Eyeliner Faith.

2012 was a ride. 

2013 has been a radioactive ride. 

This week was test week here in my house. 

The Big Sister had a midterm in Science. 

I had a Body Scan. 

No joke: she thought they were the same thing. I deserve the first Olympic Medal for 2014 for the sport of Parental Restraint. 

Anyway, this was my second scan of the year. In May, we got a diagnosis of a Thyroid Cancer Recurrence. There were aspects of the testing, diagnosis, and treatment that Spouse and I were not satisfied with, so we we went with Jesus. We were at peace with it. 

This week, after two days of injections and blood draws, I took myself to Nuclear Medicine Department and they gave me a new bracelet! This was my reward for two weeks of Low Iodine Diet. (LID is less than awesome, in case you were wondering.)

They also made me radioactive. This wasn't a treatment dose, so there was no isolation. Nothing like swallowing a pill from a lead canister that you can't touch with your fingers. 

Thursday, we went to Santa's Wonderland in College Station. So fun and so cold. The painful kind of cold.

Friday. Test Day. We had a celebratory lunch at Taste of Texas already planned. We weren't really worried. But, when doubt crept in, my mind would go crazy. What do you wear to a Body Scan? Do I bother with eyeliner? I don't even wear eyeliner every day. Just church. And special dress ups.

I enlisted my army of prayer warriors.

I put on the eyeliner. 

Sometimes, having faith means wearing the eyeliner.

This was my bed for an hour. With a nice, warm blanket.

My prayer was specific: "Cancer-free scan and immediate results". We had to wait a little bit and be a little assertive to see the radiologist, but we did get to see him and we did get immediate results. 

We were so grateful to hear him say, "I don't see any indication that this is anything more than residual thyroid tissue. Not recurrent cancer. And there is certainly no reason to treat that."

Praise the Lord. God is good and I'm his favorite.

Grinning.

Spouse and I didn't even know what to say at first. A lot of "Thank you, Jesus"'s. I'm assuming they were interceded into groanings that were eloquent and articulate. 

All of a sudden, I thought of the eyeliner. 

I got in the car and had a total nervous cry. Like Miss America. Like a sweepstakes winner. Like someone who had just been justified after dealing with well-meaning doubters and questions and spent a bunch of money on medical costs for the last 7 months. 

Like a person healed by an Almighty God.

This happened:

This is my life. Right here. Seriously.
They're all "Love you so much...Dork".

We got some little girls together and went to Taste of Texas for the first time. Can I just say, with all the love, "THANK YOU, ERICA, FOR TELLING ME ABOUT THIS GOODNESS AND I CUSS ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T!"

Our sweet server asked if we were celebrating anything. "Um, Yes, Robbie, we are celebrating a cancer-free scan." Robbie was awesome, "Praise Jesus! Let's celebrate!"
We did.

Are those Christmas nails so cute? They are so distracting while I'm trying to type here!
They are glittery acrylic powder, not polish. This is new to me. I'm very excited!

On May 12, 2013, I asked you for a specific prayer: 

"Pray it to be gone, in Jesus' name.
That's it. Gone.
I'm gonna be very honest here. I don't need "happy thoughts" or "positive vibes" sent my way. I'm asking for real, sold out, fruit-producing Jesus followers to reach out and touch his garment on my behalf and ask the Great Physician to speak life into my throat and kill the death.
Boom. That's it. Pray big. Pray expectantly.

All I want to hear from Jesus is "Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well."
(Matthew 9:20-22)"

Boom.

That's it.

God is good.