Hilar-ious

I was reading my friend, Darla's, blog post about "four children" the other day (see the blog "I Get To" on my left sidebar) and had to leave a comment. If you have ever left a comment on a blog or bought tickets online, etc. you have to "enter the word as you see it above" in order to prove that you are a real person instead of an automated system or something.

So, I typed my comment and looked at the "word" I am supposed to enter to have it approved for submission. The word was "hilar". I almost fell off my chair.

This word may not mean a lot to you. And it didn't mean much to me until August 23, 2008 when my family practice doctor called my to give me the results of my chest xray from the day before.

"Mass in the right hilar region". Words that have changed my life as I know it.

So I made a post-script comment on my comment to Darla's blog stating the fact that I had to type in hilar and how odd was that being that it was the location of my tumor.

Later, I got a response from Professor Darla (she really is, by the way) that was astounding:

What I also think is interesting is that what is one of the biggest obstacles you've ever faced - the tumor - is the Latin root word hilar which means "a little thing" or "trifle" and of course the root of our word hilar-ious. So, all that to say, I know it's not funny, I know it's very, very serious but maybe that puts a little spin on things to think..."My tumor is hilar-ious."

But the really great news is that God is concerned about all the "little things."

So this thing that has been such a BIG part of my life as of late is defined as a "little" thing. And, big or little, as Darla said, God is concerned.

Isn't it great?