Your Health is Stewardship

Let me start with a confession. From the outside, I hope it looks like I take care of my body. I work out. I run. I sweat. I wear the cute workout sets. I post the occasional running photo like, look at me making healthy choices. But if we’re being honest? When it comes to actually going to the doctor, getting things checked, and paying attention to weird symptoms… I tend to operate on a very questionable strategy called... “let’s ignore it and see what happens.” You know. The strategy... like, hmm… that’s strange. Anyway. And y’all… that strategy has bit me in the you-know-what more than once.

This whole saga actually started… wait for it… in 2021 with chapstick. Yep, chapstick. Story short, I had an allergic reaction to chapstick. My lips swelled, and my mouth was covered in blisters. The worst part, I had been applying it all day and remember thinking my lips are burning, but just thought they were chapped... until I went looked in the mirror. Y'all it was bad! If you wanna know, it was Sun Bum chapstick, so likely just a reaction to the aloe/sunscreen in the chapstick. Anywho, I left with my doctor referring me to an endocrinologist. Which felt dramatic at the time, like I came here for an allergic reaction and now this. Fast forward to that appointment and they say, “hmm… looks like you have a nodule on your thyroid.” I had zero side effects, so no big deal, they said. Lots of people have them. We’ll just monitor it, they said. And for about two years, we did.

Then life happened. The nodule kept growing, but nothing alarming. Then my endocrinologist moved.

And instead of finding a new one like a responsible adult… I did what many of us do. I said, “eh… it’s probably fine.” And by fine, I mean I stopped monitoring it entirely. Peace out. Out of mind, out of sight. Until... just last year. Now remember earlier when I said I like to wait until things are very obviously a problem? Well. One day I looked in the mirror and realized my neck looked like I had grown an Adam’s apple. Which, as a woman, felt like a pretty strong indicator that maybe something wasn’t right. And I went back to the doctor. The news... more ultrasounds. Another biopsy. More tests. Then the endocrinologist walked in and said something I will never forget. “you have a goiter the size of a lemon attached to your thyroid.” A lemon. A whole citrus fruit living rent-free in my neck. And the plan? Remove the goiter and my thyroid. And something about that just didn’t sit right with me.

So I did something I rarely do. I advocated for myself. I researched. I asked questions. And by none other than God, I found a surgeon in Tampa who happens to be one of the most experience thyroid surgeons in the U.S. performing more thyroid surgery and thyroid cancer operations than any other surgeons in the country. Even better, her surgeries are known to have the highest cure rates and lowest complication rates. It was a no brainer. I reached out, and guess what, SHE called me, her personally. We spoke one time on the phone. Not Zoom. Not FaceTime. Just a regular phone call. And something in my gut said, that’s the surgeon. So I scheduled surgery, honestly without even knowing if my insurance would cover it. Just figured, God will take care of it. So just two weeks later I flew to Tampa (with my Grany in tow), had my consultation (another ultrasound, a laryngoscopy, and a CT scan)… and the next morning I was under anesthesia, and on the second day after surgery I was on a flight back home. When I woke up, the first thing I heard was, “you still have your thyroid.” Y’all. She had been able to save it. Instead of removing the whole thing, she was able to only remove the bridge (so basically, I still have my thyroid but the left and right don't connect). But here’s the wild part. Once they got in there, they discovered the goiter wasn’t just attached to my thyroid… it was wrapped around both of my arteries and growing behind my chest bone. Something even the CT scan didn’t fully show. What was supposed to be a straightforward surgery became far more delicate and complicated than anyone expected. But she removed it. Through one small incision across my neck. And the official biopsy? Noncancerous.

Why am I telling you this? Because sometimes we treat our bodies like they’re indestructible. Or like they’re an inconvenience. Or like they only deserve attention once something is obviously wrong. But scripture says something very different. I'm guilty of treating mine like a storage unit... when something arises if it's not killing me, just push it further back. Untillll eventually your storage unit gets full. "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Notice something important. God didn’t say, “honor your body once something goes wrong.” He said honor it. Period. We talk a lot about stewardship with money, time, and talent, but your health? That’s stewardship too. Stewardship looks like going to the doctor, getting the checkup, asking the questions, listening when your body says something isn't right. Even when you feel busy. Even when you feel fine. Even when you’d rather pretend it’s nothing. Trust me. I tried the “ignore it” method. Zero stars. Do not recommend.

Hear me on this. Your body isn’t just something you decorate, criticize, diet, or photograph. It’s the house your soul lives in. And God cares about how we take care of it. So if something feels off… go get it checked. Don’t wait until you grow an Adam’s apple like I did. SO THIS WEEK, guess what I did? I'm getting all the appointments in... scheduled a dentist appointment, scheduled my annual exam, scheduled a hair appointment, and even a dermatologist appointment.

SHE Walks in Faith

Taking care of your body isn’t vanity. It’s responsibility. God gave you one body to carry you through this life—to run your race, to love people, to serve Him, to show up for your family, your calling, your purpose.

And sometimes honoring Him looks like:

• Scheduling the appointment

• Drinking the water

• Moving your body

• Resting when you need it

• Paying attention to the signs

Because stewardship isn’t about perfection. It’s about respecting the gift you’ve been given.

🩷 Prayer

Lord, thank you for the bodies You’ve given us. Forgive us for the times we neglect them, ignore the warning signs, or treat them carelessly. Help us steward our health with wisdom, courage, and gratitude. Give us discernment when something isn’t right and the humility to seek help when we need it. And thank You for being present in every detail of our lives—even doctor visits and surgeries. Amen.