Wisdom...Tooth

Last week was spring break, and as any good teacher would do, I scheduled all those necessary appointments that just don't fit in on a school day. One of the things I needed to do was see a dentist. It had literally been years since I had been to any dentist. Nothing was wrong when I scheduled the appointment, I was just long overdue for a check up and cleaning. But, of course, as soon as I found a dentist who could fit me in and made an appointment, I started experiencing lots of pain in my mouth.

You see, I come from a family that has a history of missing teeth. For my mom and brother, this means they are missing some important teeth and have had to endure lots of dental work. For me, it means that I only have 1 wisdom tooth. Yes, that's right, I still have it. And right after I set up my visit to the dentist, it decided to start making it's way to the surface of my gums. Good grief! It's no wonder babies cry when they are teething! For almost a full week I had constant pain on the right side of my mouth. But by the time I actually made it to the dentist, most of the pain had subsided and a lot of the swelling had gone down.

Another thing I have inherited is a major aversion to anything that might even come remotely close to being gory, bloody, or just plain gross. I know just as well as everyone else that people do not keep their wisdom teeth. They have them removed. But as you can guess, based on my previously mentioned squeamish-ness, this has not been a high priority for me. So when my dentist casually said, "We'll set up an appointment for you to get that tooth removed," all I wanted to say was, "I think I'll just hold on to that little bit of wisdom, thank you!!"

A few months ago I had coffee on a Saturday morning with my sweet friend, Ali. She is such a joy to be around. And, she is full of wisdom. The kind of wisdom I long to have. Wisdom that comes from knowing the word of God. Wisdom that comes from experience and living life. Wisdom that encourages. I was telling her about my long-time desire to spend some time at an orphanage rocking babies. She said, "Why don't you?" And that's when it hit me. All my reasons for not being able to go in the past were gone. I have summer vacation. I have some money saved. Why not? I asked her if she thought I was silly for wanting to do this, if it would be of any value. Then came her wisdom. Ali read this verse to me-
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

I made a quick stop by Georgia's Farmer's Market and then headed home to start researching ways to get connected with an orphanage. Several weeks later, after much prayer and deliberation, I decided to go to Romania with an organization called Projects Abroad. I will leave in the middle of June and am so excited! So, thanks Ali, for your encouragement, friendship, and wisdom.