Update:
I have a Podiatrist appointment this afternoon. His job is to keep my right foot healthy and
happy. I am not certain what to expect
on this doctor appointment. I guess I’ll
just put my best foot forward and see what happens. (Yes, that was intended as a pun) J
My amputation board for my wheelchair finally came in. My buddy Adam installed it for me on
Saturday. Wow! That makes life much
easier! I am supposed to keep my left
leg elevated to reduce swelling, etc.
Without that piece on the wheelchair I’ve had to use a stool and several
pillows. The pillows were constantly
shifting and falling off. Or if we were
out somewhere I’d have to find a chair of the right height to prop my leg up
on. Now I’ve got the support I
need! One added benefit is that now I
can fit under my desk at the office.
Prior to this I was sitting sideways at the desk to keep my leg elevated
and twisting at the waist to get to the computer and keyboard. This is much better! At my last appointment with my surgeon, I was
given some freedom to let my leg down for some of the day and not wear the leg
brace as much during the day. That’s a
nice feeling.
Except for the bathroom and getting in and out of the recliner, I have
been making my transfers (bed to wheelchair, wheelchair to vehicle) without the
walker. One less piece of equipment to
drag around and mentally it makes me feel that I am making progress and am more
independent.
After the doctor appointment this afternoon, we’re going grocery
shopping. I told Karen that I want to go
in the store with her. So far, I’ve been
left in the car while she runs in for something at the store (or I’ve stayed at
home for the larger shopping trips). I
used to do all of our shopping, so this will give me a little connection to my
past (and hopefully my future). It
sounds like fun and I’ll get to drive one of those motorized chairs in the
store!
My son, Joshua, and I had fun Saturday evening making a video of me
doing one of my exercises. My son,
David, suggested it after breaking out in laughter watching me do it earlier in
the week. I hope this forty-second video
entitled “Lopsided Bicycle” puts a smile on your face. Here’s the address to
the You Tube version: http://youtu.be/MDiYWkOYzuo
Joshua and I worked on Saturday recording a ten minute version of my
testimony/story. I volunteer for Good
News Jail and Prison Ministry by doing a weekly bible study in the county jail
for a number of years. (Since my hospitalization, I have been unable to do the
study). Our local group is holding a
meeting this next Friday and Chaplain Brian asked for me to give everybody an
update. I am doing a wedding this weekend,
so I wasn’t available to attend the Jail meeting—thus the need for the video.
Overall, I am feeling much more comfortable and confident moving around
and doing things. If I can’t reach
something in the upper cabinet or on the top shelf of the refrigerator, I set
my brakes on the wheelchair and stand up for a minute to grab what I need. Oh, such a feeling of empowerment!
I did face one situation that I was glad someone came over to rescue
me. My bed adjusts (head and foot raise
and lower) with a remote control. It is
an older bed and sometimes the controller is a bit wonky. I got up Saturday after reading in bed so the
head was raised. I tried to lower it and
the bed wouldn’t respond. I kept fooling
with the controller thinking eventually it would work—yet it never did. I finally wondered if the bed had come
unplugged from the wall. With the
position of the bed, I could not see it from the side, so I climbed up on the
bed and tried to get in a position to get my head up over the edge to see the
wall socket. I was doing this trying not
to bump my stump or put any pressure on it.
That would have been a funny video watching my flounder!!! My son, Jon, and Adam showed up and plugged
the bed back into the wall for me.
Problem solved. I don’t know if I
could have done it on my own.
Thought for the Day:
What is the purpose of life? Warren
Wiersbe in his book, “Looking Up When Life Gets You Down” says that “Many
people sincerely believe that happiness is the purpose of life.” People just want the American dream of “Life,
Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Here is the problem for most people striving
to reach the goal of being happy: happiness is a byproduct of a worthwhile
life; happiness is not a goal that you can work towards directly.
People who seek after happiness find that it is an elusive goal. Not only that but we change over time and our
idea of what constitutes a happy life changes, so the target keeps moving on us. Pursuing happiness as a goal usually leads to
a selfish, self-centered life style.
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness,”
wrote Helen Keller in her journal. “It
is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy
purpose.”
We must remember that life is going to be filled with ups and downs,
twists and turns. Some of them will be
pleasant and many will be uncomfortable for us.
Focusing on attaining a worthwhile goal helps make the journey
worthwhile. My wife, Karen, struggles
with getting car sick. On a curvy road
it helps if she drives and if she drives very S-L-O-W-L-Y. If she gets motion sickness so easily why
ride in a car? Because the destination
is worth the discomfort!
If we live for a purpose beyond our own happiness, the journey becomes
worthwhile and it’s worth the investment in time and energy. As we do our part in accomplishing that goal,
a sense of joy and contentment floods our soul.
Here is an example: people who
are actively engaged in the life of a church find joy in serving
others. At our church, Wednesday night
is for the kids. We have a kids program
that runs from pre-kindergarten through high school. Most of the kids that come are not from
families who attend our church and many of the kids never go to church except
on Wednesday nights at our church. I’ve
volunteered along with dozens of other adults for a number of years. There are many nights when the adults just
want to stay home and put their feet up.
But they go and am blessed as a kid recites a bible verse or tells them
about something special that happened in his or her life. Building into that child’s life is a
worthwhile purpose and worth giving up a Wednesday night.
Here is another example: I am a Chaplain for a local on-call, paid fire
department. All these men and women have
other full time jobs. But they have
chosen to give up every Tuesday night for training and other nights for vehicle
and equipment maintenance. They carry
pagers that go off at all hours of the day and night and rush to the fire house
to respond to a call. They may be on a
fire call for hours overnight and then have to go to work the next day short on
sleep. They put themselves at a greater risk
of injury or death. Why do they do
that? They have found a purpose in
life. That purpose makes the sacrifice
worthwhile.
A final example is parenting.
What possesses an adult to give up sleep, rearrange their entire life, and
spend thousands and thousands of dollars on someone else? Their children are worth it. You attend their extracurricular activities
like sports or drama. You spend
countless hours helping with homework and cooking and laundry and binding up
wounds and broken hearts. You work hard
to provide for them. Are they worth
it? Yes, they are a worthwhile purpose
to give our lives to.
There are lots of things to fill your life with; some worthwhile, some
that are not. I have seen that people
whose life goal is to make themselves happy often fail and fail miserably. Those who find a worthwhile purpose in life
usually find happiness as a by-product of their life of service to others.
So what is the purpose of life?
What purpose are you pursuing? Is
it the one that you should be pursuing?
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