Update:
On Saturday (1/18) I performed Tyler and Hannah’s wedding. It was different being in a wheelchair. Tyler and Hannah didn’t care—they only had
eyes for each other. After the ceremony
while they were taking pictures, I ended up lying down on a pew. After sitting in the wheelchair with my leg
extended for a few hours, my left hip starts to ache. Stretching it out feels so good! After dinner, I was tired so Karen and I
slipped out of the reception and headed home (one hour drive). Nobody cares if you leave early when you are
handicapped. It was good to get
home. I did my exercises and read in bed
relaxing for a while before bed.
I got a good night’s sleep and headed to church on Sunday morning. We decided to serve communion. This was the first time I’ve
led communion since my amputation.
Normally I stand and pick up the trays, pivot 180 degrees and then
distribute the trays to those who will be serving the elements. That’s currently impossible for me, so I sat
next to the table and had one of the servers distribute the trays. It worked but felt weird to me. After doing it the same way for 25 years, it
is strange to begin a new way to do it.
Ruth was home from Chicago to sing at Tyler and Hannah’s wedding. I was feeling strong enough, so we invited
all the kids to join us for lunch at HuHot.
I loaded my own bowl, but it was odd doing it sitting down, everything
looks much different from that angle.
The signs on the buffet are definitely not designed for someone in a
wheelchair to read. My son, Joshua,
helped carry my overflowing bowl to the grill.
After lunch I asked to be dropped off at the office supply to pick up a
few things, then wheeled myself down to the Books-A-Million bookstore to wait
for Karen to pick me up. The bookstore
doors are pretty massive, I was thankful for the guy who assisted me through
the doors. I did have one guy purposely
ignore me in the stacks when I was trying to get by him. I finally backed up and went around entering
the stack from the far end. I figure he
probably doesn’t like the Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz either!
One of the things that I have found is how much more energy it takes to
use a wheelchair on carpeting compared to a tile floor. It doesn’t have to be deep carpeting to make
a huge difference in the amount of oomph that it takes to move across the
store. Something I never thought when I
had two legs.
All the activity was enjoyable and I liked it, but it drained me
physically. Back at home I fell asleep
during the playoff games and woke up refreshed. I had taken my glasses off while I was falling
asleep. When I woke up I couldn’t find
them. Nowhere to be found! It took me over 15 minutes of searching to
realize that they had fallen behind the recliner I was sleeping in. Karen was taking a well-earned nap and I
chose not to wake her. It took me about
10 minutes of extra effort to get the recliner pulled out, grab the classes and
then push the recliner back into place.
Oh for fun! That recliner was
hard to move when I had two legs, I really got my workout doing it in a
wheelchair.
I don’t have any doctor appointments today (Monday) so it will a more
restful day off. I do have a meeting to
attend at church tonight, but that is the only thing on the schedule. I’ll probably use the time to fill out a LONG
form for a doctor appointment on next Monday; work at creating an Excel
spreadsheet to track my blood sugar and insulin usage; get the certificate of
marriage ready to mail back to the County Clerk’s office; and write a few thank
you notes.
Thought for the Day:
Proverbs 17:3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is
for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
A crucible is a container
for melting something; but the dictionary also includes this secondary meaning
of the word: “a place or set of circumstances where people or things are
subjected to forces that test them and often make them change.”
Os
Hillman says this about Proverb 17:3, “This proverb describes one of God's
strangest mysteries. It is a description of God's formula to refine the human
heart in order to bring out its finest qualities. The significant leaders who
make the greatest mark for the Kingdom had to experience their own crucible and
fire. Without it, the dross can never be removed from the human heart. Without
it, the encumbrances weigh us down. God understands the human heart. He
understands that for us to become all that He hopes for us, there are seasons
of fire. Joseph went through many tests. Succeeding in the test qualified him
for greater responsibility. The greater
the use in the Kingdom the greater the crucible to prepare the right
foundation.” [Os Hillman in his
daily email TGIF (Today God Is First) for 1/19/2014]
Hillman
spoke of the crucible in a religious context, but I also believe there is a
testing and refining process that all of us go through in life.
Have you
been through a crucible experience?
Something that has tested and tried you?
Maybe yours was something physical like an illness, disease, or the
death of a loved one. It could be
something that hits us on an emotional level like being fired, or having your
spouse divorce and leave you. Sometimes
it may be something “relatively” simple like being asked to help a friend cheat
on a test, or being asked to lie to provide an alibi for a buddy. Even good things like getting married will
test and refine us as we learn to focus attention on someone other than ourselves
and our own ideas.
How
will you respond? Will you act with
integrity or will you cave in to pressure?
Crucibles often feel like a “no win” situation. The pressure is great. The stakes are high. The odds seem stacked
against you. It’s no fun to be refined
by the fire. It is easy to get
frustrated, mad, or be filled with despair when faced with it. Change is always difficult especially if you
can’t see where things are headed.
Our
goal in any test or trial should be to act with integrity. Integrity is acting the same way when no one
is looking. I saw a news report of a
young man working at a Dairy Queen who was serving a blind person. His customer was unaware that he dropped a
$20 on the floor; but the lady in line behind him saw and quickly picked it up
and stuck it in her purse. The young
manager demanded that she give the money back.
When she refused, the manager refused to serve her and told her to leave
the store. He then went and gave the
blind man a $20 out of his own pocket.
He acted with integrity; the lady did not. So when faced with adversity, who do you want
to be? The hero or the goat? Will you do the right thing or take the easy
way out? Will you stand up for what’s
right or will you idly stand by and do nothing?
There
will be times when we are tested that we will fail. Then it is time to get up, dust ourselves
off, and start all over again. True
failure only happens when we quit and give up; everything else is merely a temporary
setback. No one is 100%. We’re looking at how you responded over the
course of your lifetime; not just a one-time event.
Refining
is a process. Refining does not happen
overnight. It takes time to remove the
impurities from metal so that it is stronger and more pure. So when you are faced with trials and
difficulties, face them with a sense of gladness, knowing that in the end they will
only make you a stronger, better person if you will let them.
Psalm 66:10 “For you,
God, tested us; you refined us like silver.”
Isaiah 48:10 "Behold, I have refined you,
but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved,
do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as
though something strange were happening to you.”
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