Lack Thereof --

Sometimes...well...a lot of times, we make mistakes. Let me clarify: I make mistakes. I cannot in the least go into detail about what God is teaching me right now, but it has a lot to do with faith, pride, and humility (or lack thereof). In my own mind, I feel like I have just ripped something really amazing right out of my life--and it's my own fault. I know that it hasn't been completely ripped out, but I do know that it will take a while, and a lot of healing for things to be back the way they were. Well, come to think of it, I don't know if things will ever be the way they were. This really amazing thing...it's been bruised. To expand on that:

A bruise is also called a contusion (say: kun-too-zhun), and it forms because the soft tissues of your body have been bumped. Some people bruise easily, whereas others may have tougher skin tissue.

When these soft tissues are injured, small veins and capillaries (the tiniest blood vessels) under the skin sometimes break. Red blood cells leak out of these blood vessels. These red blood cells that collect under your skin cause that bluish, purplish, reddish, or blackish mark. That's where black-and-blue marks get their name - from their color under the skin.

Bruises go through colorful changes as the body begins to heal itself. The color changes mean that your body is metabolizing (say: muh-tab-o-lyze-ing), or breaking down, the blood cells in the skin. This is the chemical process that your body goes through to repair itself.

Imagine a baseball hits you in the leg. Ouch! Your body will go through the following phases:

First, you'll probably have a bump that will look red or purplish and tender. The bump might swell from the blood collecting under the tissue.
After a couple of days, the bruise will look blue or even blackish.
After 5 to 10 days, it may look greenish or even yellow.
After 10 to 14 days, the bruise will most likely be a light brown, then get lighter and lighter as it fades away.
Most bruises will disappear after 2 weeks, and some go away even sooner. However, if a bruise does not go away after 2 weeks, let your parent know.
http://kidshealth.org

Well, I guess the swelling has gone down, but it's still definitely painful! But, thank goodness that my Abba (Jesus!) cares about it before it hasn't gone away in two weeks. He is HELPER and HEALER, and He is healing this. He is healing me. I am detrimental to my own self...and yet He is healing me of that. Fantastic.

There are so many metaphors for this, but I have asked God so boldly for healing and forgiveness in all of this. He is the only one who has the power for that!

**Thank you, Jesus, for your wounds. For, by your wounds we are Healed.**