SPEECHLESS

So, today was the day that I have told y’all about. I got to go speak to 500 medical professionals about my journey with Psoriasis (Pso) and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). I can’t believe it is already over!!

Last night I had a practice session where we tested out the microphones and got a feel for the stage, etc. We had the best time!!  I met some really amazing people. Since I was just giving the story of my life, I wasn’t too worried about the questions until practice. At practice, I was chasing rabbits all over the place. Eeekkk!!!  We only had 15-20 minutes allotted to us and y’all know I can talk about me for hours!!

After practice, Mom, Gypsy, and I went up to our hotel room to go to bed but I decided to pick what I was going to wear on stage. I had taken 4 outfits. I had been excited about 2 of the outfits, that is, until I tried them on in the hotel room. Ugh!!! I didn’t know what I was going to do, but had agreed that I would wear an outfit that I didn’t feel was “business appropriate”. (It wasn’t risqué at all but it wasn’t what I deemed appropriate.)

We were beyond exhausted when we finally went to bed, but I could not sleep. All I kept thinking was that I was going to get on that stage and chase rabbits and go over on my time and I was going to do it wearing something I brought to wear for the trip home.

About 3:30 am I heard Gypsy stirring so I got her out of her bed and we went into the bathroom. I wanted to soak in the tub and maybe relax. After soaking I decided on an outfit that I brought that I forgot to try on. I ironed my pants, prayed that God would give me the words to write out the cliff’s notes version of my journey and went back to bed. I felt so much better.

We got up this morning and took our time getting ready and I felt pretty confident. We went down to the conference area for me to get my mic on (I felt like a preacher hehe) and waited for my time to go speak. We waited and waited and did some more waiting.

The lady that was from the medical company that was helping me went to see how much longer it would be until I went on and when she got up, my mind went completely blank. I looked at mom and I said, “my mind just went completely blank. We may have a problem!”

Finally, it was about 5 minutes until my interview so they came out and got us and took us to our seats. My mouth was dry and my mind was still blank. They had a bottle of water at my chair so I drank some to “wet my whistle” as my daddy would have said.

Then the man on stage said my name. It was time. Mind is still blank of any information. I was nervous in a calm kind of way. There were no butterflies and I didn’t have the feeling I was going to throw up or pee my pants and my heart rate was normal. I knew at that moment what was happening. God didn’t give me the words to write my cliff’s notes version… He took over. He gave me a calm and He gave my journey in a way where everyone was going through the emotions with me. They laughed, they clapped, and they were in awe of my before and after pictures. Many of them came over to me and asked to take pictures with me. I was shocked. Everyone I came in contact with stopped me and told me how much they appreciated my story.

I cannot and will not take the credit for this interview going so well. God carried me through the entire interview. I could go back and tell you the exact moment that God took over for me.

My precious Father in Heaven takes care of all of my needs every single time.  Yes, I prayed for Him to help me but I didn’t even think about Him helping me during the interview, but He did. He went above and beyond what I prayed for!!!  How amazing!!  Thank you Lord for knowing more what I needed than I did.