Debby McCuiston, the “Queen of Clutter-Free”, does a segment for us each Sunday on simplifying our lives, getting rid of “clutter”, and focusing on what’s important. We look forward to her words of wisdom each week & hope you enjoy it too! Take it away Debby….

After several weeks away – I AM BACK!!!! Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been the “voice in the wind” telling you to clean up the clutter and put away your mess, hope you enjoyed the break because I am ready to get back to the business of decluttering our lives.

But before we get back to the business at hand, I would like to catch you up on my weight loss journey. In the last month I have gone from hoping against hope that insurance would approve my surgery to God providing the money, surgical team and hospital even though insurance denied it not once but three times. In a matter of less than one week I was honored to watch God work miracle after miracle to make a dream of mine finally come true, in His perfect timing.

To recap, my general doctor had said that if and when I reach 170 pounds (which meant a weight loss of 70 pounds) he would ok for me to have the surgery to remove the extra hanging skin. Needless to say that journey took several years as I am sure many of you have fought the same battle over and over, one step forward two steps back. Then this past spring I finally was able to make an appointment with my doctor to show him I had reached the goal he had set and to get the ball rolling to make my dream a reality.

Well, if any of you have ever wanted something so bad you could taste it you will definitely understand how I felt as I sat in his office waiting to have him say “Good job, let’s move forward”. But as I waited for those words the words that followed took my breath and almost sent me to the floor – “I doubt that insurance will pay for this surgery, we will try but don’t get your hopes up”. REALLY? I have done the work to get the weight off and the one thing standing between me and my dream of having a fit body is the approval of someone setting behind a desk that has no idea how this will change my life and probably doesn’t really care. But I left the doctor’s office confident in the fact that the good work that God had started in and out of my body He would see it through. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He knew what I needed and exactly when I needed it, so I was able to rest in that fact. But to say I wasn’t disappointed would be a lie.

Knowing this would be an uphill battle I went to see the same surgeon that two years ago had removed basal cell cancer from my face and was confident in his ability to do a “simple removal” of the left over from weight loss. In fact to be honest I was sure he would want to do it that same day! (YES! I will admit I live in a dream world) He did confirm the fact that it was very important to have this skin removed so I could continue and complete my weight loss journey. Since he had never performed this type of surgery he wanted me to see a plastic surgeon thinking insurance would be more likely to approve it then. The miracle in this is I was able to get in to see the plastic surgeon 2 days later, normally there is a waiting period of a few weeks, so I knew God was gearing up for something great. As I left I was told it would be at least four weeks before we would know if insurance approved it or not. I prayed that God would hurry that process along as only He can do. Miracle number two- within two days insurance called the office and said that the surgery would not be approved. Well, stink fire!! In my head I just knew that this was the direction God was leading.

So back to my original surgeon to see what to do next. Because he so believed that for my health I needed to have this done he agreed to do the surgery. But once again insurance denied the request and it didn’t matter how important they said it was, no deal. Miracle number 3 – heard back from insurance the very next day, the office staff was so surprised and kept saying- that never happens, insurance takes forever to let you know anything.

Now that we had a surgeon willing to do this, the reality that I had to pay for this myself came crashing in on me. That evening I posted on face book this results of this journey so far and if anyone had about five thousand dollars laying around please let me know and I promised to put it to good use. Warning: be careful what you post because you never know who will read it. In God’s perfect plan my youngest sister read it and mentioned it to my mom. In the meantime my husband and I had decided to apply for one of the loans for cosmetic surgery that was available through the plastic surgeons website.

Miracle number 4- One hour before we had planned to get on line and fill out the application my mom called and said the Lord told her to send me a check for ten thousand dollars. Needless to say I cried like a baby and told her no, that we were taking care of it through a medical loan. She went on to explain that when she sold her house last year she had put this money back for each of her daughters. The plan was for us to receive this once she relocated to heaven. But she decided she wanted to give this to us now so she could see us enjoy the money instead of her never knowing how it changed our lives.

Miracle number five- So on July 11th I had surgery to remove 12 to 15 pounds of hanging skin. One week later all 86 staples were removed and I was walking upright. It has been one month this week since that blessed day, and my husband is recovering from have to take care of me and I am one VERY Happy lady. I can say I finally am able to see the difference and feel smaller in my space. I am not finished with this journey; I still have about 30 or 40 more pounds I would like to lose. The words my doctor said to me on my first checkup will forever ring in my head, “This was not a mommy makeover, this was important for your health and to make it possible for you to complete your journey!” needless to say I promised to make him proud!

So as of today I have gone from a size 24 to a size 12 skinny jean, Miracle number 6!! I am having a difficult time being patient though the healing process, waiting to get back to walking 3 miles, riding 6 miles, lifting weights and being back to my normal life. So through this I am learning to lean in to Jesus, to trust His timing and His plan. I thought I had a wonderful plan but He had a better plan! I thought I knew what was best for me but He knew what was the best of the best for me!

I know beyond my wildest dreams that God has dreamed even bigger dreams for me and I can’t wait to see what is around the corner! Never doubt that God has a plan, be confident in the fact that He that has begun a good work will complete it in your life.

Now enjoy to break because next week we will hit the floor running trying to get our lives and house back in order!!