Bionic Woman

I think the majority of Americans are too young to remember The Bionic Woman, a television series 1976-1978.  And I was so uninterested in the 2007 film that I have no knowledge of the actors or plot. But I am interested in what Wikipedia refers to as a bionic ear, or a cochlear implant.

My sweet Daughter-In-Law will become a ‘bionic woman’ next week, so we have good reason to be interested in this device and the surgery involved.  Please, lift her in prayer for the next month or so.

It’s not just the surgery, which is daunting for anyone, but the following adjustments and therapy that we will be praying for. Any surgery, in my books, requires a bit of prayer – that the surgeon’s best performance will be accomplished; that the support staff will be at their attentive best; that no germs will find their way into the operating room; that recovery will be uneventful.  Anything else will be covered by the Holy Spirit:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26 KJV)

Her life will change, drastically. She will hear things unheard since her childhood – birds, wind in the trees, traffic – things hearing people ignore, listening only for ‘important’ sounds.  She will hear things she’s never heard before – the sound of her husband saying, “I love you,” though she’s read those words on his lips a million times. She will hear the voices of her children. Things we take for granted.

She will have a new perspective on life, but that she’s done before.

You see, my DIL is a Christian. Her life changed when she turned it over to the Lord, years ago.  She saw things differently after God became a central focus in her life.  My son’s did, too, when he accepted God’s gift. Together, they have melded their lives into church and family, able to see where the Lord blesses their love for Him.

As Paul wrote, there is a newness of life:

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4 KJV)

Those are words our pastor used when my son was baptized, and I expect they were used for my DIL, too, as for our denomination, baptism does represent the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is an outward sign of the inward change in our lives, a way we can witness to others that we follow Him.

DIL’s hearing will not be perfect. And, early on, she will need to relearn what to listen for, how to ignore some sounds.  There is an overwhelming abundance of sounds! Beloved Husband experienced something similar with his first hearing aids.

New Christians can be overwhelmed, too. Instead of ‘physical therapy’ there’s discipleship, the assistance of older Christians to help them through the changes that occur in their lives. But – that’s a different blog!