I'm sure to my husband I must have looked like some strange bunny/snake hybrid as I stopped mid sentence and curled up my top lip to expose my two front teeth. "Did you see that?!" I pointed and demonstrated again what had been happening all day. I pressed my tongue against the back of my front teeth and blew hard, hissing and spraying spit all over the kitchen trying to blow bubbles from the crack in between my front teeth. I read his look of " You gotta be kidding me" and annoyed I answered his look loudly, "I'm
totally serious! Hey!
There!...Seeeee! Did you catch that?! It happened again!" As I finished my sentence, I felt a little bubble pop against my lip. Usually I find bubble blowing fun......when I'm doing it purposely through a plastic wand or with my favorite Stride, sweet-peppermint gum.....random spit bubble blowing from the gap in my front teeth...is just plain disturbing! My husband was thoroughly amused at my discovery and laughed heartily, "Oh, I
know you're serious!" He made a mental note, I'm sure, of my newest obsession, added it to my ever growing OCD list and without delay, began administering the proper medicine. He crossed his arms, and offered no comments while I continued blowing, hissing, spraying and counting the teeny bubbles as they popped. I caught him watching with raised eyebrows and a smirk. "I'm still serious!" I began to giggle and together we broke out in laughter.
This most recent obsession with my teeth, that had been lying in peaceful slumber the past few months, has been pinched awake and its resurrection is totally due to my husband....well.....his tooth. Both he and I have cracked molars that our dentist has been keeping an eye on. Mine is still intact....so far. His finally fell apart a few weeks ago. After his trip to the dentist, my husband announced that he had an another appointment to add to the calender. One with a specialist for a root canal. Immediately I was grossed out and filled with horror. All I could picture was a scary, unknown dentist drilling his way through sensitive pink gums, mining his way under roots and teeth. What a disturbing under-the-gum canal had to do with saving a tooth was totally beyond my realm of thinking and seemed to accomplish nothing besides fear and torture. Googling "What is a root canal?!" we found out what it
really was and were both pleasantly shocked...it didn't look all that bad! "Are you nervous?" I asked, looking from the diagram on the laptop screen to his open mouth and broken molar. "Nope, just don't want to do it." My tongue went to the huge, growing gap in between my front teeth (well, not really) to the deep, crater from the jagged fracture on my right canine tooth (*sigh*, OK, again, not
really....but it might as well be!). My tongue continued it's hunt for tooth imperfection in the search of my own cracked molar....I couldn't remember which tooth it was...but I knew it was there somewhere and with wide eyes, I put my hand to my mouth. It's a matter of time....
Recharged and refreshed from our anniversary weekend get-away, together we were ready to take on my husband's root canal. With a book and a warm cup of coffee, I waited while he was escorted back to the procedure room where he was warmly greeted by the dentist. I listened to their cheerful banter and sunk more comfortably in my chair reassured my husband was in good hands. With skilled hands and warm "chair side" manner, the dentist was beginning the steps needed for my husband to have a healthy mouth and a new, pain-free tooth. I snuggled in the worn, blue waiting room chair and began to read. The lively conversation between Gandalf and Frodo began to sound distant as my book pages softly faded from sight and thoughts of anniversaries past flooded my memory. Jesus leaned in closely from the chair beside me and as our shoulders touched he gave me a playful, gentle nudge. "You remember, don't you." With a wide smile and heart overflowing with gratitude, I looked onto the face of my Great Physician and Healer, "Master, I'll never forget."
~ The Appointment ~
12 years ago, near our 10th Anniversary, Jesus sent me an appointment card. Nervously fiddling with with the card in my hands, I contemplated what to do. "I could easily cancel", I thought, "or better yet, just not show up!" Fulfilling my appointment with Him would mean going back on a promise I had made to myself as a young bride on my wedding day. My sweet, new husband must never know the deep, dark secret that I kept hidden deep inside of me. "It's just a tiny crack. No one else can see it." I was confident I had perfected my acting skills and I was equally as confident they would surely continue to grow even stronger in time....and who knows....maybe this tiny crack will just heal itself and go away. The tiny crack never went away. It gradually grew larger and larger with each year of our marriage. Infection soon set in and to protect my husband from any contamination,
I kept him at a safe distance at arms length. Flicking at the card with my finger, I wrestled with my fears, until the painful throb from my infected wound made the decision for me.
~ The Procedure ~
I jumped a little as the leather chair began to slowly tilt backwards. As it gently hummed into position, Jesus adjusted the over head light and shinned it deep inside my open mouth. He quietly worked as my heart pounded. "Is it bad?" I mumbled with his hand still in my mouth. "Nothing I can't handle." was His swift and confident reply. My neck, back and legs started to ache. It felt like I had been sitting in that chair for years.... would He ever be done?! Sensing my discomfort, He let me rest. He watched my face as I examined His work with my tongue. All I felt was a gaping hole. Tears sprang to my eyes at the shooting pain my tongue had made against the raw gum. He squeezed my arm gently and gave me a reassuring smile as He got up from His chair. "Hang on. I have something for you." I turned my head to hide my face and a steady flow of tears washed down my cheeks and drenched the pillow underneath me. As I quietly sobbed, I heard the soft footsteps of Jesus' return and the hard soled footsteps of another. "Child, I need your hand." Jesus gently took my arm. Instead of a paper cup with multicolored pills to numb the pain, I felt a warm hand firmly enclose around mine. In shock, my eyes flew open and I turned to look up into the face of my husband. He began to blur as tears violently flooded my eyes and tore down my cheeks. I curled up and shamefully hid my face. My body heaved and shook with crying that seemed to boil and bubble from the pain that nestled itself deep inside my soul. "He's going to see....he mustn't see!!!", I sobbed as I sat up to escape. Jesus gently pushed me back into the chair and my husband kept his firm but loving grip. There was more work that needed to be done and Jesus wanted to use my husband as part of the the medicine to mend my wounded soul.
~ The Healing ~
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
It was a painful and shameful process lying in Jesus' chair, but I allowed Him to work, cleaning, packing and resurfacing my wound....and all the while....my husband kept his strong, loving grip. Grabbing my free hand, Jesus helped me sit up as the chair hummed to its original upright position. "Better?" He asked with a reassuring squeeze. I rubbed my newly cleaned wound. "It's still hurts a little....and it's really sore." I knew I had a long road of recovery ahead, but the ache of my healing heart was dulled by the two warm, loving hands that held mine. "He stayed?" I looked to Jesus, shocked my husband didn't leave at the first, gruesome, sight of my diseased wound. "I knew he wouldn't. That's why I chose him for you."
That was the moment where I finally understood the depth of "one flesh". Allowing my husband to see
me....... finally gave him full access to
all of me. My wound was a wedge keeping us from fulfilling God's plan for our marriage to be emotionally bonded as one. The lifesaving root canal my heart received from my Master Physician was a blessed gift, giving my husband and I a new, healthy marriage.....exactly as God had intended.
~ Today ~
The numbness had finally wore off. My husband pulled me close, gave me a kiss and thanked me for going along with him on his root canal adventure. "No problem!" I smiled as I kissed him back. *pop*......"Did you see that this time?" I giggled. "Nope." He smiled, letting out a long, deep breath. My heart sang in its ever strengthening shell that Jesus transplanted. My husband gets me, he understands me and better yet....he knows exactly how to deal with me and all my crazy little ticks. "No, " I thought in my husbands embrace..........."thank YOU!"
<3 Happy 22 years to my best friend! <3
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