JR, Hank Jr. & Boyz II Men?

in Giggles,Thoughtful Thursdays on March 18, 2021

I’m a sucker for old school country music…actually any music; I guess that comes from not having one-single-musical-bone in my entire body. I’ve also had a Boyz II Men song rolling around in my head for a few days as well…I’ll see if I can’t tie those two together in the space I have. I have this extreme fondness for 80’s country, and a couple of days ago as I was messing around the house, and I heard an old Hank Jr. song called “This Ain’t Dallas“. I stopped in mid-task. I haven’t heard that song in forever! For those of you who’ve never had the privilege….here’s a little snippet:

“This ain’t Dallas and this ain’t Dynasty.

This is a real-life two job working family.

And I ain’t J.R. You ain’t Suellen

We’re just a man and a woman holding things together.

“I work every day the sun comes up from eight until five.

I don’t have a new Mercedes car or a chauffeur to drive.

My wife ain’t out shoppin’ with a country club queen.

Cause she’s workin’ in the morning until she picks up the kids at three.”

Now, isn’t that something? Let’s look at that for a minute. I grew up in the eighties. I grew up watching Dallas. I didn’t really watch Dynasty (I apologize to all of you Carrington Family fans). I wanted to live on Southfork (if I’m being completely honest, I still really want to road-trip it up there one weekend) and have all of the luxury available to me that they did. They only real problem with that plan? It isn’t real. And their lives were chocked full of problems. My life more resembles the song above. I’m not Suellen. And I thank my Heavenly Father that I am NOT married to J.R. Ewing!

Can I get an Amen?

So, where am I going with this? Girls, I ask myself that question every time I sit down at this machine to punch one of these posts out to you!

As for the Boyz II Men song? Well…it’s their End of the Road song. Now, I know it’s a breakup song…nobody panic! No one over here is breaking up. But, I have come to the end of a road, so to speak. And my life doesn’t resemble the TV show Dallas, it more resembles the Hank Jr. song.

I’m just regular.

Many of you who know me, know that I have suffered and dealt with migraines for most of my life…most of, meaning, close to forty years. I’ve been to so many doctors and tried so many things, treatments and far-out ideas that I’ve lost count.

We crossed over into the chronic and complex category of headaches, where, unfortunately, the medical community has been stumped by me. All of my doctors have told me that I’ve basically come to the end of the medical road. There is nothing more that can be done for me. However, we were referred to one last chance—a long shot, if you will. Last week my husband and I met with one final doctor, this one claimed to be different, better, and an expert.

They all say that.

However, after my visit, I believed her.

The first curveball she threw at me, was that I had been misdiagnosed with classic migraine. WHAT?! I know this woman did not just try and tell me I DO NOT have headaches.

No. She did not.

What she said, was I do not have classic migraines. I need to listen. After her exam of my actual head, and not the typical field sobriety test that all the other neurologists did, she concluded that most of my headaches are stemming from irritated nerves in my head, rather than cranky chemicals in my brain.

See the difference?

It took me a minute to register that.

Classic migraine headaches are most likely caused by a chemical inside the brain and can be treated with medication. Meds, most meds, do not work on me. What has had some success with me are the outer treatments; for example, cranial injections: Botox and anesthetics. Why? Because those paralyze the nerves on the outside of my skull.

In short, I’m not wired up right. (Insert your own joke, here)

My nerves are probably a jumbled mess in the back of my head.

So, how do we fix it?

Surgery.

A surgeon, highly qualified and super skilled, will go in at the back of my head, root around, untangle everything—leaving my stellar wit and charming personality in tact—and stitch me back up. Boom! Once I recover from the procedure, my chronic migraine headaches, should be reduced to episodic, meaning only once in a while.

So what does that have to with Hank Jr. and Boyz II Men? Well, when I was little, I had these plans…big plans. Southfork…staff…country club… Living with constant and chronic pain was not a part of that plan. This disease has stolen years from me. But now, my plans don’t seem all that important. What matters more are God’s plans: The very first verse that springs in to my mind is Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future.'” That was the first verse. Then I thought a little bit more about life and plans and the everyday goings-on, and woke up this morning to a GIGANTIC pile of vomit, courtesy of Fat Dog, in my office. I fear that she’s not long for this world. That’s another story, for another time. But, it still makes my heart hurt. And it makes me think of another verse, John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.” That’s more like it. Pause.

Do you have trouble this morning? Are you cleaning up vomit? Or spilled milk? Or coffee? Trust me when I tell you: It’s okay to cry over spilled milk. “In this world you will have trouble.” Those are the words of Christ Himself. He knew it, Girls. He knew we would struggle and stumble. He knew we would long to live in a place we would not be able to get to. Yet, through His utter and total awesomeness, He provided us with Hope and a Future and a Promise not to harm us, but to…wait for it…prosper us. Why? How? What? You see, I didn’t give you the full verse from John 16:33. I cut it short. Jesus knew we would have trouble, but the rest of the verse reads like this: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The world will throw everything it has at us. It will try and make us slip in spilled milk, it will make us gag in the vomit, it will make us hurt over the surgeries that are supposed to relieve the hurts and sufferings, and make us long for the mansions of Southfork, the spouse we don’t have, the job we wish we had, the hard luck we wish we could escape…all of those things add up to loads of trouble and heartache….but Jesus has overcome ALL of that. The song says that this ain’t Dallas…we’re just working to make ends meet. At my house, we work when the sun comes till the sun goes down. Through all of that, Jesus matches me step for step. He is with me while I try and make sense of all the of the senseless things that go on all around us. He will be with me in the time leading up to the surgery, in the operating room, and beyond. He is with you, too, while you sit at your computer reading this. He is with you driving, walking, sleeping, and kneeling beside hospital beds. In this world we will have trouble, but Jesus has overcome it ALL! And all God’s sisters said….AMEN!!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll keep you posted!

One thought on “JR, Hank Jr. & Boyz II Men?”

Comments are closed.