The Purpose Behind the Pain

The Journey They say life is a journey, and so far mine has been nothing short of amazing. For those of you who read my book, Waiting on God: Fear is not an Option, you are probably asking what could be so amazing about life when one is faced with so many adversities at a young age. It is true that it hasn’t always been easy for me, but through it all, I have grown and learned so much about myself and about others, and how to live my best life while dealing with adversities. I quickly learned that hanging my head and feeling sorry for myself was not making things any better. Instead, I learned how to make lemonade when life gave me lemons. My story has been an inspiration to others, and I continue to strive to do just what I believe God has intended for my life, and that is to serve him and to help others to get to know Him. In Waiting on God: Fear is not an Option I talked about the rare and incurable scalp condition, Perifolliculitis Capitis Abscedens et Suffodiens, that I have been living with since May 2010. Having gone from doctor to doctor and trying the many treatment plans they recommended, trying other remedies including herbs, cleanses, Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and since the release of that book in October 2011, my family and I continued our search for answers and for a healing. On this journey, I have grown so much spiritually and have developed a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. While friends have come and gone, He has always been my rock. Thanksgiving Day 2011 The more accepting I became of this rare medical condition, the more I began to realize that through it all I was going to have to trust somebody. After all, it had been about a year and a half since this whole medical ordeal started, and I had been to several different doctors and tried many different medications, none of which seemed to work for too long before I had another flare-up. Needless to say, I just couldn’t get enough of getting on my knees, praying and crying out to God and begging Him to have mercy on me and take it away. For some odd reason, my family and I never went to church on Thanksgiving Day. It just seemed like Thanksgiving Day was about eating lots and lots of good food and then slipping into a food coma. We would, however, pray together and never forget to give God thanks for all of the things that we usually take for granted daily. Thanksgiving Day 2011 was different for me though. My friend, Resheida, invited me to go to church with her again and I said yes. As difficult as it was for me to drag myself out of bed that morning, everything in my spirit was telling me I needed to go. I quickly got dressed and met her there. Because I was running a little late, we slipped into some seats at the back of the church. Resheida wants to move up a little closer to where we normally sat, but I insisted that we stay right there in the back. Not too long after, I just happened to glance over to my right and saw a young man with a scalp condition that looked very similar to mine. His head was not covered, so for the entire service I just stared at his head. The Pastor asked all first-time visitors to stand so that the congregation can welcome them, and the young man stood up. This was not a coincidence at all that this was happening. I knew I had to talk to this young man after the service. I whispered to Resheida that I wished I had a copy of my book, “Waiting on God: Fear is Not an Option.” To my surprise, she just happened to have her copy with her and she pulled it from her purse and gave it to me. I thought that was such an unselfish thing for her to do. I was so happy about the way everything was working out. I just kept thinking that none of this was a coincidence; it was meant to happen this way. I could feel this young man’s pain, and I wanted him to be encouraged. I wanted him to know what his options are, and I was hoping that he would choose Jesus, like I did. In that book, I talked quite a bit about how I was coping with my own insecurities, fears, pain and discomfort from the condition. I also had some encouraging words for anyone who may be dealing with something in their lives and didn’t know what to do or where to turn. If only he could read the book and realize that he is not alone.