When Pain Lingers On

In the past, I have mentioned how this blog doubles as a digital diary helping me to look back at how my faith has helped me and my family through some of life's challenges. I have tried to respect my family's privacy and been vague about what some of those challenges have been but today I would like to address a specific challenge our family has been facing and what I am learning through the experience in the hopes that maybe someone who reads this might be helped or encouraged as well (even if that person is just me in the future who needs a reminder of this time of my life)
Pain - we all face it from time to time. Pain is a part of life. I believe God gave our bodies the ability (some would say our bodies evolved) to feel pain to protect us. Pain is how our brain knows there is something wrong from mild pain like the stove is hot or we are getting a sunburn or we have a scrape or cut that needs cleaning to severe pain that might tell us something is wrong internally like an infection, a broken bone or other internal injury. Pain can tell us to rest and heal or to see a Dr or to prevent further injury.
As a mom, wife, sister, daughter and friend, I hate seeing those I love in pain. I hurt when those I love are hurting. Over the past few years, my family and I have faced pain of all sorts - injuries, illness, surgeries, heartbreak and so on and it has all has been challenging. There is one specific situation I want to address here. What happens when the pain doesn't go away? And in my next entry I want to write about  How do you find joy while you are hurting or someone you love is hurting ?
Millions of people deal with constant pain. Causes of the pain might vary from arthritis or fibromyalgia, pinched nerves, autoimmune disorders, cancer, an old injury and this list can go on and on. Pain that doesn't go away or that lasts a LONG time changes you. It not only changes what you can do physically but what you are capable of mentally and emotionally and spiritually as well. Pain changes the person effected and all those in their lives. Relationships change. Friends disappear. Feelings of isolation, loneliness, depression, anxiety, frustration, anger and so on can set in (for everyone involved). Until you experience this yourself or with someone you love, you can't fully understand the toll it takes - at least I didn't.
My daughter's chronic pain was caused by CRPS or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome which in layman's terms means her nervous system is malfunctioning sending pain signals when it shouldn't.
As I type my daughter is in treatments for chronic pain at one of the best children's hospitals in the country. We have been here for 3 weeks. We have about 2 more weeks to go. The professionals (doctors, nurses, psychologists, physical and occupational therapists) treating my daughter and other children like her tell us that her pain will probably get better - with time. How much time, they can't say and she might have to deal with her pain for years (or longer) OR it could get better in weeks or months. In the mean time they are helping her cope with the pain and regain normal function and activity.
The hospital is teaching me too. We are learning about the power of our thoughts, of discipline, exercise, coping and relaxation "tools" and types of motivations. We are learning how by changing our thoughts and actions we can actual cause changes to our biology (our heart rate can slow or calm, our nervous system responses can change, and so on). We are learning the importance of dealing with our feelings instead of burying them or just "pushing through" them. Scripture has taught these things as well, but somehow I lost sight of it. For example "As someone thinks within himself, so he is.-Proverbs 23:7" We are not victims of biology or circumstances. Science is proving what Scripture already says. Dr. Caroline Leaf in her book Switch on Your Brain states“When you think, you build thoughts, and these become physical substances in your brain.” (For other verses and info on the power of our brain and thoughts https://medium.com/baysidechurch/7-verses-about-the-power-of-your-thoughts-8a50b8e1910f  or https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-our-thoughts/  and there are probably more) 
I am being reminded by this experience, by the medical professionals treating my daughter, through spending time reading devotions, praying and meditating (nothing fancy - just getting lost in my thoughts) just how powerful our thoughts and behaviors are. I see more than ever why God (in Scriptures) mentions frequently to be careful what we think and do. Life is always going to involve challenges, stresses, and even pain. What God and science are teaching me is that how we face the obstacles life throws at us through our thoughts, attitudes and actions WILL make a difference in the outcome of those challenges. Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.