Update:
In yesterday’s update, I talked about being on a diet and how difficult
it was to lose weight because I was on “insulation.” I corrected it on Face Book, but did not send
a correction by email. It should have
read that I was on “insulin.” Apparently
the silly auto-correct feature made a substitute and I didn’t catch it until
several people commented on my diet.
Being in the wheelchair full-time for the week is going well
overall. I did a 45 minute workout on
Wednesday morning to try to ease some of the pain in my tendons and muscles
from sitting all the time. I also spent some
time stretching out right before bed on Wednesday as well. I’ll sleep better with everything feeling
fresh and loose. On Thursday morning I
had to hit the floor mat again to relive the discomfort. Having the prosthetic leg and being able to
walk is certainly easier. I have fewer
limitations on my time and what I can accomplish. Limited to the wheelchair I am much more
dependent upon others to do things for me.
I worked on the Fall Creek Baccalaureate Service both on Wednesday
morning and then again for about 45 minutes in the evening. I spent the afternoon at the church working
on Sunday’s message and preparing for the Elders’ meeting on Friday
morning. After dinner, I worked on
Sunday’s message and the sermon hand out until about 9:30 p.m. and then it was
time to get ready for bed. I still have
some fine tuning to do, but I am basically done with the message right
now. One of the things that need to do
on Thursday is to begin planning my next message series since I only have a few
more sermons left in the Gifts and Stewardship series I’ve been doing. I know that our Music Director would
appreciate knowing exactly what I am preaching on as she plans the music. For the last few months, I’ve basically told
her, “I don’t know for certain. All I
know is that it will have something to do with God or Jesus or something like
that.” She has done a wonderful job despite
my lack of specifics.
I was very thankful that I got home from the office before the rain
started on Wednesday afternoon. As long
as it takes me to get out of the truck and up the ramp with the wheelchair, I
would have gotten soaked.
Thought for the Day:
I found this anonymous prayer on-line at thought it was worthwhile:
Dear God:
Enlighten what’s dark in me…
Strengthen what’s weak in me…
Mend what’s broken in me…
Bind what’s bruised in me…
Heal what’s sick in me, and lastly…
Revive whatever peace and love has died in me…
AMEN
No matter how “good” I am, I have found that there are always some
pockets of “bad” or at least “not as good as they should be” within me. As someone has quipped, “The room for
self-improvement is the biggest room in my house.” For all the positive there is in my life, I
find a constant need to clean up and root out the negative. At times it feels like my entire life is like
a house made of playing cards—I’ve got everything delicately balanced and it’s
tall and impressive looking now—But one little bump and the whole thing is in
danger of crashing down.
There is a need for constant upkeep and routine maintenance. Oil has to be changed regularly in your
car. Did you know that tires lose at
least 1-2 pounds of pressure a month?
Check them regularly or you’ll be wearing your tires out
prematurely. Odd jobs around the house
are always popping up. Speaking of
popping up—just watch, dandelions will soon show their yellow head in your
lawn.
In general, the principle of entropy suggest that in every system there
will be decline and degradation. In the
areas of spiritual health and mental well-being within an individual, we see
this principle at work. Unless
maintained, a person’s positive attitude will be worn away by the harsh events
of life. Unless maintained, a person’s
spiritual strength will weaken over time by temptation and evil.
If we use the illustration of our current spiritual health as the level
of water in a bucket, certain things such as worship, bible reading and prayer
can increase our reservoir. At the same
time, certain factors are constantly draining some of our spiritual vitality
out of our bucket. Pain, suffering,
injury, busyness, indifference, disaster, death of a loved one, loss of a job, lack
of rest, etc. will lower the level of our spiritual health. Even doing good things have a cost and a
negative effect over time. We cannot
give and give and give of ourselves without taking time to replenish what we
have given away.
That is why a day of rest, a day off, a vacation can be so important to
our health and well-being. Spending some
time out in the woods, especially in the fall, helps me to replenish my
bucket. For you, maybe it is an
afternoon curled up with a book in front of a fire. Sunday worship also replenishes my soul. But just a once-a-week “fill up” isn’t
enough. My bucket runs dry if I am not
working at feeding my mind and my spirit on a daily basis. I read the bible and other positive,
uplifting books and pray on a daily basis just to try to keep ahead of drain on
my life.
That reminds me of the story of the greatest violinist in the world
talking about his need for daily practice.
Now I would think that if you were that good, your need for practice
would be minimal. This world-renowned
man had a different view. “I must
practice daily. If I skip one day, I
notice my playing isn’t as good. If I
skip two days, my instructor notices. If
I skip three days, the whole world knows.”
Take some time today to work at refilling you bucket, or at least add a
little bit to it so that you maintain your currently level, despite what
draining events happen to you today. Make
certain that at least once a week you get a good filling so that you are to the
point of overflowing—so that you are ready to face the week ahead.
In the book of Joel, God
uses the picture of drought and destruction of crops by locust to demonstrate what the future holds
for the nation of Israel. But in chapter 2, God promises
restoration in the coming days by picturing overflowing abundance.
Joel 2:24 “The threshing floors shall be full of
grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.”
May your life and mine overflow with the abundant goodness of the
Lord. Don’t lose hope or faith. Hang on and believe. Strive to do the things necessary to keep you
bucket full. Then trust in Him to provide for your well-being.
Psalm 27:13 “I
would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land
of the living.”
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