Friday, October 2, 2015

What's your 10-2?

10-2 will probably never be the same for me. I guess I should say... THANKFULLY 10-2 will never be the same for me. It's the day that I got the worst case of whiplash I have ever had. That was D day -  Diagnosis Day for Parson. The day when the doc said that really long phrase as they wheeled her out for her first surgery.  Whew. My neck gets sore all over again when I recall the events of that day. 

But you know what? Three years further down the road from d-day, I am a MUCH better person. I know what matters. I no longer sweat the small stuff. I cherish moments and people, not things. I am assertive. And I have developed some mad negotiation skills. 

One of those really dark nights when Parson was very sick, I prayed in desperation for God to save her. I looked up on the bookshelf and "Plan B" by Pete Wilson jumped out at me. In this book, he leads the reader to discover that "Plan B situations force us to rely on a power beyond ourselves."  The book helped me reframe my situation in the shadow of the cross and navigate the greatest storm I had ever faced.   

It is kind of a cool kwinky-dink that the CB lingo for 10-2 means "Receiving Well".  It is reaffirming to the symbolism of what 10-2 has been in my life. Some days I actually want to scream to the heavens "I'M RECEIVING IT WELL. My cup runneth over Good Buddy." On the tough days I want to scream "UNCLE! You have got me on overload. You can stop sending me 10-2  messages at any point."

Not gonna lie, some days are just tough.  The day when one of the 11 Meds squirts out of the extension tubing all over your work clothes. The day when you haggle with insurance over coverage of IV needles. The day when you wake up and learn one of the lung transplant buddies you have made along the way got his angel wings last night. The day when the home health report list your kids prognosis as "fair".  Those kind of days are just tough. 

And even though the 10-2's define us, it is the 10-3's and 10-4's that are the difference makers. Someone once said "Adversity introduces a man to himself." Ain't that the truth?!? How you play the hand you have been dealt is really where the rubber meets the road. I heard a quote that sums up the 10-2 kind of days. "When you trust God with your greatest fears, you discover your greatest joys."

So what's your 10-2? When is the defining moment where God really got to your heart?