Update:
The appointment with the podiatrist was interesting. Most of it was informational and warnings
about how to care for my remaining foot.
Any signs of blisters, sores, red spots, etc. I am to hightail it back
in to see him. Dr. Roberts said that now
that I have had one foot amputated, I am ten times more likely to have the
second one amputated too. Our goal is to
beat those odds with proper care of my remaining foot.
One thing that is happening is that the doctor prescribed a specially
designed shoe and special insert to remove pressure points on my foot. Apparently, my choice of footwear will be
limited to that one shoe for the foreseeable future the way it sounds. I am truly entering a new phase in my
life! Each visit to a doctor gives me
one more piece of the puzzle of what this phase of my life is going to be
like. I cannot say that I like the sound
of one shoe that fits all occasions—but who knows I might really like the way
it looks and it will become my favorite shoe.
And if it helps me beat the odds of losing my second foot, well then, it
sounds grand!!!
After the doctor appointment, Karen and I went shopping and out to
eat. I got to drive the motorized carts
at Sam’s Club and at Festival Foods. It
was really wonderful getting to go into the store and help shop. I found the freezer cases at Sam’s impossible
for me to get anything out without Karen’s help. Otherwise it was nice to cruise up and down
the aisles. Those carts need to be built
with a bit more speed. They aren’t
geared for a man’s “Grab ‘n Go” mentality of shopping.
We went out to eat at one of Karen’s favorite places, Red Robin. I like the food but the building is always so
noisy. The acoustics were designed to
bounce the people noise around—I think to give the place some energy. All it ever does for me is to give me a
headache. We got there about 4:30 p.m.
and the place was deserted. We thought
they were closed because we had never seen the parking lot that empty
before. I think there was one other
couple in the restaurant when we sat down—so it was very nice and quiet. We enjoyed the food!
It was pretty amazing that I was out with my doctor appointment and
doing shopping for six hours and didn’t crash because of low energy levels. However, when I got home it was “game over.” I hope to build up that kind of endurance so
that I can resume more of my old lifestyle on an everyday basis. Right
now I can do one or two big events each week; but I need a day or two to
recover before going on the next one.
Thought for the Day:
How do you define a “good day” or a “bad day”? Generally we would think receiving an
unexpected gift is good and being in a car accident is bad. Getting a promotion is good and getting fired
is bad. Getting a full night’s sleep and
feeling healthy is good and not getting enough rest and being sick is bad. You get the idea and you could probably come
up with a list of twenty to thirty items for each category without any difficulty.
But how do you choose what is “good” and what is “bad”? If we think the purpose of life is for us to
be happy, then we can evaluate events as good or as bad based upon our
emotional response to them. Yesterday in
the Thought for the Day, I talked about having a worthwhile purpose that is
beyond us, that makes life worth living. If you evaluate good and bad based upon that
kind of worthwhile purpose it can drastically change how you rate the events in
your life.
For instance, if you join the high school football team to have fun and
hang with your friends, you might say that the coach who is always pushing you
and working you hard every minute of every practice is bad. However, if your purpose it to get stronger,
better, and faster as an athlete then you might say that he is a good coach.
There is an Old Testament story in the Bible that really drives this
idea home. Joseph’s brothers hated
him. He was the baby of the family and
his father doted on him. One day the
brothers faked Joseph’s death and sold him as a slave. Joseph fared well as a
slave in Egypt until he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Through a turn of events, Joseph eventually
became Pharaoh’s right hand man in charge of preparing for a predicted
famine. As the famine continued,
Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt seeking food and were brought before him. When they realized who Joseph was, they were
terrified of him exacting payback.
Instead here is what he said, “You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many
lives.” Genesis 50:20
If Joseph viewed the purpose of life to be
happiness, his life was certainly ruined by years of separation from his family
and life as a slave. But Joseph saw a
higher purpose and understood that the circumstances he endured put him in the right place at the
right time so that the people of Egypt
(and the surrounding world) would not starve to death during this severe
famine. You meant it for evil—God meant
it for good.
If you tally up Joseph’s life, most of what
happened to him would be considered bad when evaluated at face value: hated by
siblings—bad; sold into slavery—bad; falsely accused by boss’s wife while doing
what was right—bad; serving time in prison for a crime you didn’t commit—bad. But looking at the big picture changes
things: serving as Pharaoh’s second in command—good; preserving thousands and
thousands of lives—good; being reunited with your family—good.
What seemed like it was bad was actually
good. Warren Wiersbe in his book,
“Looking Up When Life Gets You Down” says this in response, “In other words, we
had better be cautious in identifying the experiences of life as “good” or
“bad,” because we might be wrong!”
While you are in the midst of a situation you
really don’t have enough perspective to effectively determine whether something
is truly good or bad. It is not until
later in life that you can judge well.
And even then, there will be times when only God knows how the events of
your life made a difference in accomplishing His plans and goals.
So don’t let your circumstance weigh you down and
bum you out. Don’t assume that God hates
you and life has given you a raw deal.
Don’t let your emotions determine how you view life. Choose to believe that there is a purpose and
a plan and that God will use everything for His good purpose. Don’t give up. Don’t grow weary. Instead “Therefore, my dear brothers and
sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the
work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1
Corinthians 15:58
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