Moles

Have you ever had a mole (or something similar) that just appears, and over time you get used to it, but deep down you really don't like it? Ted has had such a mole. It was small enough on the surface, that it didn't look like a mole. It was just a bump on his nose. In fact, it looked like a pimple. I got used to seeing it and it didn't bother me much. I often forgot it was there. Sometimes, I just didn't look closely enough at Ted to even notice it. The other day, when we were at my friend's wake, the lighting was such that it made Ted's mole really stand out. The light cast a shadow on the mole and it seemed bigger than normal. All of a sudden, it really bugged me. I approached him in my usual, loving manner and said, "You need to take care of that thing". He was surprised. I explained that in the current light, it looked really bad. In fact, it was all I could see.

I wonder how many times I have lived with a "mole", but it didn't bug me enough to do something about it? Sometimes we just need to shed the right light on it and we can see it for what it really is. God has been shedding light on my moles lately...on me and my relationship with Ted. They are small things we just lived with and didn't think anything of. They didn't bother us a whole lot at the time, but now God is showing them for what they truly are...in His light. We didn't see them as a big deal, but you know, a mole can be cancerous and can spread. It may start small, but it could get bigger and take over in other areas of the body....right down to the lymph nodes. Who wants to take that chance? Might as well nip that mole!!! After all, when it's smaller, it's a lot easier to take care of.

Ted got two moles removed the other day (the other one was behind his ear, on his hairline). Just like that, they are gone! The dermatologist who took them off, told him the one on his nose had a deep root. When they have a deep root, they aren't discolored...they blend in with the skin. So maybe that's why we didn't play attention to it that much because it blended right in. The doctor said she doubted they were cancer, but she would send them off to the lab anyway.

I don't know that all the "moles of life" are as easy to remove. Sometimes they are more gradual and painful to let go of. I believe that any "mole" in life can be a cancer if we let it. The more we don't see it's threat, the more powerful it is and it's ability to spread becomes greater. It's when we see it for what it is, that we can take care of it. I wonder if I have other moles that I need to take care of? Maybe that's my new prayer, "God, show me my moles... in your light".