Celebrating, a year later

I have an affinity to dates.  I remember dates of birthdays, anniversaries, key moments in life.  When I say I remember, I'm not kidding.  I can tell you dates of elementary school friends birthdays that I haven't talked to in forever....it's a weird thing, because often I can't remember what the actual date of TODAY is, but can tell you a zillion other "important" dates.
So, it was no surprise to me that I have been anticipating February 25 for weeks now...If you know me and have followed my journey, you know that I suffered from neck pain for 12+ years and we couldn't figure out what was wrong or how to fix it.  If you want details of all of that, just go back through my plethora of posts over the years to see everything I have tried in order to find healing, from drinking clay, to crazy diets, to shots, to acupuncture, to mental imagery, to nose surgery, mouth appliances...it is an incredibly long list.  BUT, last year on February 25 I had my last procedure done.  I had a doctor (Dr. K) that would NOT give up on me.  He believed me in my pain and wouldn't rest until he had tried everything he could think of to heal me. It all happened by chance that he had a patient have a procedure done for different reasons and resulted in the release of her neck pain.  A week later, I had a checkup with him and he was so excited to see me and tell me about it.  Within another week, on February 25, 2016 (a very snowy Thursday)...I was having the same procedure where they would "un-tie" my tongue.  The healing release was nearly immediate, although it took weeks for me to tell people as I was scared I would jinx it and the pain would return.  Looking back a year later, I am in awe of the journey God took me on in the 12+ years of pain.  As I sat yesterday reflecting, I was going over in my mind the whole timeline of that day...what I was doing, when I was actually sitting in the chair, the emotions that I felt, the after-tongue-tie appointment with the therapist the same day....It brought me such joy to say, a year ago at this very moment, I was having surgery on my tongue and saying goodbye to pain. Thank you Jesus!
It's a year out now.  I have been mostly pain free for an entire year.  An entire year.  Just a couple months before this surgery I was praying and asking God to help me be "okay" with not being healed and to help me find a way to live with the pain for always.  So what's been happening?
I feel GREAT!  I'm rebuilding strength still in my upper body, after babying it for 12+ years.  I feel a little stronger every week.  I'm doing workouts that a year or two ago, I NEVER would have been able to do.  I have energy left at the end of the day.  It used to be that I would "survive" the day and then after faking it all day long with my students I had NOTHING left to give my family, no patience, no energy, just grouchiness and the desire to just be done and lay down.  NOW???? I come home with a smile (mostly, haha), and energy left to give my family.  I don't fall into bed at night praying I can sleep through the pain.  I don't take or rely on tylenol every day...You guys, I helped keep the company in business for 12 years...I'm worried they aren't making money anymore without me! HA!!!  I work out and push myself to be a better, stronger me. I'm a happier person.
I've said before that although this journey was awful at times and I didn't know how to take the next step or how I would make it through a day...I wouldn't change a thing.  God grew me, drew me to him, made me question Him and dig deeper into what I believed.  I had to live out my faith.  It was no longer just something I said I believed, I had to believe it to my core, or I couldn't have made it through.  How do people do life without Jesus???  I don't know.  But those 12+ years are crucial to my faith and where it is at today...This past year has been pivotal as well...I get up and am daily thankful for health and healing.  There are days, like last weekend when I ran 2 miles (I am sooo not a runner) and it was nearly my fastest 2 miles in my adult life, where I cried up the drive way because I was giving all praise and glory to Jesus for the healing and the ability to rebuild myself.
The last year has been good...better than good...I am blessed.  Forever, February 25 will be a day that I celebrate... that I am thankful... that I think of my journey... that I reflect on God's goodness and faithfulness...that I remind myself of how far I have come in my journey with Christ and in life.  It may not be a special day to you, and according to the calendar it is just another day...but to me...It is a date that I cherish and celebrate greatly!  Thank you Jesus for a great first year of being healed...here's to many more!