I have chronic laryngitis. I get it a couple of times a year. It usually happens when I talk too much, which is an occupational hazard I have yet to figure out how to avoid.
It started with a sore throat, and then got progressively worse from Friday when I was croaking and wheezing out short sentence to Sunday when I was straining with every word.
On Sunday I made an executive decision, to not go to church. My morning prayer went something like this, “Dear God, I know you want me to go to church, but I can’t even image sitting on that hard bench trying to comprehend the message when all I can think about is how much my throat hurts. So instead Lord, I’m going to the cyber to finish my newsletter and then I’ll go home and not talk for the rest of the day so you can help heal my throat and bring my voice back.”
My plan set in motion, I wrapped a scarf around my neck (in 65+ degree heat) and headed for the cyber cafe where two and a half hours and about 10 throat lozenges later I hit send on my 8th e-newsletter.
When I returned home I made some tea and soup and put a video on and snuggled up on the couch for an afternoon of silence. About an hour later I got a phone call from one of Wezesha’s youth. He was in Ngong and wanted to come over. Not one to turn down an opportunity to see/talk/counsel the youth in our program, I told him to come over. Like many orphaned youth he was not properly socialized and had some questions about how to deal with certain relationships in his life. We talked for almost two hours. My throat was killing me, but I knew this was God at work and decided it was best to push through.
As I was walking him out, my neighbor across the hall who I barely know because she works a lot, invited me over for tea. I thought about declining because of the state of my throat but then reconsidered as I don’t see her often at this might be my last chance for a while to be neighborly. We had a lovely time talking and drinking tea. She researches women’s health issues for an NGO. I told her about my Kenyan children. She is also a single mom so we bonded quickly.
I left her apartment and went directly back to my couch, finished watching my video, made another cup of tea and went to bed. This time I prayed, “Dear God, it was you who made me talk today, that was not my plan, but I thank you so much for being able to share with the young man and my neighbor today. I believe that even though my voice is strained and sore now that you can heal me.”
The next morning Grace called early. I picked it up and said hello…and Grace said I can hear you are better. And I said a silent Thank You to my Lord and to Grace I said, “yes, it’s a miracle!”
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I was using Facebook on my Blackberry (a gift from a friend) and the screen went blank and a spinning hourglass appeared. Dread crept through my body! I hadn’t backed up my contacts! I tried putting in another battery – but the same spinning hourglass spun annoyingly on my screen. So I made a trip into downtown Nairobi to the Blackberry fixit place. The woman behind the big desk looked at me sympathetically and said, “I’m so sorry once this happens there is nothing we can do to save your data – your pictures, contacts, everything is gone. We have to reboot the memory to get it working again. It will wipe out all your data.”
“How much does it cost,” I asked.
“It cost 2,500/= (about $30).”
I was devastated at the thought of losing my contacts and the fact that I didn’t have an extra $30 to spare. Then she paused and a puzzled look came over her face, she said, “or there could be a miracle.”
She turned the screen of my Blackberry around so that I could see it and it was completely back to normal.
“Praise the Lord!” I said at the top of my lungs – oblivious to anyone who might be within ear shot. And I meant it. Praise the Lord for the small miracles he performs everyday!
