Tuesday, March 9, 2010

FEAR: THE NEEDLE WIELDING DDT

TOP 10 (fear inducing) Concerns
Needle wielding;drill brandishing DDT

This may appear a little drastic,but you weren't there, but then maybe you have been there. So yesterday I went to the dentist. I put it off as long as I could. I had reasoned with myself that this visit would not be a painful one. After all, we've been through this before. I was going for a crown buildup. I had already survived two(!) back to back root canals. I still have a tooth extraction to do and my cowardly self is still sitting on a ledge, refusing to be talked down. I have an excellent DDT for sure. She graduated from Georgetown School of Dentistry with a degree in Forensic Denistry. That was the clincher for me. Her office is in a questionable part of town wedged between an Asian Food take out and an Indian Food Sit down.
So I'm in the chair trying to appear clam. She has a new assistant named Joy. What happened to the old one? I didn't know her name but she was highly competent. Finally the Dr comes in, "wielding an extremly long and large needle. She says sweetly, Open wide, I'm just gonna do a series of injections rather than one long one like the Root canal guy did. She said that it works better. Funny, I really appreciated the one long injection because you're numb before its over and the needles appear to be smaller. Besides the Root Canal guy has medium screen TV placed strategically in front of the chair. She said that it wouldn't hurt  because all of the nerves were dormant because of the root canal. She managed to find the one that wasn't. So I grabbed hold of both my hands and held on tight. My DDT said that I was  a "good patient". Her assistant said that I was a "good patient" So it became a mantra. "Look she is a very good patient, why she is so calm". "Good patient, Good patient". (Imagine if you were talking to your dog, using that soothing baby voice). At some point during this surreal experience, I wondered who they were talking to. Finally the needle torture  was over. I found myself shaking and sweating. I know I was definitely having an out of body experience.
So they came back and this time the DDT was wielding a high speed drill. She was holding my head back in a vice like grip and drilling with the other hand. Her assistant was using the suction tip like a weapon trying to keep my unruly tongue from moveing. All the while they were still with the "you're such a good patient". Sort of hypnotic. So in an effort to entertain myself while this was going on, I thought of compiling a list of my top 10 greatest fears and listing them like Letterman. Definitely this experience was going to be the Number 1. But then I thought that I should find an antidote for this fear. Where could I find it but in the scriptures. Our Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. Today on my ride in to work, I was listening to my fav Southern Baptist Evangelist Rev Chuck Swindal.(I listen to him every morning for my daily dose of scripture lessons.) His subject today and for the rest of the week was overcoming your fears by trusting in God. He said that everyone has a top 10 list. But the key to overcoming the fears on the list is to trust in God. He said that and I just had to laugh out loud. Here it is:)
      
2 Timothy 1:7 (Amplified Bible)
7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

Phillipians 4:6-7(Amplified Bible)
6Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
7And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

A principle with a promise.
Ps: I survived the needle torture, my DDT and I are still on speaking terms:)

2 comments:

Alicia said...

OH man this is so funny! You crack me up. My poor husband couldn't study because I kept laughing so hard!

koshell said...

Funny girl. You should write funny books. Thanks for the scriptures too.