I woke up the morning of my mammogram feeling pretty crabby. I was anxious and worried and just plain frustrated with myself for feeling anxious and worried. I dropped the kids off at school and then had a heart-to-heart with God. “Hey God. I’m so sorry that I’m so ugly today. I’m not trusting you. I’m letting my fears get the best of me. I need you, God. I need to you re-route my brain. Please, God, help me think about something else.

And so over the course of the next three hours, God and I put together a plan for my new book called, “Courageously Kind.” We worked out the main sections of the book and the stories I would use to illustrate what it means to be courageously kind and why people should do it.

I was in the waiting room adding the domain name courageouslykind.com to my online shopping cart when a technician named Brooke called me back.

I watched as she did the ultrasound, but honestly, it was pretty boring. I kept wondering how a person could handle staring at fuzzy black and white pictures all day… I asked if she’d ever been able to surprise anyone with the news of twins in the ultrasound room and she told me stories of soon-to-be-parents getting the surprise of their lives.

Brooke walked me across the hall to the mammogram room where I met Jessica. Jessica was awesome. She was just the perfect combination of business and bubbliness. And she let me buy my website name before somebody else snatched it up.

When we were nearly done with the images, I noticed a picture hanging in the room that had been drawn by a little boy. “Is that from your son?” I asked. “No. That’s my nephew. My sister and I share this tech job and this room.” Then she paused before telling me that her sister’s husband was just admitted to a burn unit after suffering severe burns from an explosion at his plant.

I told her I would pray that God would provide her entire family with an inexplicable Peace that only He could provide.

Her eyes lit up and she said almost gleefully, “Oh! You’re a Christian!”

We went on to talk about how every experience in our lives becomes a testimony to how great God really is.

It was time to leave. Before Jessica opened the door, she said, “Can I give you a big hug?” I wrapped my arms around my new sister and whispered that I would pray for her and her family.

I walked out of the room so thankful that God had given me something else to think about.