Flex Your Bravery Muscles

A few weeks ago, I was sitting at my computer, and I was alerted that Brooke added something to our shared calendar. It said, "Dr. Belser Appointment."

Immediately I knew it was a voice appointment because that's what Dr. Belser does, but it was so much more than that. It was my wife flexing her bravery muscles.

Years ago Brooke's voice was barely audible, and she was always asked, "Are you sick?" It was frustrating and disheartening for her. Then, one day, she flexed those muscles of bravery made an appointment with Dr. B and got it checked out, which in the end lead to surgery, followed by ten days of voice rest. I wrote about it the first time around in a post titled Brooke Will Sing Again! (which if you want all the details about the first surgery, and a good cry, you should check it out.) It was a post of hope and anticipation to the day that my wife would be able to sing again. The surgery came, and the results were good, but Dr. B. told us, "the growth was a different kind than I thought, so there is a chance it may grow back."

Over three years later, as I sat at my computer, I was notified that Brooke was ready to flex those bravery muscles again. She had been noticing that her voice was feeling more strained, but hoped it was just the annual allergy-death-month irritating her whole face, but she wanted to be sure, so she made the appointment.

On the day of the appointment, she left a little glassy-eyed while saying, "It's going to be good either way because either it's just my allergies or I have the surgery again. I've done both before."

We found out that it's not allergies and another surgery, followed by ten days of voice rest is needed again.

In my first post about Brooke's voice, I wrote this,

"I always told Brooke that when she meets Jesus for the first time, she will be able to sing with Him as loud as she wants. But what God is doing now is bringing Heaven to Earth. He is not waiting to give her a new voice in heaven; he is doing it now because Brooke is too valuable to His glorious plan to remain silent anymore.

She has wandered through the wilderness of silence for years and is now ready to enter the Promised Land of singing.

She will be able to talk loudly and read books to our little girl June. She will be able to sing to the One who saves. She will be able to interrupt me when I am loud. She will be able to sing with me when I am making up songs about what I am doing. She will be able to sit down in coffee shops and have actual life-giving conversations. She will be able to talk at parties. She will be able to listen to music in the car AND have a conversation at the same time. She will be able to be a guest on podcasts. She will be able to be in videos we make for walk in love. She will be able to speak on a stage. She will be able to share her story. She will change lives with her voice."

And as I read those words now, I realize that all those things happened in the last three years. Brooke read to June, sang to Him, sang with me, went to coffee shops, talked at parties, talked in the car, was in videos, spoke from stages, and on podcasts.

And as I type these words, I just so happen to be listening to a new song by Hillsong Young + Free called Hindsight, which goes like this...

"My God isn’t finished yet
If He did it before He can do it again
So I’ll trust Him with what comes next
’Cause my hindsight says I can count on this"

And that's where we live as followers of Jesus. We live in that space where faith remains, even when second voice surgeries are needed, because we've seen the good that has already happened and we believe it will happen again.

I am so proud of Brooke. I know how hard that first time around was for her, but she still made the appointment, had the surgery and was silent for ten days. And by doing that she was able to bring a little bit of heaven to earth. 

You may find yourself in a situation like Brooke where you are holding off on a phone call or text message or conversation because of fear. Well today, I say to you, "Flex your bravery muscles and take that first step of faith. Because then, the next time you need to do it, your bravery muscles will be a little bigger."

You might be a couple of hard, but necessary, steps away from freedom, joy or putting an end to some pain in your life. Flex those bravery muscles, push through those hard steps and trust in God every inch of the journey because it will be worth it.

And lastly, to my dear wife - you are amazing. Your strength is inspiring and your self-control during ten days of silence (twice) will continue to challenge me. Your voice might never be what you hope it to be, but remember this - when you meet Jesus for the first time, you will be able to sing with Him as loud as you want. Great job flexing those bravery muscles!