A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.     Proverbs 17:22 Amp

I see sick people. That’s my job. Sick people aren’t always the happiest, most optimistic and pleasant people to be around. Sometimes they’re moody. Depressed. Irritable. Sometimes they see no hope, no encouragement, no way out.

But I embrace them, I care for them, and I want to offer them hope.

A while back I found myself in the patient chair. I didn’t like it. It didn’t fit. It felt vulnerable and exposed. Risky. Scary. Helpless. Dependent.

No long complicated story to expound on now. I’m happy to report that here isn’t much to report. 😉 There were abnormal findings on a heart tracing but subsequent testing found non-serious causes and now my physical health seems restored to normal. There was one particular verse that seemed to repeat itself in my mind during that season of uncertainty:

Above all else, guard your heart,  for everything you do flows from it.    Proverbs 4:23

Until that time, I had never attached the verse to my physical health. Of course I knew to guard my emotional and spiritual heart against the unseen enemies: bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, rage, jealousy..

But what had I been doing for the rhythmic, working,  24-7 beating of my heart? I had honestly been very diligent about improving my spiritual heart health, but had been guilty of ignoring the tangible, pounding, life-giving source in the center of my chest.

It was a sobering reality: facing the unknowns, the what if’s, the maybes, and the reality of mortality. I faced the harsh consequences of unhealthy living and poor choices but was later mercifully given an opportunity for reconciliation. A second chance. A do-over. The good news came with promises and expectations…maybe some unrealistic goals. It’s still a work in progress: better choices, more activity, living for more than just the immediate moment. One decision at a time. No condemnation.

So today I am thankful. Thankful for another day of living, breathing, seeing, feeling, loving, and experiencing good health. I am thankful for the 100,000 plus times my heart will beat today. I am thankful for good reports, negative tests, quirky but good EKGs.  Whose heart is really normal anyway? ❤

In the midst of reflecting on this event, I am reminded to be thankful for the physical health, motivation, and energy that enable me to go to a job that I love and that just might make a difference to someone else’s heart, health, and well-being. For all these things, I give thanks.