saturday? The title for this two-week series is "The Promised Land" . . . ironic that I chose that title, since all-night insomnia is not what I would call Living in the Promised Land. Actually, now that I think about it, all of God's promises are true for all His children - including those of us with RLS, or Neuromyotonia (like my brother John), or Parkinsons, or Cancer, or . . . If I can't live today in the knowledge of His presence and His constant care over me - in spite of sleeplessness - then I'm living as a practical athiest. No, His promises ARE true today, for all of us. I want to learn what living in the Promised Land looks like today, right now, with my insomnia and feeling drugged all day long. If His Joy and Peace and Rest aren't my reality right now, then I guess I might as well throw in the towel. No. I KNOW He is faithful, and I KNOW I can trust Him, and I KNOW that His children all around the world are experiencing far worse trials than my insomnia. Lord, give me your perspective!
We went for our normal morning hike two days ago; about half-way along, a woman coming from the other direction said she'd just surprised a mother bear and two cubs a couple hundred yards further on. We looked for them, but they were long gone by that time. Then Daphne spotted some elk just off the path ahead of us, and about 13 of them crossed the path and disappeared into the woods. We've walked this trail a dozen times and never seen any wildlife - when it rains, it pours.
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