Chest X-Ray
I am sure many of you noticed my recent cough. It started in March after one of our preschoolers sneezed in my face. I never knew working with small children could be so dangerous.
I was sitting in the living room watching TV when I noticed a rattle deep in my chest. As hard as I tried, I was not able to cough anything up. It sounded awful, and every time I coughed my wife winced. After a week she demanded that I see the doctor. A round of drugs and two weeks later I was still coughing, so it was back to the doctor. Finally, I started to feel better, and then a week later it all started again.
Another visit to the doctor, another round of drugs, and a week later I was still coughing. Back to the Doc I went, and he sent me to have a chest X-Ray. Through the wonders of modern technology, I had the results before I had even gotten home. They were emailed to me. The last time I got a chest X-Ray that was not even a remote possibility. And the X-Ray showed, well…nothing! Nada, nil, naught, zilch.
When I shared the good news with my wife, she said, “Okay, what now?” The doctor had said something about seeing a pulmonologist, so I expected him to call with a referral. But when I woke up the next morning, the coughing had subsided dramatically. I only coughed four times that morning. The next day I had practically stopped coughing altogether.
This morning, Nancy, the office manager at Mt. Vernon Methodist, asked me how I felt. She had the misfortune of listening to me hacking for weeks. I told her the above story and she said, “All it took was an X-Ray! Next time, get an X-Ray first!”
I am not sure about the curative powers of X-Rays, but I do know that with some viruses, the best you can do is wait it out. That is not easy to do, but sometimes the best cure is patience.
We are in a season of waiting at Virginia Hills. Our groundbreaking ceremony is this Sunday, May 19th at 1:00. But as of this writing, we still do not have a date that work will get started. The best guess of our contractor is about four weeks. That means the project should be finished in time for next year’s virus.
As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, so we wander in the wilderness of Fairfax County building permit delays. When I get overwhelmed, our project manager, Steve Harris, tells me, “It will all be okay. By this time next year, you will be sitting in your new office.” We must be patient, trust in God, and wander a little longer. If that does not work, we can always get an X-Ray.
