A bit of relief...

Today's blessing may seem odd.  It might seem like an "old wives' tale" to some of you.  It did to me until the past month or so.  Now, I'm a full-fledged believer, even if I can't explain it.

Pre-kids (and even for awhile after kids), I used to work as a pharmacy technician.  I loved my job.  It was fast-paced, challenging, and I loved being able to work in a retail setting (what can I say?  I love people).   Anywho, I very clearly remember being asked, over and over again, for something that people called "sweet oil."  I had no clue what these people were talking about.  I finally asked my pharmacist one day just what these people were referring to.  He told me, basically, that when people get earaches, they would put warm olive oil into their ears for comfort.

I honestly thought these people were crazy.  Olive oil was for cooking, NOT for health treatments!   Besides, there were these great prescription ear drops that literally numbed the ear canal - how could anything work better than that?

I think God has spent a lot of time laughing at me this Lent.  I detailed some of that here, but this is in addition to what He's taught me so far this Lent.   You see, God's managed to humble me quite a bit this Lent.  How?   By giving me an ear infection.

I know I used to have ear infections when I was younger (I very much remember the "Strawberry Shortcake Medicine" of my youth), but I do NOT remember this sort of pain.  What started as a nasty sinus infection has turned into clogged ears that are now infected, inflamed, and just plain gross.  At times, I've actually contemplated ripping my ear canals out of my head somehow (not sure how, but that doesn't mean that I haven't tried to figure it out...).  The pain is horrendous.

One night, when I couldn't sleep (again) because of the pain, and I had none of those marvelous numbing drops prescribed to me, AND I'd managed to take the maximum dose of Motrin two hours earlier and couldn't take any more, I got desperate.  I was in severe pain, and needed to find a way out of it.

I went downstairs to our computer and googled, "Natural remedies for ear pain."

EVERY.SINGLE.ONE involved olive oil.   I kind of giggled to myself as I infused garlic into a pan of olive oil, laughing at the fact that just 10 years ago, I would have been horrified to be doing this. 

You know what?


It WORKED.  It was AMAZING.   I'm still not sure how it worked (I know garlic has anti-inflammatory properties, so I'm guessing that has a lot to do with it, but I'm not sure...), but all I know is that it worked, and I was finally able to get some sleep.

So tonight, as I mix up some more of this amazing concoction so I can hopefully fall asleep in NO pain, I am thankful for olive oil, and humbled to admit that I was wrong, so many years ago.