Update:
Tuesday was a busy day for me with a couple of appointments and a
number of phone calls. My driveway and
ramp are still icy so I elected not to leave the house to go to my office. On Monday the ice was very slippery and I
didn’t want to risk a fall. I’d also need help at home and the church twice and
I thought that was too much to ask when I can get most everything done from
home.
I had actually planned on doing my exercises in the morning. About 9 a.m. I was just getting started when
the phone rang and the day began and just kept going. Finally at about 4:30 p.m. I was able to
start my exercises.
My shrinker sock has reduced the girth of my stump by ¾ inch
already. I did have a bit of a scramble
finding a cloth tape to do the measuring.
The lab forgot to give me a tape to take with us, but Karen and I knew
we had one at home, so it would be okay.
Yesterday, Karen looked for ours and couldn’t find it anywhere in the
house. So it is good that I know so many
people who like to sew. I called one of
the ladies of the church to borrow her tape for the next week. Problem solved!
Last night I spent over an hour writing a letter to someone with a
question about baptism. This morning, I’ve
already done an hour of counseling by FaceBook messaging.
My meeting for the day was rescheduled because two of the four people
supposed to attend where not available today.
That’s fine—I’ll stay home and try to stay warm and get more work done
on top of it.
Karen’s mom is still not back up and energetic after being sick, so
Karen is taking her dinner hour to go take care of her mother every day. That
means I don’t usually see my wife except in the morning at breakfast.
Thought for the Day:
Times of drought can be hard on trees.
They need water to sustain life, to grow, and to bear fruit. When enough moisture is absent it stresses
the tree. But the right amount of stress
can actually be beneficial to the tree—it makes it stronger and healthier in
the long run. Harsh conditions toughen
the tree. Dry conditions cause it to
send its roots down deep in search of moisture.
Outwardly it may appear like the tree is barely surviving, but that
season of deficiency may help establish the tree and ensure a long, fruitful
life. If you think about it, you know
that hothouse plants need to be conditioned so that they can survive outside of
the hothouse. The hothouse is a great
place to get an early start to grow—there is plenty of light, heat, and
moisture. But reality can be harsh and a
plant needs to be seasoned a bit to stand up to it. Back in the days of sailing ships, builders
used to prepare certain trees to become the ship’s mast. A mast had to endure high stress, and high
winds. So shipbuilders would choose
young straight trees high on the bluffs along the coast. Then they would clear all the other trees
away from the one they had chosen to allow the storms and the wind to batter it
over the years so that it would grow strong.
Only after years of seasoning would they cut the tree down and use it
for a mast on a sailing ship.
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed
are those who …. delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on his law day and
night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-- whatever they
do prospers.”
When Christians face difficult, stressful times they should remember the
lesson of the tree that sinks its root deep in times of drought and is
strengthened as it is battered by the storms.
If we are going to weather the storms of our lives, then we’ll need to
develop deep strong roots that tap into God Himself.
Psalm 1 says that we do that as we spend time reading and meditating on
God’s word. Meditating means to think
about or ponder what you’ve read. It is
best illustrated by ruminating like a cow does. A cow can eat grass and get the nourishment
that it needs because it ruminates. Cows
chew grass and load up their first stomach until it is full. Then through the rest of the day, they cough
up the previously swallowed grass and chew the cud. I think they bring it back up several times
before they swallow it for the final time.
So for us ruminating on God’s word is to get a bite and then chew it
over slowly all day. For instance you
read a few verses or a chapter at most in the morning. Then throughout the rest of the day you take
a moment to remember what you read and ponder what it said. “Why did God say that? I wonder what He meant by that? How does that apply to my life?” Take a moment while you are driving to and
from work. Ponder for a second while you
get a drink from the water fountain. Contemplate
as you are grabbing a snack out of the refrigerator. Every time you walk to the restroom for a
potty break; bring that scripture back to mind and ruminate on it.
It is like putting scripture into a crock pot and turning it on a slow
simmer all day long. You’ve got a
delicious meal all ready for you to eat, tender and flavorful. You get more out of your scripture reading
this way than just buzzing through it and forgetting what you read.
That’s how you put down deep roots that will sustain you during times
of drought and distress. By putting down
those roots, you strengthen yourself against the coming storms in your
life. You’ll be more prepared to weather
the storm.
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