Sunday morning, I gave up my preaching time so that Mel could share
about his son’s death and then coming back to life. It was a powerful testimony as he talked
about Allen being declared clinically dead at the hospital, then put on a ventilator
to preserve his organs for donation the next morning; and then him waking up the
next morning prior to the organ donation.
Instead of signing papers to okay the organ donation, his wife found him
sitting up in bed joking with nurses the next morning! That had to be a very pleasant shock!
Mel told us that one of their friends, Terri, got the initial message
of Allen’s death garbled. Instead of hearing
he was dead, she heard that he was near death.
So by Sunday evening, she ended up getting 17 co-workers to pray that “Allen
would live.” Although at that point he was already dead, God answered the
prayers of those 18 people!!! Just
simply amazing!
The handrail is up at the church so I can climb the steps on the
platform and I’ve got my new chair (bar stool with back and arms) to sit in while I preach so I am
ready to go! I’ve got a couple of
pictures of me on Sunday morning in the chair.
I went to church with only my walker so I fit back into the men’s
bathroom—I didn’t have to use the women’s bathroom to accommodate my wheelchair—It
was nice to go in the right room.
After church, my wife, Karen, and two of my children, Kate and David,
went to Stillwater, MN to attend a lovely wedding of a beautiful young woman
who had grown up in our church. I’m so
very happy for Kayleen and Justin as they begin life together.
We drove over in my truck. I fit
just fine with my leg on the driver’s side.
I found out on the way home that there is not enough room on the
passenger side for me to be comfortable for long with my prosthetic leg on. I had the seat all the way back but it wasn’t
enough. The driver’s side has an
electric adjustable seat that seems to work better for me. In the dark coming home, sitting on the
passenger side, my prosthetic foot kept getting caught under the dashboard. I felt like I was in a bear trap and wasn’t
able to move my leg to get comfortable. Weird! I was very glad to arrive home and s-t-r-e-t-c-h.
Today on Monday, I’ve got an appointment with my physiatrist (that’s
the medical rehab doctor) at lunch time.
I hope to be released from my restrictions so that I can begin using a
cane. It is obvious that I am ready to
give up the walker based upon how little I rely on it now.
My wife has heard my latest quip close to a dozen times…but you haven’t
yet, so here goes: “In the last week I’ve been barred from several all-you-can–eat
buffets in town.” Everyone always asks, “Why?” So I tell them, “Because they’ve heard that eat
like I’ve got a hollow leg.” As Fozzie Bear on the Muppets used to say
after all his jokes, “Waka! Waka! Waha!”
Thought for the Day:
“Reduce the human job description down to one phrase, and this is it:
Reflect God’s glory. As Paul wrote: ‘And
we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord,
all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect;
this is the work of the Lord who is the Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 3:18 JB).” [Max Lucado, It’s Not About Me…]
Reflect God’s glory. How good of
job do you think you are doing? When
others see you, do they see God at work in your life? Do they see someone who is at peace with life
and someone with internal power to overcome obstacles? Or do they see someone who is angry and
bitter who just keeps getting beat up by life?
If you hold a mirror at just the right angle, you can bounce the light
hitting the mirror so that a person trying to look at you will be blinded by
the light and not really able to see you clearly. They can only see what the mirror is
reflecting. Our job is to keep our lives
focused upon God so that when others look at us all they see is a reflection of
God.
As with a mirror, you won’t be able to reflect the light unless you are
in the light. So you need to put
yourself in a position so that God’s glory and light shines all around
you. The best way to do that is spending
time in the presence of God through personal bible reading, reflection upon the
passage, prayer and worship, etc.
The scripture verse reminds us that we should be in the process of
being transformed more and more into the image of God whom we are to reflect. Can you discern that a spiritual metamorphosis
is occurring in your life? Are you
becoming more Christ-like as time goes by?
Remember our #1 job is to reflect God’s glory. Bask in His light and let others see His
light in your life.
Friday
I decided to go to work at my office for the morning. It was a little icy because of the
precipitation the night before, but the ice was rough and taking it slow and
steady with my walker it worked just fine.
I was able to get a lot done in the morning and decided that I felt good
enough to stay the rest of the day. So I
was at work from about 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
That is the first full day I’ve spent at the office since late
November. It felt good and I can
actually see some of my desktop now!
At
lunch I ran into the motorcycle shop where my bike was stored all winter. I asked them to install a “toe-heel shifter”
on my bike. Usually to shift up a gear you have to get your toes under the
shift lever and then use your ankle to bring it up. With the new shifter I can go up a gear by
stepping on the shifter with my heel.
That will be a whole lot easier with my prosthetic leg. After that, my bike will be ready to go when
the weather cooperates, the sand is off the roads, and I’m physically ready. Hopefully that will all come together within
the next month.
I
started the dinner preparation but went to rest when Karen got home. Being at the office all day and the long day
I had on Thursday really drained my energy levels. I ended up resting for the remainder of
Friday evening.
On
Saturday, I got up and decided that I need to get back to my exercises. For the last couple of weeks, just walking
was enough; but now I was ready to work other parts of my body. I ended up doing about 75 minutes of
exercises on the floor. I was amazed
that walking has already strengthened my residual leg (stump). I was able to do bridges with my left leg
only, lifting my right leg off the floor.
I wasn’t able to do that before.
Cool!
The
rest of Saturday will be spent working on my message for Sunday morning,
getting my clothes ironed for tomorrow, taking a shower, cleaning the inside of
my truck. It is supposed to be up in the
40’s today and sunny. So I will take
some time outside to at least get the garbage out and rearrange a bit. If I still have time before dinner, I might
even open the garage door and see what kind of mess is in there. That will be another first—my wife and kids
have been out there; but I haven’t stepped foot in it since November.
Saturday
evening, Karen and I will eat dinner together and then watch a movie or
something—taking a little down time together.
Thought for the Day:
Have
you ever dreamed of winning the lottery?
You no longer have to work. You’d
have all the money that you need to pay off your debt, pay your bills, and enough
left over to indulge yourself with a few things that you always wanted but
could never afford. It sounds almost too
good to be true; and in most cases it has proven to be. Studies seem to indicate that most lottery
winners are broke and destroyed within five years of winning. Many will testify that “money doesn’t bring
happiness.” A large number of winners
end up stating, “I wish I had never won.”
But
that doesn’t stop us who haven’t yet won from dreaming of what it would be like
if we “struck it big.” In fact, we
normally look at wealthy and powerful people as being blessed by God. We envy those that seem to have all the money
that they want and need. We normally
only look at the luxury and ease in which the wealthy live and neglect to look
beyond that to see how unhappy and miserable many of those flush with cash
often are.
We
work hard our entire lives to earn a living and to just get by. Most of us run out of money before we run out
of the month; so we dream of having more wealth so that wouldn’t happen. But wealth doesn’t prevent that because we
quickly learn to spend at the level of our income.
“The
Sword of Damocles” is an ancient tale of a man in the presence of a rich and
powerful king. Damocles loudly stated
the king was very fortunate and lived a wonderful life, surrounded by luxury. The king, Dionysius, offered to trade places
with Damocles for a day to give him a taste of what having great riches and
power was really like. “Damocles quickly
and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the king's
throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge sword
should hang above the throne, held at thepommelonly by a single hair of a horse's tail.
Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart because he no
longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great fortune and power
come also great peril and anxiety” [Wikipedia—Damocles].
Getting
everything that you ever wanted leaves you dissatisfied in in the end because
you realize that money can’t buy you happiness.
There are hundreds of quips about “money can’t buy you happiness, but…” Here’s my favorite one: “Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can
buy you bacon, which is almost the same thing.”
You can purchase things that distract you for a while; but eventually
you crave more and more and more; there is a thirst for more that can never be quenched. As Damocles found, wealth, luxury and power
have their own set of problems and we discover that it is just not worth the cost.
Most lottery winners claim that their
new found wealth “will never change us.”
But eventually it does; and it is rarely a change for the better.
Divorce. Greater indebtedness. Illness.
Death. Alcoholism and drug
abuse. And the list goes on.
"Not
every man can carry a full cup. Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and
a fall. The most exacting test of all to survive is prosperity" [J. Oswald
Chambers].
One
thing that wealth and prosperity does is it insulates us from discovering our
greatest need—God Himself. If we have
stuff and a fairly comfortable life, we rarely turn to God. That is why Jesus said these words:
Matthew 19:23-26 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I
tell you, it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who
then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With human beings this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible’” (TNIV).
Wealth gives us a false sense of security.
We feel untouchable and it seems like every one of our needs are
met. But eventually riches fade and power
transfers to someone else. “The good
life” that we achieved doesn’t last long and it quickly spoils like last week’s
leftovers in the fridge. So don’t waste
your time and energy scrambling after things that don’t last and will never
truly satisfy. Yes, we do need some
stuff, but learn to live with less and become more satisfied with what you
have. Instead of striving after more
stuff; spend your energy trying to obtain something that truly satisfies and
will last forever.
Matthew 6:19-21“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.”
1 Peter 1:3-4 “Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has
given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This
inheritance is kept in heaven for you…”
My updates may end up being posted later in the day from now on. With winter almost gone and being more
mobile, I am beginning to go to my office at church more. This morning I got up and didn’t finish the
update before I had to go to work; so it just now is being posted. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Thursday morning I had a Physical Therapy appointment with Randy. I had decided not to take the wheelchair but
rather to use my walker to get to my appointment. It is a good walk from the parking garage up
to PT on the fourth floor. I built in an
extra 30 minutes to my travel time in case I needed to stop and rest part way
there. I had no problem making the walk
and had an extra 30 minutes to spend in the waiting room. That wasn’t bad having some time to recover
before PT.
Most of my time was spent talking with Randy going over problems I had
encountered or questions that I had. He
had me walk a few laps and was impressed by my walking and how little I was
using the walker for support. We worked
on taking stairs alternating which foot leads (like two-legged people use
stairs). He checked my legs and foot for sores, pains, etc. and found none just
as I assured him. He is recommending to
the doctors that all my restrictions be removed and I start using a cane. Randy couldn’t get approval while I was there
(neither of the two doctors were available), so he is supposed to call me in
the next couple of days. Assuming
approval is granted, I’ll set up an appointment with him next week to begin
learning how to walk with a cane instead of the walker. One more step in my recovery!
After I made the long walk back to my truck, I went over to the
Prosthetic Labs for my appointment with Leah.
I had a number of issues that I pointed out and some questions that I
had. After having me walk and doing some
examination, she took my prosthetic back to the lab to cut away in some places
and add padding in others. Two days before,
my foot developed an obnoxiously loud squeak and she fixed that by putting a
sock on the foot. She also was very
pleased with my walking and agreed that I was ready to move up to the
cane. She is also ordering my next foot. It has more flexibility than my current
beginner’s model. When walking I’ve
notice declines and uneven terrain are difficult to traverse with this current foot—but
it is nice and steady for a beginner or someone who only walks indoors. It doesn’t bend in the right ways so it
throws my knee out to the side, etc. traversing an incline. Although I think more tweaking needs to be
done on my prosthesis, the adjustments made yesterday really made it more
comfortable and give me more flexibility as well. The idea is take a little away at a time and
see how I do instead of making a substantial cut that turns out to be the wrong
thing.
I then headed back to the hospital to do a pastoral visit. The person I was visiting wasn’t doing well
at the moment and wanted my company so I ended up staying a couple of hours
with her. I tried joking with her
telling her that currently it was dangerous to invite me over for dinner
because now I really did have a hollow leg.
I thought it was very funny—she just rolled her eyes, so I figured she wasn’t
feeling well enough to laugh. J Maybe my joke just increased the pain she was
experiencing?
I had hoped to have a late lunch with my son, Jon, but it was now 4:30
p.m. and he invited me to go with him to my daughter’s, Kate, for dinner. One of my other sons, Josh, was going
too. Kate welcomed me to come along as
well. I had an hour to spend before
dinner and I needed to give my leg a break from the prosthesis, so went over to
Kate’s early to crash. She was sitting
on the couch and her husband, Nick, was cooking. He made a very delicious Indian style
meal. I am glad that he made some bland
and some spicy. I tried a small bite of the
spicy and couldn’t take it. I found the
bland to be very yummy.
After the meal I headed home and arrived about 7 p.m. I was sleepy and tired after my day, so I
decided to take a nap in the recliner.
Instead of 30 minutes or an hour, I woke up at 11:30 p.m. It took me awhile to get ready for bed,
cleaning my liner, washing my leg, taking my insulin, etc. but I got back to
bed about 1 a.m. and had no problem sleeping for the rest of the night.
We had a rain/snow mix last night that froze overnight. I wanted to go to the office this morning
(Friday) to work. I’ll need to evaluate
whether it is safe for me to do it or not.
There is always next week and eventually this winter weather will be
over.
Thought for the Day:
Luke 8:5 & 11 “ 5A farmer went out to
sow his seed… 11This is the meaning
of the parable: The seed is the word of God.”
I’ve done enough gardening
to know that seeds don’t do any good in the package. Seeds need to be planted in the ground and
watered so that they can take root and grow.
In the parable that Jesus taught He said that “the seed is the word of
God.” The word of God is the bible or
scriptures and Jesus said it was like seed.
What is that telling us? It
doesn’t do any good left closed on your desk or on your bookcase. It needs to be opened, read, and pondered so
that its truths can be planted in our mind and hearts and allowed to grow.
Another thought that comes
to mind from this analogy is that you cannot wait to plant the seed until you
are hungry. The seed needs to be planted
and water and given time to grow and mature before it is ready to be harvested. Likewise, it isn’t a good idea to wait until
you have a great need and then hungrily tear into the bible. For best results, it is good to be in the
habit of reading and thinking about scripture for a long time before you have a
need, that way you have an abundant crop at hand ready when you need it.
The biggest excuse that
every one of us uses to not read the bible daily is, “I don’t have enough
time. I’m too busy.” There may be short periods of our life where
we truly might be too busy for a day or two—but usually that just is an excuse
(which I’ve used before myself).
“But it isn’t too late to
get started reading God’s Word systematically.
After all, people take time to read novels and newspapers and to watch
television, but they don’t seem to have time for the Bible, the most important
book ever published” [Warren Wiersbe, Everyday Wisdom From the Gospels].
It is all about
prioritization. We all have the same
amount of minutes in a day and even when we are crazy busy, there is always a
few minutes that we get to choose how we will spend that time. In some respect learning to be diligent in
reading the bible is like getting into the habit of exercising. At first it seems hard and you have to force
yourself to do it. After a while it
becomes easier and eventually you don’t feel right unless you do it.
A word of caution is
important here. Start small. Don’t try to set aside an hour a day. That is an unrealistic goal. But can you give at least 5 minutes of your
time? Spend 30 seconds saying a short
prayer asking God to speak to you as you read.
Spend about 3½ minutes
reading. Don’t go for quantity—go for
quality. Read a section or at most a
chapter; maybe even re-read it a time or two.
Look for a nugget of truth or a word of promise. See if there is anything to learn about God
or about yourself. Decide which was your
favorite verse. Then take the last
minute to pray. Ask God any questions
you had about what you read, confess anything that came to mind, give Him
thanks for all He’s done, etc.
Just five short
minutes. You can take longer if you want
to. But can you give God just five
minutes of your day? Five minutes to
plant some seeds into your mind and heart.
Five minutes that when added up day after day will make a difference in
you that will last for eternity.
On Wednesday I had a number of things to get done, so I was up and out
of the house by about 9:30 a.m. (that was why yesterday’s update didn’t get
posted until late in the afternoon). The
first place on my agenda was to go to my office at the church.
I decided to leave the wheelchair behind and use my walker
instead. I went out the door and walked
down the stairs and down the driveway to the truck. That felt wonderful! It is the first time I walked out of the
house since last November! What a
feeling of power! When I got to the
church, I went in through the office entrance that has three outdoor
steps. Since last November, I’ve had to
go in through the worship entrance and down the hall to my office. This felt so marvelous! When I went into my office, I looked at my
desk and thought, “Who moved my chair?”
Then it struck me; I’ve been in a wheelchair since December and haven’t
needed an office chair. I found where
mine had been stashed and put it back at my desk. When I sat down I thought, “What a
comfortable chair! I love this
chair!” It felt so good to sit at my
desk and enjoy the feelings of joy and happiness of being “back to normal.” And then all that sunshine and warmth fled
away as my old nemesis, the copier, refused my simple command to scan a
document that I needed. Drat! A little dose of reality had to flood back
into my day!
After I got what I needed done at the church, I went to the Fall Creek
PD and talked with the Chief about the break-in we had at the church on Sunday
morning. Once again, walking in is such
a feeling of empowerment for me.
Then I went over to my wife’s office to send a fax out. I haven’t been
in there since November as well. I got
to sit and chat with my oldest daughter who is her office manager for a few
minutes and then came home for lunch.
What a pleasant morning! I look
forward to getting back to work at the church on a regular basis. After my eye surgery next week, I should be
ready to put in more hours at the office.
While it’s worked for me to work from home, it will be great to be back
in office. My desk really needs my
attention. I found that trying to file
and put things away while in a wheelchair was extremely difficult. So right now it is obvious that I have a “piling
system” rather than a filing system.
I made a few phone calls and began working on Sunday’s message during
the afternoon on Wednesday. I made
dinner for Karen (who was running late) and my oldest daughter, Kate, joined
us. I worked on this update and began preparing
things for my departure on Thursday to my medical appointments that start in
the morning.
Thought for the Day:
“Christian Smith, Sociologist, said this, ‘most young American adults
are “practical Deists”—although few of them have ever heard the term.’ Smith means that they see God as a being
whose job it is to meet their needs. The
implicit but strong cultural assumption of young adults is that God owes all
but the most villainous people a comfortable life. This premise, however, inevitably leads to
bitter disillusionment. Life is nasty,
hard, brutish, and always feels too short.
The presumption of spiritual entitlement dooms its bearers to a life of
confusion when things in life inevitably go wrong” [Timothy Keller, Walking
With God Through Suffering and Pain].
That quote explains so much about what seems wrong with our lives and
our society. Even without meaning to, it
is easy to slip into the mentality of “God I’ve been faithfully serving you so
why haven’t you blessed me with a perfect, carefree life?” Although since Copernicus we’ve known that
the universe does not revolve around the earth; somehow we still hang onto the
belief that everything should revolve around us. In our own minds, our happiness must be God’s
primary goal and the focus of His energy because we are so important! It hurts when we find out that life doesn’t
work like that. It is a rude awakening
for some young adults who have been doted upon all their lives to suddenly enter
the workforce and find out that nobody really cares how they feel and what they
think. Your self-esteem and your sense
of fulfilment isn’t as high on your boss’ list as it is on yours.
And if you rate God on how well He is taking care of you and how
pampered you feel—well then He is a failure!
No wonder so many young people turn away from belief in God. As a “Cosmic Santa Claus” He is a dismal
disappointment. But that is like judging
a pro-football player on how good a baby sitter he is. “I’m sorry but we had to cut you from the
team because your diaper changing skills were only mediocre.” That would be a stupid waste a talent! You judge a football player on how well he
plays football—the job he has trained for and has the skills for. So then why would we even think to judge God
based upon things that He never said He would do; but on things we wished He
would do for us? When we judge Him based
upon our happiness and how well things are going for us—that is exactly what we
are doing!
We need to challenge our thinking.
Broaden our understanding. Seek
to know Him and His word better. God is
not dead. God is not wrong or weak or
uncaring. He is alive. He is involved. He is almighty, all-knowing, and all-loving. He is merciful and just. He is patient and kind. He hears our cries and He answers our
prayers. Just because He doesn’t act and respond to us exactly the way we
envisioned that He should does not make Him wrong or a failure.
Isaiah 40:28-31 Do you
not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the
ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is
inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who
lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with
wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not
become weary.
Today's Prayer:“Dear God, You know my heart and my heartaches. You have showered
me with blessings and carried me through the valley of pain and sadness. Thank
you for the godly influence of special people in my life. Thank you for those
who pray for and encourage me. I even thank you for the hard times and trials I
have been through, for they have strengthened my faith. I praise you for giving
me a spirit of hope, love, and acceptance, rather than allowing me to become
angry, bitter, and downcast. I praise you God, from whom all blessings flow.
May I, in return, be a blessing to you. In
Jesus' name, Amen.” [Os Hillman,
‘Today God Is First’ (TGIF) on-line devotional message, 3/27/2014]
Most of Tuesday morning I rested giving my eye more time to recover
after surgery. About 3 p.m. I finally
took the eye patch off and began using both eyes. There was still slight pain in my eye but it
felt good enough to begin using it. As I
said before, there is no apparent vision loss at this time thankfully. I had a slight case of double vision which I
had been told to expect.
I have been searching on-line for a bar stool with back and arms to
purchase. I know that I won’t be strong
enough to stand for my Sunday sermon for some time to come—and I want to focus
my attention and energy on preaching and not standing. I decided to head to Eau Claire and go to HOM
Furniture store to try out whatever they had in stock. Looking at a picture on-line only goes so far
with me, I need to see it and touch it and sit on it in person. It turns out that HOM Furniture had the very
first stool that I considered in their show room. Their website said that the Eau Claire store
didn’t have any in stock. I found out
that this was a discontinued chair and all they had left was the floor model. I tried it and a number of other chairs and
was very satisfied with it, so I purchased it.
I got $100 off because it was the floor model. The handrail for going up the stairs onto the
platform at church should be installed this week, so I should be preaching from
my stool on Sunday.
I left the furniture store and headed to the hospital to visit one of
my parishioners who had surgery that day.
The info desk wasn’t manned so I dialed the operator for assistance in finding
the room number. They couldn’t find who
I was looking for and I kept getting cut off.
As I sat in my wheelchair wondering what I should do and uttering a
silent prayer of wisdom, I heard my name called and looked up to see the
daughter of the person I was looking for.
Her mother’s surgery had taken longer than expected but it went
well. Her mom was still in post-op recovery. I was very glad that God had led her to the
elevators near the info desk right when I was there. It sounded like mom wouldn’t be up for any
visitors so I left planning to return in a few days.
I headed over to Altoona Fire Department to spend the evening with the
firefighters that I knew would be there—it’s Tuesday night—where else would
they be? I enjoyed the camaraderie and
getting to talk with them for a while.
After the meeting was over, I slipped into the Police Department and met
the new part-time officer. I spent a few
minutes talking with him and his training officer and then I headed home.
As I came into Fall Creek, I decided to see if I could catch the FC
police officers at the office. I got to talk
with the officer on duty and the new part-time officer being trained there as
well.
I ended up back home at about 10:45 p.m. and made it safely inside to
get ready for bed. Except for the
hospital which has a long walk from the parking garage into the building where
I used my wheelchair, the rest of the time I used my walker. Not having to load the wheelchair in and out
of the truck felt so good. The walking
also is good exercise and practice for me.
Even with how little I’ve been out with my walker, I’ve really come to
dislike the door mats and entryway rugs—nothing but a tripping hazard for me to
navigate around. I am also putting less
and less weight on the walker as I use it.
I hope to soon walk well enough to graduate to a cane.
Overall I had a busy afternoon and night and I thoroughly enjoyed every
moment of it. I was happy to find that I
had enough energy for everything—it felt like old times to me; although on
Wednesday I did sleep a little more to catch my energy back up.
Thought for the Day:
As I tell people about the eye injections and laser eye surgeries that
I’ve had; I get a common reaction. Usually
the person shivers and starts shaking their head and says something like, “I
could never go through that!” I just
kind of laugh and tell them that “You never know” because prior to the last few
months, I had trouble even putting eye drops in by myself. I tried contacts once a few years back and
quickly gave up because of the trauma of me trying to get them in. I even remember my dad telling me about an
eye surgery he had and my question was, “They did that to you while you were AWAKE?!??!!!”
My response to the latest person who shivered was, “You never know what
you can go through until you have to.”
Today in my devotional time, I was reading in the Gospel of Luke
22:31-34. Jesus foretells that Peter
will deny Him three times. Peter insists
that “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death” (v.33). Peter was convinced that he would stand right
next to Jesus and never waiver in his support of Him, no matter what would
come. But Jesus was right. Peter caved rather quickly. Not just once but three times in quick
succession!!
In life we don’t know what we will face with bravery and what will have
us shaking with fear until we are actually confronted with it. I work with Firefighters and Police Officers
who often have to swallow their fear and go into places that others are wisely
fleeing from. Where does that kind of
courage come from?
We may think that “I could never do that!” and yet when faced with the
challenge, we do. Or we may think that “I
will face that without a problem” and then be frozen with fear when the time
comes.
Like I said, when it comes to my eyes, I am the world’s biggest chicken;
but although the procedures are not comfortable—they are not the worst thing to
have happen to you. However, I’ve got to
say that I spend a whole lot more time praying asking for God’s peace and that
I could put away anxious fears for these eye appointments than for any other
thing that I have faced; but I know that “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV)
There may be a day that I will face an event and say, “Absolutely NO
WAY!” But each day until I am confronted
with that unconquerable fear, I am going to choose to believe and speak like
Peter did, “I can do this!” and all the while pray for the strength that I need
to stand firm and be an overcomer.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God
our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and
good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and
word.
Yesterday I told you about my friend, Mel Jensen, who was informed on
Sunday afternoon that his oldest son had died.
I asked for your prayers concerning this family’s deep grief and
sorrow. Today I can report good and
miraculous news! His son is alive! This isn’t the case of someone jumping the
gun and calling prematurely or of mistaken identity. Allen was declared clinically dead. No pulse. No respiration. No response. Core temperature of 80 degrees. Pupils fixed and dilated. Declared dead on Sunday afternoon. The hospital kept his body on a ventilator
overnight because he was an organ donor.
On Monday they were going to begin harvesting his organs; before they
began—HE WOKE UP! Mel told me he is now sitting
up, joking with the nurses. They are
doing tests to see if he suffered any loss during his “time out” but he was
dead and now is alive. Mel said that
God certainly answers prayers. One day
his family is overwhelmed with grief and sorrow and now they are filled with
inexplicable joy! Thank you, Jesus!
I had laser surgery on my right eye on Monday afternoon. I was told that they zapped my eye about
1,000 times (normally people only have about 600-700 zaps). The doctor said that I did well and time will
tell what results we’ll get. They check
my eyesight every time I go in (3 times in the last 7 days) and have found some
improvement already in my right eye after the injection last Monday. I’ve got a long way to go—but it is a
start. Right now my eye sort of feels
like I got hit with a baseball in the eye.
After the surgery I came home and went to right to bed for a few hours. I was supposed to keep my eye closed for the
rest of the day. I did so well with
surgery that they awarded me an eye patch to wear for the next couple of
days! Woot. Woot. Check out the pictures! I am becoming a Pirate! Aargh!!!
The surgery wasn’t too painful—but I don’t relish having to do it on my
left eye next Tuesday and then again on both eyes in the coming weeks. Oh well!
I can do it! After getting up on
Tuesday, I opened my right eye and found that I have not suffered any
noticeable loss to my peripheral vision.
A field test might show that I have some loss—but just looking around—I don’t
have any that I can tell. WOW! I am so
thankful for that. For the rest of Tuesday,
I will minimize the use of my right eye to give it plenty of rest (use the eye
patch, sunglasses, etc.).
This time I still have my “good eye” working so I can type and read
email now after about 5 hours after my surgery.
Next Tuesday, my good eye will have the surgery and I will rely upon my “bad
eye.” At that point, I won’t be able to
read until my good eye recovers. That
will be tough as tied as I am to my electronics: no email, no Facebook, no
surfing the web. It will be like
Robinson Caruso—except I can still listen to music on my MP3 player.
Thought for the Day:
In the 1973 movie “The Train Robbers”
the character played by John Wayne utters a great line, “You’re going to
spend the rest of your life getting up one more time than you’re knocked down,
so you’d better start getting used to it.”
Life is like that isn’t it? It
is often full of hard knocks, detours and dead ends. Not many of us go through life without a bit
of hardship and heartache. Most of us
end up getting a belly full of it. And
then there is failure. Most of us end encounter
failure such as getting a bad grade in school, have a ruined relationship that
we thought would last forever, lose a job, and make a big mistake that costs us
dearly. Everyone fails occasionally. The only time that failure is final is when
we give up and surrender. Until we give
up on ourselves, there is always a chance that we will succeed next time. Learn from your mistakes and try not to keep
making the same ones. But stand up,
brush yourself off and try again.
Baseball aficionados may recall a player for the Los Angeles Dodgers
named Maury Willis. He played for them
from 1960-1966. Willis was a record
making base stealer. In the 1962 season
alone he stole 104 bases. In 1965 he
stole more bases than any other player in the major leagues, but he also earned
the record for another distinction that year.
He was thrown out while attempting to steal a base more than any other
player that year--a record number 31 times.
One of his keys to success was to not let his failures define him or
keep him from trying.
Today you’ve got another opportunity to succeed. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Don’t quit.
Stand up and give it another try.
Keep living your life, growing and improving along the way.
Philippians 3:13 “Brothers,
I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting
what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (ESV).
I don’t have much time before Karen and I leave to do our grocery
shopping and then on to my eye surgery; so this will be short and quick.
Yesterday, we had an interesting day at church. It started out with a 7 a.m. phone call
alerting me that the church had been broken into sometime after 9:30 p.m. on
Saturday and 7 a.m. on Sunday. The
biggest damage sustained was the door to the food pantry was kicked in breaking
the door. As far as we can tell nothing
was taken. One other locked cabinet was
damaged but repairable. Instead of
getting to finish preparing for my message, I dealt with the police officers
taking the report. We can only assume
that something spooked (like maybe the Holy Spirit) them and they fled before
exploring the rest of the church and doing any other property damage.
I stood up and walked a bit during the service. I stood for the announcements, the offering
and the closing prayer. I sat for my
sermon—I preach too long to stand for the entire sermon yet.
I decided to share my problems with my eyesight with the congregation
prior to preaching. While I was doing
that, my wireless microphone cut out. I
noticed that the body pack was warm and getting hotter. I took it off and set it aside. Something shorted out because later we found
that the plastic had melted and they couldn’t even open it up anymore (And I
wasn’t even preaching “hell fire and brimstone” at the time). We continued the service with a new
microphone.
After I shared what was happening with my eyes (the potential for going
blind, the eye injections and eye surgery hoping to stabilize my eyesight,
etc.), one of the members of the congregation asked if they could gather around
me and pray for me. I deeply appreciated
their prayers as well as what I saw as the continued evidence that God is
moving within my congregation.
Later in the afternoon, I went with the youth group to go see the
movie, “God is NOT Dead.” We all
thoroughly enjoyed it and I would encourage you to see it if you have the
opportunity. Locally it is playing at
the Micon in Chippewa Falls. From what I
heard Sunday’s show times were sold out.
Sunday afternoon, a friend of mine found out that his oldest son had
committed suicide. Please pray for this
family as they contend with their shock and grief. I cannot imagine the pain and
heavy-heartedness this family is enduring.
My eye surgery today is an attempt to stabilize my eye so that my
vision does not further deteriorate. I
will probably lose some (or most?) of my peripheral vision due to the
surgery. It is a trade-off to help
ensure that I keep my central vision. I
am afraid and at the same time I am at peace.
I was told that about 10 minutes of the two hour procedure is
painful. Messing with my eyes usually
bothers me anyway; so I am really hanging on to Jesus for this one! I was told that they’ll put a patch on my
eye after the surgery (I assume for a day or two) so I am being transformed
slowly into a PIRATE!!! First the peg
leg, now the eye patch, next they’ll issue me a prescription for a parrot!!!
Here is the verse I am hanging onto day:
Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (NASB)
Good morning! My eye felt good
enough for me to spend some time writing this.
Friday morning’s eye injection went smoothly. The injection itself takes seconds; the
preparation for the injection took over an hour. I tried to go home and nap during the worst
part of the discomfort and that helped. About 5:30 p.m. my eye cleared up
enough (still a bit blurry) to read and watch some TV for about an hour; but it
remained sore and scratchy feeling all Friday night. Since I couldn’t read, use the computer, or
watch TV without pain, I swept and mopped the first floor where I live. It needed to be done and gave me something to
do for the night. I should be able to
use my eye on Saturday, at least to a limited extent. The most difficult thing to overcome is the
incessant desire to rub my eye. The eye
doctor doesn’t want me to touch my eye for fear of scratching my cornea. I keep catching myself with my arm raised and
the hand almost rubbing the eye before I remember not to do it.
Jon and Joshua came over to fill the wood rack about noon on Friday. They stayed to eat a pizza, so I had lunch
with them. Josh stayed inside afterward
to help me diagnose a computer issue; although we didn’t get it resolved. I use Chrome for my internet browser and
every time I close it, I lose the preset pages that are supposed to open when I
open the browser. It is more of a
nuisance than anything. Jon was out in
the garage looking for a small wooden box that we used to have. I wanted it for some of my prosthesis
exercises. He couldn’t find the old one so
he built me a new one. My current
prosthesis exercises with my box are not up to “Step Aerobics” level; more like
“Turtle Aerobics.” Slow. Steady. Concentrating
on form and technique. But I am getting there!
Saturday will be spent getting ready for Sunday morning worship, doing
some exercises and practice walking while spending about six hours in my
prosthesis. I’ve already done a first!!
I shaved standing up this morning for the first time since November
2013. I’ve got my sermon to finish and
my clothes to iron. If my eye feels good
enough to spend the additional time on the computer, I’ll look on line for a
bar/counter stool with arms. It is going
to be a long while before I am comfortable and strong enough to preach standing
up. The stool will give me some height and
a safe place to perch while I preach. I’ve spent a little while searching
already and have found many ugly stools, or those with a leather seat cushion
(I really hate leather seats). So the
search continues. Karen and I will spend
time together in the evening. I plan on
wearing my prosthesis to church on Sunday and do a bit of standing and
walking. I am certain that everyone will
be happy to see that.
Thought for the Day:
Do you need to make peace with imperfection? So often we struggle against the
imperfections that we sense in our lives.
Richard Carlson says, “I’ve yet to meet an absolute perfectionist whose
life was filled with inner peace” [Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff And It’s All
Small Stuff]. It can be self-focused
like wishing you were a different person or it could be externally focused like
letting a bad driver who cut you off in traffic upset you the rest of the day. Most of the things that drive us crazy really
shouldn’t.
Some people are wired to always seek to make things better. They want to “do everything with excellence.” That is okay as long as it doesn’t get out of
hand. Despite that inner voice that
screams at us differently, most of the things in life are okay not being
perfect—it’s our focus, our judgment, our insistence that they should be that
drives us batty.
“Whenever we are attached to having something a certain way, better
than it already is, we are, almost by definition, engaged in a losing
battle. Rather than being content and grateful
for what we have, we are focused on what’s wrong with something and our need to
fix it. When we are zeroed in on what’s
wrong, it implies that we are dissatisfied, discontent” [Richard Carlson, Don’t
Sweat the Small Stuff…].
“While there’s always a better way to do something, this doesn’t mean
that you can’t enjoy and appreciate the way things already are. The solution here is to catch yourself when
you fall into your habit of insisting that things should be other than they
are. Gently remind yourself that life is
okay the way it is, right now. In the
absence of your judgment, everything would be fine” [Richard Carlson, Don’t
Sweat the Small Stuff…].
If you find yourself critiquing your kindergartener’s art project
instead of proudly displaying it on the fridge; you’ve got a problem. If you find it hard to sincerely say “thank
you” because the kind deed done toward you wasn’t flawless—you’ve got a problem. If you cannot stand yourself because you aren’t
perfect—you have a major problem.
It is okay to seek to improve upon the things that are; but not at the
expense of enjoying life just the way it is.
Philippians 4:11 “…for I have learned in whatever
situation I am to be content.”
I had my first Physical Therapy appointment after receiving my
prosthesis. The appointment was on
Thursday morning. I cannot believe what
I did! The appointment was at 11 a.m.
Usually Karen and I try to walk out the door about 45-55 minutes before an appointment
so we have time to get parked, walk to the right place, get checked and then have a
few minutes to wait. Never rushed. Never hurried. I was working on Friday’s update and
totally spaced out on the time. I
glanced at the clock and saw that it was 10:14 a.m. I still had to shave, get my leg on, get
dressed, get myself loaded into the truck, drive to Eau Claire, pick up my son,
Joshua, get to the hospital, get parked, etc.
I didn’t speed and we made it one minute before 11 a.m. to
registration. We still had to check in,
then walk to a different part of the hospital and get upstairs to the physical
therapy rooms. The woman who was checking
us in, did a double take at Joshua and then spent four minutes or so telling us
and her co-workers how much her son and my son looked alike. I was polite and patient on the outside—on
the inside I wasn’t happy. I hate being
late and I caused this myself. Oh
well! We finally got up to PT and Randy
came and got us. It turns out he was
running late because of previous patient and was happy I was running
behind. My prosthetist, Leah, was also
running behind and arrived a moment or two later. So everyone was happy that everyone else was
late; except I was still a bit wound up because I was late. It took twenty minutes or so from me to
finally calm down completely.
I practiced walking and got instructions on what to do differently or
better. They decided that my prosthesis
needed some adjusting over at the lab after this appointment. I was shown how to go up and down stairs at
my request. It is not that I want to use
the stairs at home yet; I want to walk up onto the platform at church on Sunday
morning. Just three steps. I plan on getting a stool to sit on while I
preach. I won’t be strong enough to
stand for great lengths of time (like how long my sermon lasts) for some
time. I was told that I would probably
not need the wheelchair in about 2-3 weeks, so I am thinking ahead. My buddy Randy will have to install a
handrail at church before I can get up and down, so I am hoping by March 30 to
get up there instead of being pushed up a ramp in my wheelchair. I was also shown how to do about four
exercises that they want me to practice while I am standing with my prosthesis. One of the things that they stressed over and
over was that I was to work on my form rather than on speed. So I am to walk slowly and steadily using the
correct form and shifting my weight back and forth, etc. Some of the things they showed me took me a
bit of time to think about. I would try
it with my right leg attempting to determine what muscles were used and how I
did it. Then I had to replicate it with
my left leg. Like most of us, I did
those things naturally after years of practice; now I have to mental think how
it is done and retrain muscles to do their job.
I have another appointment with Randy in Physical Therapy next Thursday
morning so he can evaluate, reinforce what he wants me to practice this week
and then he’ll add a few new twists to what I am doing.
After the PT appointment, I went over to the lab and Leah made some
adjustments to my leg making it more comfortable. She shortened it just a bit, adjusted the
foot some (I was slightly duck feet), and then lowered the back of the
prosthesis where it was hurting the back of my knee/calf area. I’ve got another appointment with her
immediately following next week’s PT appointment. Leah says that there will be more tweaking to
do. She also thinks that I will be ready
to upgrade my foot/ankle by next week.
I’ve got the beginner model on right now. It is very stable, but doesn’t flex and move
much. My new ankle will be more
dynamic. I think that I will move up
through four ankles before I reach the one designed from my level of activity
(uneven terrain outdoors—think hunting!).
After that my son, Jon, joined Joshua and me for lunch at Buffalo Wild
Wings. It wasn’t the calmest place with
March Madness going on. The Badgers game
had just finished and the girl’s state games were on. Service was slow because of it; but the food
was good. Karen had asked me to cook
dinner and have it ready when she arrived home a little after 5:30 because she
had to leave by 6 p.m. for the evening.
So I thought like a man and ordered about 20 extra wings for dinner!
I got home and posted the update and then answered a few work emails
and then it was time to warm up everything for dinner. My wife was very pleased with my
“cooking.”
After my wife left, I made a couple of phone calls for work and then
strapped my leg back on to do some walking around the house and to do my new
exercises before I forgot everything I was told at PT.
The rest of the night was spent preparing the update for Friday along
with the video that Josh recorded. Here
is a link to a 6½ minute taste of my PT appointment.
Friday morning, my daughter Kate is coming to get me. I have an eye appointment. I’ll get my injection in my left eye. That will take about 45 minutes of prep time.
As I said before the eye is numbed so I don’t really feel the needle. It is the aftermath of the drops used to
clean the eye and prevent infection that end up hurting. It will feel like gravel is in my eye for the
rest of Friday and part of Saturday.
This is my “good” eye so I won’t be able to use the computer for emails
or FaceBook, etc. until Saturday afternoon.
That said, I probably won’t send an Update/Thoughts out again until
Monday. By Sunday, I’ll have some
discomfort but able to see well enough by then.
On Monday, I’ll have laser surgery in my right eye. I have no idea what repercussions that will
have or how that will affect my vision.
Usually I am very inquisitive and want to know everything upfront. At this point, I’m told that it is mandatory
and just told them, “Bring it on!” I
know they’ll give me details about it before it happens.
Thought for the Day:
I’m going to share what I read in my devotional time this morning. I have been reading a section of the Gospel
of Luke every morning during my time with the Lord through prayer and bible
reading. This morning I started on the
next section Luke 18:31. I reacted with
tears and sorrow as I read that Jesus would be “mocked and shamefully treated
and spit upon” (Luke 18:32). After
spending time to thank God that He was willing to endure this because of my
sinfulness and for my sake, I continued reading and came to Luke 18:35-43.
Luke 18:35-43 As he
drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he
cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came
near, he asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He
said, "Lord, let me recover my sight." And Jesus
said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God.
And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
With my current prognosis and treatment for my eyes, this struck me
very hard. I identified with the blind
man and echoed his request, “Restore my sight.”
I have to tell you that I’ve thought long and hard about the potential
of going blind. Most everything that I
enjoy would be stripped from my grasp: reading, working on the computer,
enjoying the sunset in the fall forest, driving, and enjoying my independence,
archery and hunting, motorcycle riding, watching TV, etc., etc., etc. How could I continue to prepare messages for
a Sunday service? I couldn’t use my
smart phone. I’m just learning to walk
on my prosthesis—could I learn to walk with a cane when I’m blind? No more working in the garage, if I could
continue as a chaplain—everything about it would change. I cannot even imagine the magnitude of going
blind. It terrifies me in a way that I
never considered before.
So I spent a good long time telling God what was on my heart and what I
desired. I desire that my sight be
restored to what it has been, not just stop the progression at its current
place; but to turn back the clock and restore my eyesight to clear vision with
my tri-focal lens.
Jesus said to the man, “Restore your sight; your faith has made you
well.” Those are words of great comfort
and hope for me. At this moment, my
eyesight remains the same; but I don’t doubt that God can and may still choose
to answer my prayer. Well, I know that
He WILL answer my prayer—just maybe not exactly how I prayed it. He may have something far greater in mind.
Notice what the man did afterwards.
He glorified God. The result was
that everybody who saw what had happened gave praise to God. That’s what I want to see happen. No matter
how God chooses to accomplish it—I want to glorify God with my life and help
bring praise to God from the lips of others.
He may choose to allow me to lose my sight to accomplish that
prayer. And I would be devastated and
yet at the same time okay with that. I
know that my personal happiness and comfort are not the most important thing in
this world, so with trembling in my heart, I submit myself to God’s will
whatever that may be. I’ve gone through
a lot of Kleenex this morning so don’t suppose that this has been easy for me
to proclaim.
Although I am afraid of losing my sight; I am confident and fully trust
God to provide for me whatever twists and turns my life takes. No matter where life leads me—I will be
hanging on tightly to Jesus; just like a child hangs on tightly to daddy,
burying his head into daddy’s chest. I
know that whatever happens—I’ll be safe in His arms. And He will give me the strength and courage
to stand victorious over whatever challenges I face in life.
I am amazed at how quickly life can pull the rug out from underneath
you. One minute everything is warm and
wonderful; and in the next moment you are flat on you back wondering how you
got there. I cannot change what will
happen to me (I can take some action in response; but I really can’t stop
whatever will happen to me). Like most
of us, I like to be in control—but in some respects our control is an
illusion. We can choose which side of
the boat we will paddle like mad on; but the white-water river will continue to
speed us onward despite how hard we paddle.
My choice is to cry out to God for deliverance and then hang on for dear
life and enjoy the ride as much as I can.
You’ve got about the same prospects as me. Right now your life might look like a calm,
serene stream meandering through a forest glade; but just around the corner
might be the first waterfall that changes your life into a crashing
waterfall. On all white-water rafting
trips there is an expert guide that you need to trust and then listen to his
directions. The water might be crashing
around you and the bottom of the raft just seemed to drop away; but with the
expert guide, you can be relaxed and enjoy the ride and at the same time be
terrified. Jesus wants to be your
guide. Will you trust Him? Will you listen to what He tells you to do? Enjoy the ride!
The handrail is up at the church so I can climb the steps on the
platform and I’ve got my new chair (bar stool with back and arms) to sit in while I preach so I am
ready to go! I’ve got a couple of
pictures of me on Sunday morning in the chair.
I went to church with only my walker so I fit back into the men’s
bathroom—I didn’t have to use the women’s bathroom to accommodate my wheelchair—It
was nice to go in the right room.
If you hold a mirror at just the right angle, you can bounce the light
hitting the mirror so that a person trying to look at you will be blinded by
the light and not really able to see you clearly. They can only see what the mirror is
reflecting. Our job is to keep our lives
focused upon God so that when others look at us all they see is a reflection of
God. 
