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My Sweet Friend
By coolgranny in The Paradox of Long Lives
September 9, 2009

One of my prayer warrior friends is not doing well. She was my walking partner in another neighborhood for years. Although she was 20 years older, she would always push for just another mile. I could never keep up. She was an avid golfer and club champ for years. We'd walk the three miles, and then I would beg off. She finally got her exercise by increasing our speed as the weeks progressed. We both needed our showers after our power walks. We both enjoyed our times together as we prayed for each other and our husbands.

She prayed constantly that I would have the patience necessary to deal with my husband as he progressed from being a total invalid to healing. She'd been through a similar situation with her husband. She finally resorted to electroshock therapy for him, and he came back to the land of the living. I prayed fervently for her then and still do.

She gave me guidance as I struggled with my own strange illnesses. Nothing the doctor prescribed was working, and he really was preparing me for a nervous breakdown. My friend just kept praying that my doctor would receive wisdom from God. As it turned out, I have sleep apnea, and now medications are slowly but surely disappearing from my medicine basket. Out of the blue several years ago, my doc arranged for the testing, and as the years have passed, I am healing.

I remember her insistence that I get my butt off the couch, and get to walking with her. She was so sweet about it, that I would just do it. I guess the breakdown would have eventually happened if it hadn't been for her ability to mother me. Now, she is the one who is on the couch, and the doctors are just baffled.

I went by yesterday and visited for about three hours. Her hub teased us about taking a breath once in a while. As we talked, she reviewed what was happening to her medically. I noticed that this once older but firmly muscled lady had turned squishy. I was reminded of the same scenario with another one of my best friends. Both women were born with Graves disease and took medicine all of their lives to keep the thyroid in check.

On a specific day in time, my younger friend's over producing thyroid just quit. She had a physical breakdown. Her husband found her in her garden playing in the dirt with smashed tomatoes all over her partially clothed body. Needless to say, she was hospitalized and monitored, and an endocrinology specialist was brought in to bring her back to the land of the living. She's fine now, but it was a close call for her.

I told this story to my older friend, and told her to insist on these free work ups every week if necessary. Her thyroid might be crashing on her. My girlfriend commented on how well I looked considering the past four years of my life. I reminded her that I had a special prayer warrior in my corner, and that I would go to my closet for her. I revealed that my problems also included an under active thyroid, and now that I am stable, my illnesses are just gone. I told her that I had to push my doctor for the free tests, so he could monitor the dips. I told her to tell him to monitor her for dips also. If my other sister in Christ hadn't been through similar symptoms, I wouldn't have had a point of reference for her. We just hugged for a long time when it was time to leave. I reminded her hub to follow up on my feelings. I have learned to listen carefully to my Spirit, and He took me to my friend yesterday. It was no accident that I just took the time to look in on her. God works that way. He connects us to each other in ways to glorify Him. You can bet that I will be checking in on her every day for a while. I may even go with her to her next check up and remind our doctor about what I went through because of apnea and thyroid issues. Such a little organ to cause so many problems!

My friends and I know that we serve an awesome God, and we were known before we were formed in the womb. We are wonderfully made in His image, and the intersection of our lives is no accident. I want my friend around when I turn 75, and I pray that God will honor this heart's desire.