Update:
As I write this on Sunday afternoon I realize that Monday (3/17) is the day that everything changes for me. At 9 a.m. I am scheduled to meet my first, new prosthetic leg. It feels a bit like the prospect of meeting your “mail order bride” for the first time. I haven’t ever laid eyes on my new leg yet; but I feel like we were made for each other; that we will go places together that I could never go alone; and that we will quickly become inseparable. I think that very soon I will feel like I am incomplete without my prosthetic leg attached; standing and walking—a whole new world opening up for me! I know that like every other relationship, we will have our ups and downs together. There will be days when I wonder if our continued relationship is worth all of the effort it takes—but then I will remember going places together and the good times we shared and I will want to take the next step with my new best friend. Here’s to a long and prosperous relationship together!!!
After church on Sunday morning, a couple of young girls were trying to look up my pant leg to see my stump. I pulled the pant leg back and showed them my shrinker sock. Then with the parents’ permission I took the sock off and showed them my bare stump. The youngest one looked a bit concerned until I assured her that it didn’t hurt and that it was okay. I told her, “and tomorrow, I am going to get a new foot, so next Sunday I will have two shoes on.” She asked, “A fake foot or a real foot?” I pondered how to answer that one because my prosthetic leg will be very real to me! I finally answered, “It’s a fake foot but I’ll be able to walk again and do all sorts of things. That will be my foot that I have until I go to heaven and be with Jesus.” With great confidence the youngest girl said, “That will be a long time from now.” Oh, I hope so, there is a lot of life to live that I would like to experience.
In church lingo we talk about being “Born Again” –a spiritual rebirth through faith in Jesus Christ. We were born once physically and then as we turn in faith to God, we are born again. Well I was born with two legs physically; but tomorrow I will be “Legged Again” ready to take the next step in my journey through life.
One of my daughters suggested that I come up with some epic line to quote as I take my first step similar to Neil Armstrong’s moon walk “One small step for man; One giant leap for mankind.” I haven’t been able to come up with anything yet; however I do believe that my first step will begin an epic adventure for me.
One of the things for which I am very thankful is that we had already added a wheelchair ramp onto our house. If we didn’t have built before my amputation, I probably would have spent time in a nursing home or had to make some other living arrangement. We built the ramp years ago for my mother-in-law’s sake. We built it to ADA Code (American’s with Disabilities Act). They have a maximum incline grade recommendation. With our small front yard, we put in a ramp designed for the person in the wheelchair to be pushed up by someone else. With exercise and by determination, I have been able to get myself up the ramp unassisted. That allows me the freedom to come and go all by myself (when the weather has cooperated). Now that is a sweet feeling—independence!
Here is a link to a 5 minute video of me going up and down the ramp at my house:
Thought for the Day:
In the Gospel of John Chapter 5, Jesus encounters a man who had been crippled and unable to walk for thirty-eight years. John 5:8 says, “Jesus said to him, "Arise, take up your pallet, and walk.” The scriptures report that the man got up and immediately began to walk. That is a miracle! Whatever his medical condition was that originally prohibited him from walking; this man’s muscles were atrophied and useless. But Jesus gave the word and his health and vitality were restored. That is power—wonder working power!
I think of that man lying helpless for nearly four decades of his life and think about the change that was made because of an encounter with Christ. EVERYTHING changes when Jesus enters your life; your life will never be the same!
Tomorrow on Monday, I’m scheduled to try on my new prosthetic leg and take my first steps in almost four months. I’m going to need training and it will take time for my muscles and tendons to be strong enough to go all day—but tomorrow I will hear the prosthetist say, “Get up and walk.” It won’t be quite the miraculous event that the man who encountered Jesus experienced. But it is going to be wondrous in its own way. I know that there will be a smile on my face and a joy in my heart as I stand on my own two feet again; I can only imagine what joy the crippled man must have felt as he stood there for the first time in almost 40 years, looked Jesus square in the eye, gave thanks, and then turned and strode away.
We don’t see that many miraculous physical healings in our times. Jesus isn’t currently walking the earth laying hands on people. But I believe that God still heals today. If you remember my story, I believe that God miraculously healed my heart valves from one day to the next while I was in the hospital. One day they said I will have to undergo heart surgery to repair the damaged valves of my heart and the next day the doctor could not find any signs of damage. Explain that as a faulty diagnostic test or whatever; but I say God healed me in answer to the cry of my heart!
And I know that me walking again isn’t exactly a miraculous healing; but that we have the medical care available and the ability to assist me to walk again seems pretty marvelous to me.
And I’ve got to tell you that Jesus is still in the healing business; just that often it isn’t the physical kind. What is more important to us is the emotional, the mental, and the spiritual. Jesus can bring peace and wholeness in these areas of your life. Turn to Him in faith and ask.
Now I have to tell you that you won’t always experience an immediate healing. Sometimes He has you wait for a time; sometimes He includes your effort in your restoration; and sometimes in His sovereign wisdom, He declines to answer your prayer in the manner that you desired.
Tell God the desires of your heart; and then let God be God.
Ask God to work in your life and grant you forgiveness and the ability to forgive others. Ask God to give you peace and hope despite the circumstances you face. Ask God to shower His love upon you when you feel like no one else loves you. Ask God to comfort you and ease the grief you bear over the loss of a loved one. Ask for God to cleanse you from the guilt and penalty of sin and receive forgiveness and new life.
Tell God the desires of your heart; and then let God be God.
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