Saturday (3/8/2014)

Update:

On Friday I got ready and went into my church office to work during the morning; that felt good and I got a number of things accomplished (but never as much as I would wish).

I had enough joints, tendons, and muscles aching that I decided to take a day off from exercises; I’ve been pushing pretty hard and I didn’t want to injure myself.  It felt funny not to work out, but everything feels better now that I gave it a full day’s rest.

About 12:30 p.m. I headed into Altoona.  On Thursday night I saw a commercial for McDonald’s Mighty Wings.  They had them for a while and I really liked them and then they discontinued them (they also seem to cancel all the TV shows that I like too).  The commercial made me hope they had returned to our local restaurant; and they had!!  So I bought some and went over to my son David’s office and we ate lunch together. Yum!

I then went over to the Altoona Police and Fire Department to drop some paperwork off and to pick up a few items that I needed.  I had the opportunity to meet the newly hired Lieutenant and got to see the Chief and another officer for a few minutes.

I headed home to take off my silicone liner.  I had worn it for 6½ hours and I needed to take it off for a while.   Right at the top of my thigh, my leg has been itching like the liner was chaffing there.  I got thinking about how dry my hands have become since I am washing the liner, my sheaths, and my leg several times a day.  And I wondered if I needed to put lotion on my thigh after washing it.  Maybe it is just being dried out by the additional washing it is getting.  I can’t immediately put the liner back on after lotion; it has to absorb into the skin so it doesn’t coat the liner.  But I got it covered.  So far, it seems to have helped.  We’ll see if that helps long term.

I’ve been working (on Friday evening) on the memorial service that will be held at the church on Saturday morning.  I think I’ve got worked out what I need to say and how to say it.  Now all I have to do is get it down on paper before I forget what I want to say.

Friday night, I tried to sleep on my side, which has been my life long position until the amputation.  First the right, then the left, neither ended up working for me.  I even tried on my stomach.  Nothing worked.  All I got from it was sore shoulders and wasted time when I could have been asleep on my back.  Oh well!  I have such fond memories of sleeping on my side—but currently that is all they are.

After the memorial service on Saturday, I will head home and work on Sunday’s message.  I know where that is going but I need to get some words down on paper for that one too and work on the PowerPoint for it.

Saturday evening I will be packing.  I will be attending a conference in Janesville, WI from early Monday morning through Wednesday afternoon.  I’ll be heading down to Janesville on Sunday afternoon (about 200 miles).  This will be my first big solo outing since my amputation.  I’ve always packed “like a girl” but now it will be more like “the circus is coming to town.”  I’ll need my wheelchair, walker, shower stool, shrinker sock and sheaths (I’ll wear my silicone liner), my insulin and glucose meter and enough supplies besides my clothes and normal stuff that I’ll need.  Karen will help me pack and think through everything on Saturday evening so I won’t have to worry about it on Sunday.

The conference is regional training being held by the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC--the Police Chaplain organization that I belong to).  One of the classes I will be taking is a two-day course on Pastoral Crisis Intervention 2 (CISM).  On the third day I have several smaller classes that I will be taking.  This is continuing education for me as a chaplain and as a pastor.  I’ve looked forward to this conference for two years (usually they are held in Indiana—so it is great to have it here in my own backyard).

With that said, I am not certain that I will have the time and energy to write any Updates or Thoughts while I am gone.  Since I usually don’t publish on Sunday anyway, you probably won’t hear from me from Sunday until Thursday morning (3/13).

Thanks for your prayers as I take this solo trip.

Thought for the Day:

I read an excerpt from a book entitled, 'The Top Five Regrets of the Dying' by Bronnie Ware.  It isn’t a Christian book, but the message is a powerful reminder of what is really important in life.  Bronnie served as a nurse providing palliative care for dying patients.  Here is what she observed as the Top 5 Regrets:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

As you might expect, these findings all deal with relationships and finding personal satisfaction in life and not about accomplishments, achievements and possessions.  A fairly common thread that is woven throughout the book is the need to take time for family and friends and to not be consumed with working to provide more material things. 

The truth is much of our adult life is consumed with working and providing support for ourselves and our families.  There is nothing wrong with that; but it can be a slippery slope where we become consumed with acquiring more and better things.  On their deathbeds, most people seem to realize that it would have been better to be satisfied with less stuff and instead focus on enjoying life and spending time with the people you love.  If you’ve got a job that you enjoy—that is awesome; but don’t sacrifice your family time in pursuit of your career.  In the long run you’ll discover that it was a misplaced priority if you don’t.

One of the dangers in life is that we think that we have more time.  “After I retire, I’ll spend time with my family” (or I’ll travel, do the hobby I’ve always wanted to do, etc.).  Often times our health robs us of those opportunities.  Death usually doesn’t make reservations; it comes knocking at inopportune and unexpected times. 

Jesus spoke about the reality of time running out before we expect it to do so:

Luke 12:16-23   “And he [Jesus] told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'  ‘Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I'll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’  ‘But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'  ‘This is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God.’  Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.  Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.’”

Jesus uses a parable about a typical person’s perspective on life to teach us about what is truly important.  We tend to get so caught up in the physical world of possessions and things that we forget about the importance of relationship—specifically a relationship with God.  When you are dead it is too late to do anything about a broken or failed relationship that you neglected over the years.  It is the same with God.  When your life is over it is too late.  Make your peace with God before disaster strikes.  Take time now to begin building a relationship with God.  Jesus calls it, “being rich towards God.”

Mark 8:36-37   “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”