Tag: Fear

In my effort to win the “Wife of the Year” award, I try really hard to fix supper on the nights I’m home and to pack a lunch for Scott and I Monday thru Thursday.  Last Tuesday, I roasted a chicken in the Instant Pot for dinner and then for our lunches, I took the chicken we didn’t eat to make chicken salad sandwiches.  I have done this successfully in the past.  I simply put the leftover pieces of chicken in the Ninja, grind them up, add some pecans, grapes and dressing – voila, chicken salad.  I’m telling you, the sandwiches looked devine as I packed them in our lunch bags for the next day.  However looks can be deceiving.

When it came time to eat my sandwich the next day, about two bites in I came across what I thought was a pecan shell.  No problem.  While this is hard to describe without sounding gross, I separated the shell from my food and discarded it into my napkin so I could continue eating.  It was in the very next bite, I came across what I thought was piece of shell number two.  This time after I placed the piece in my napkin, I took a little peek at it.  sorry for the grossness, but true story.  I was a little bewildered, because the piece didn’t really look like a pecan shell.  However as an obviously slow learner, I kept eating my sandwich.  I was two more bites in, when it happened again.  This time I had to thoroughly investigate.  It was clear what had happened.  I had ground up a chicken bone while making the chicken salad.  I threw my sandwich away and quickly called Scott to warn him.  I was too late.  He had already eaten his sandwich even though he had actually discovered a small bone piece similar in size to a broken off toothpick.  If you know Scott, it won’t surprise you that he ate the sandwich despite finding a bone in it.

All I could think about was how many times have I heard, “Never feed your dogs chicken bones because they splinter and will puncture the dog’s intestines.”  I quickly googled what happens if you eat a chicken bone.  The articles that popped up were centered around a dog eating a chicken bone.  I learned the signs I should be watching for included:

• Vomiting or retching
• Drooling or panting
• Restlessness and looking uncomfortable
• Tiredness, reluctance to move
• Refusing to eat
• Stretching repeatedly or moving oddly
• Whining, crying when his tummy is touched
• Bleeding from his bottom, diarrhea, or straining to empty his bowels
• Other behavior that you don’t normally see in your dog (such are growling) and that might indicate pain or discomfort

I didn’t know how many of those symptoms I might see in Scott so I continued my research based more specifically around humans, I learned that in a few unlucky patients, swallowing a chicken bone causes serious problems. About 10-20% would need to undergo foreign body extraction through endoscopy.   Furthermore, about 1% of patients end up in the operating room to undergo major surgery for serious complications. These include intestinal perforation, bowel obstruction, internal bleeding (hemorrhage), abdominal infection (peritonitis), and abscess formation (pus collection). These complications often develop a few days after ingestion of the chicken bone.  All we could do now was wait….

Obviously, all is well, no surgery required although my “wife of the year” status is in great jeopardy.  While we laugh about it now, there were a few minutes where the worry trait that I inherited from my mom and grandma came rushing over me full force.  If I told you some of the what if’s that went through my mind, you would be convinced I was partially crazy.  I must admit this worry factor can be a real problem.  I notice it more and more the older I get.  Just last week (after we survived the chicken bones), I was in Mobile holding my beautiful, 4 month old grandbaby.  I caught myself at one point looking at her and becoming preoccupied with worry.  I thought of everything that could happen to her from the flu to cancer.  I had to literally push those thoughts from my mind.

The number of scriptures that tell us not to worry are more numerous than I can list here, but there are a few worth mentioning.  Matthew 6 and Luke 12 both record Jesus speaking to His disciples about worry.  These passages include such phrases as:

• Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink nor about your body what  you will put on
• The heavenly Father knows what you need, so seek first the kingdom of God
• Do not worry about tomorrow
• Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature
• Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink nor have an anxious mind

It is also in these passages where Jesus references the birds of the air and the lilies of the valley compared to us as an example of how He takes care of them and accordingly He will so much more take care of us.

There is also:

Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you.”

All of these scriptures based on worry and anxiety tells me two things.  One, I’m not alone.  Jesus knew this was a real problem for many or He wouldn’t have put it in the Bible so many times.  Two, there are too many wonderful experiences in life to waste any time at all in worry and fear.  Not that this comes naturally or easily, but I’m committed to keeping my mind worry free.  Now this doesn’t mean if I ever think I have done something to put our lives in jeopardy again I won’t Google what to do or what to look for, but I won’t let the worry consume my day.