Update:
With Christmas being tomorrow, I
will not post an update on December 25th. I’ll resume posting updates the day after
Christmas.
My doctor’s appointment yesterday went very well. He was very pleased with how the amputation
site was healing. He decided to remove
2/3’s of the staples and use suture tape in the gaps where the staples had been
removed. I will go back in two weeks to have
the remaining staples removed and then I will start physical therapy to begin
preparing my leg for the prosthesis. The
doctor said that in two weeks’ time from surgery, the wound would heal with about
50% strength. At four weeks from
surgery, it would heal at 75% strength.
The remaining 25% would take two additional months to heal. Once again, I was warned very strongly about
falling and injuring the amputation site.
I was also told that I can now reduce the amount of time that I spend in
the leg brace. I still have to sleep
with it on (bummer!), but I only have to wear it 50% of the day. I’ll probably
continue to wear the brace when I am out in public where there is an increased
chance of being bumped into. Yeah! I’m
making progress!
True to his word, my surgeon and I traded bad jokes back and forth and
had a wonderful time laughing while he pulled my staples. Here are two examples: 1) What do you get
when you cross a lion with a watchdog? I
don’t know, but it makes the mailman VERY nervous. 2) What do you get when you cross a bridge
with a car? You get to the other side of
the river. GROAN!!! I warned you that they were bad.
I am now allowed to take a shower!! Woot! Woot! Our bathroom and shower area are both small
so it will take some thought and effort to actually get me safely in and out. My
wife and I mentally pictured how it might work; but I’ve never actually tried
it before. —now it is time to try it… My daughter, Ruth, gave me a haircut and then
Karen helped me get into the shower.
What a wonderfully delicious feeling!
For those from church, Calvin Paudler stopped in to see me Monday
afternoon. Calvin and his family
attended our church until they moved to Nebraska earlier this year. At 3 ½ years old, Calvin lost his right arm
in a farming accident. I was always
amazed what Calvin could do one handed after years of practice. It was good to catch up and to be encouraged
by this man who has lived with limb loss and has never let it stop him or slow
him down.
Tuesday morning, my children and I will set up for Candlelight
Service. Then I’ll go home to rest up
before the 8 p.m. service. I need God’s
wisdom as prepare my devotional and His strength to get me through the service. Pray that we have a good turnout of worshipers
and the service is meaningful to them.
Thought for the Day:
Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent
forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…
There are many scripture passages regarding the birth, life, death, and
resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
There are numerous Old Testament prophecies concerning the Christ, His
lineage, His birth, and His reign. The
Galatians passage above tells us that when the time was ripe, God sent Jesus to
be born of Mary who was a Jew. Israel
followed the Old Testament law and religious practices. Romans armies had conquered the world and
enforced a peace that allowed free trade of goods and ideas across wide
expanses of territory. Israel was under
martial law and the nation chafed under Roman rule. They longed for the promised Messiah who
would set them free and establish a worldwide kingdom that would last
forever. Israel would be propelled back
into prominence as the world leader. The
nation would throw off the yoke of foreign oppression and be free once
again. The people were looking for some
warrior prince that the nation could rally behind and lead them to oust the
Romans and re-establish the famed Kingdom of David.
What the people and religious leaders didn’t understand was the parts
of the prophecies that said He would be a suffering savior and would be
rejected by the people. The nation was
looking for a political savior and God sent them something very different. God understood what we often miss. True freedom has nothing to do with whether
someone is in control of our lives. True
freedom comes from having the debt of our sins paid for and our relationship
with God re-established. To accomplish
this, the Savior would have to be one of us—He was born of a woman indicating
He was human. For His life to pay for
the sins of everyone in the world, He would have to be sinless God—He is God’s
Son sent from the Father indicating He was God.
Jesus Christ, this God-Man, arrived at just the right time to set us
free from bondage. Jesus was a religious
Messiah. He was the answer to the
question that the world didn’t even know it needed answering.
So as we celebrate Christmas, let us realize that it was God that gave
the first and finest gift ever given. He
gave His Son. We celebrate the babe born
in a manger because He grows into the man who dies for our sins. That is amazing love! So great a love deserves a great sacrifice on
our behalf!
So what are you giving Jesus this Christmas?
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