Update:
On Friday morning I fielded a few phone calls and answered some emails.
I took a much needed shower and ate lunch while I talked to my daughter, Ruth,
on the phone. After lunch I loaded
myself up and went in to shoot my bow with Ryan. My eyesight is pretty poor right now,
especially in my right eye which makes it hard to shoot well (I have an eye
exam on Monday). But I got out and did
something fun and that was great.
Afterwards I went next door to Walmart.
I pushed myself around the store—actually back and forth several times
to find what I was looking for. I got a
good workout in Walmart and then at home going up the ramp by myself. Going up
the ramp at home, I got a little snow on my wheels, so occasionally they would
spin instead of gripping. That certainly
adds to the excitement when you are half way up a ramp. I need snow tires on this puppy!!!
When I go out of the house by myself it is difficult to shut the doors
behind me. The wheelchair gets in the
way of grabbing behind me to pull it closed.
I was twisting my shoulders into some unnatural positions and still having
trouble getting it shut. So one of the
things I bought at Walmart was some cord and a retractable keychain. I tied a length of cord around the doorknob
and then as I go by I’ll clip the keychain onto the cord. That will give me
enough length to be fully out of the doorway and then pulled it shut. The keychain gives me the extra length I need
without the cord being so long that it drags on the floor. I can keep the keychain with me and easily
attach or detach it. Maybe there is a
better way, but this works for me.
I really don’t know exactly how my life will change over the coming
months. I know that I will be regaining
my ability to walk, but not how quickly I will regain it. I have no idea how long it will take me to
rely almost totally on my prosthesis. It
sounds like in the beginning I’ll do some time using my prosthesis to build up my
skill, strength and tolerance; and the remainder of the time I’ll spend in the
wheelchair. I think that ratio will be
in a constant state of flux. I do know
that around bedtime and for showers, I’ll still need a wheelchair. So things will be changing but I have no idea
exactly how or how far or how fast. The
last time I was at therapy, the therapist said he’ll train me how to walk on
stairs with my prosthesis, so I will be able to go to the basement or upstairs
eventually. Not knowing is a very
strange feeling as an adult. I almost
said unsettling instead of strange; but I have grown more use to that kind of
tension over the last few months.
In the evening on Friday after dinner, I worked on my Sunday message
(mainly reading commentaries on my text).
Saturday will be spent completing my message and exercising. That will take up the day until Karen and I
spend some time together in the evening.
Thought for the Day:
I run into people who are rather perplexed by my positive attitude and optimism
concerning my amputation and other medical issues. I hope that I am an encouragement to them; and
I challenge them to consider their own life and attitude towards whatever
adversity that they may face. When I encounter other people, who in my
estimation are in far worse conditions than I am in, who radiate a joy and
peace; I am encouraged and challenged by them.
But I think it goes much deeper than having a positive attitude—the bottom
line is faith; a genuine faith that has been tested to some degree and found to
be true and solid. Many claim to have
faith but when things get a little rough they “abandon ship.” They’ll say things like, “I tried it; but it
didn’t work for me.” Their faith has
been shaken and doubt and disbelief has crept in to replace it.
I don’t want a faith that is only good during happy and great
times. I want a faith that helps me
through the darkest times and the roughest storms of life. I don’t have time for a faith that is “Dry
Clean Only.” I need a faith that can hold
up to an avalanche of trouble and a hurricane of adversity. How do I get that kind of faith? Where does it come from? Is it because I strain to believe hard
enough? Is that all it takes to get
unshakeable faith?
Randy Alcorn says, “The faith that can’t be shaken is the faith that
has been shaken” [If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and
Evil].
What is he saying? Our faith is
like a muscle. Everyone has muscles; but
people who use their muscles through hard physical labor or strenuous exercise
will develop their muscles. The more
they work those muscles under a load; the stronger they will become. Faith is like a muscle. You don’t use it very much during the good
and happy times. Your faith gets
stretched and exercised when you encounter adversity. After you come through that adversity with
your faith intact; you’ll find that you faith has grown. The more situations that you encounter where
you need faith, the stronger your faith will become.
It is that principle that makes a short-term mission trip an excellent
investment of time and energy. Usually
on a short-term mission trip, you go somewhere outside of your own culture; maybe
where they don’t speak English. You end
up out of your comfort zone and face situations way outside of your ability to
handle on your own. So you cry out to
God for help AND He shows up! Through
that process you gain confidence; not in yourself but in a God who loves you,
listens for you, and responds to your cries for assistance. In a week or two’s time you might have had
dozens of these kinds of God encounters (Back home in your “safe” environment
where you are normally in control, it might take years or decades before you
have that many encounters). By the end
of your mission trip you have found God to be totally trustworthy and you’ve
learned to call up Him in trust knowing that He will provide.
So how is it that I have a faith that can withstand a bit of
shaking? I have placed myself in
situations where I’ve had to trust in God and I have found Him to be dependable
and true every time. You don’t have to
do this on the mission field—you can do this right here at home. It is just that we often have so much help
and options at home that we rarely turn to God in total dependence.
I don’t go looking for hopeless situations where I am in over my head;
but when I find myself there, I remember where I need to turn. And I have turned there enough that I’ve
learned first-hand that God is faithful.
There may come a day when I face something so catastrophically evil
that my faith is shaken—but I hope that all that will happen is that my faith
continues to grow because of the circumstances.
1 Peter 1:6-7 “…though now for a little while you may have had to
suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater
worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved
genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed.”
So my life’s goal is to continue to live by faith, growing stronger in Him
day by day. I choose to view the adversities
I face as weights on a gym floor. I am
going to view them as an opportunity to grow stronger in my faith as I exercise
it day by day. Not that I wish anything
to happen to you; but I invite you to join me in God’s Gym where you can
exercise your faith and watch it grow.
Let’s grow together in faith!
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
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