Update:
On Monday I went down to the basement and stoked the fire and then sat
down and chopped kindling for starting the fire. It felt good to do something that needed to
be done for myself. I ended up sitting
down in front of the fire and reading for a while. That was nice. I missed that all winter; glad I will have
the opportunity a few times yet this spring.
My son, Jon, came over and helped me change a worn out electrical
outlet. He brought his brother’s car
over to work on in the next few days.
Jon also did a few other little things for me. I was going to take him back home to Eau
Claire and in the process of changing out of plaid jam pants into something
more appropriate for being seen in out of doors, I discovered that the foot on
my prosthesis was loose. I got a hold of
Leah, my prosthetist, and I described the problem to her. She talked us through tightening some spots
and then we found another spot where the foot was very loose. At this point I needed to go in for get the
placement correct before tightening it.
After arriving at the lab, I described some of the noise I had been
hearing as I walked over the last couple of days as well as some of the
difficulties I was having. Apparently an
important adjustment screw had worked loose and my foot was slipping out of
proper adjustment. She got me set back
up and put in the softer bumper for my foot as well, giving me more
flexibility. Leah told me that the only
thing that had been keeping my foot in place after that one screw came loose
was some black electrical tape that was wrapped around my ankle. I had been going up and down my stairs at
home; I am so thankful that my foot didn’t slip and throw me down the stairs. Leah got everything reset and then added some
fiberglass wrapping so that the screws could not come loose again. When Leah worked on my foot back in the lab,
she took Jon back in with her, so he got a nice tour and info about what she
does. I thought that was pretty great of
her to do that.
I was grateful that Jon was there to help tighten my foot enough to get
me into the lab and I was thankful that Leah was still at the office and
available for my emergency pit stop. The
end result was that my foot feels much better and it is much more comfortable
walking on it.
One of the problems that I have is getting pants over and around my
prosthesis. I’ve found that most cuffs
on pants are tighter than the rest of the leg.
It is hard to thread the prosthetic foot and leg though the pants, since
the ankle doesn’t bend like a regular foot.
Sometimes I can pull my pant leg up, put my leg on, and then slid my
pants leg back down over the knee and down into place. But the prosthesis in my knee area is large
and not many pants are roomy enough to do that.
It takes me five minutes to get my dress slacks on over my prosthetic
leg alone. It is really discouraging
when I have to take the pants back off so I can remove the leg to make an
adjustment and then have to dress myself all over again. I am having one pair of pants altered to have
the inside seam on the leg replaced with Velcro. The idea is that I can rip the pant leg open
and then easily seal it closed around my leg without all the labor of pulling
and tugging the pants into place. If
this experiment works, I’ll have a few more of my pants altered in the same
way. Right now I mainly wear sweat pants
and track warm-up pants except on Sunday.
Today (Tuesday) is my oldest daughter, Kate’s, birthday. She is the big 3-0. It doesn’t quite seem possible that so many
years have gone by. I thank God for her
love for Him. She’s a precious gift.
Thought for the Day:
With warmer weather forecasted this week, it won’t be long until we
start to see everything begin to turn green.
The snow is almost all melted (except for piles on the north side of
buildings and hills, etc.); but right now everything is still so brown. I look forward to the spring growth that is
about to take place. I love each season
in its time.
Next Sunday is Palm Sunday when the church remembers Jesus’ triumphal
entry into Jerusalem. On the next day as
Jesus was heading back into Jerusalem, He saw a fig tree (Mark 11:12-14). From a distance the tree looked good. It was probably green and lush looking; but
upon closer inspection Jesus found that it was not bearing fruit. He pushed aside the leaves but didn’t find
any figs and so He cursed the fig tree.
We are told later (vv.20-21) that the fig tree shriveled up and died.
It has always struck me as funny that Jesus would curse a tree because
it didn’t have figs. But when you know
the significance of the fig tree, you realize that this is an acted out
parable. In the Old Testament the fig
tree is used as a symbol for the nation of Israel. Israel was a religious nation. The worship of the true and living God was at
the center of its existence. When Jesus
walked this earth, Israel had a flourishing religion, lots of activities,
celebrations and sacrifices. People
attended the temples services in large numbers.
From great to small, the people were religiously devoted…to their
religion. For Jesus found that despite
all the outward show of spiritual life and vitality, there wasn’t any
fruit. The Jewish worship was all sizzle
and no steak. Outwardly it looked
healthy and vibrant; but deep down it was dead and worthless.
Jesus sees a fig tree covered in leaves. You would expect that a fig tree would bear
figs; that’s its purpose. So if a fig
tree bears no fruit—it is a waste of precious resources. It’s ornamental; but serves no actual
purpose. God created fig trees to bear
figs. This tree wasn’t living up to its
purpose and so Jesus took it out.
Jesus is demonstrating to the nation of Israel what God thinks about religious
activity that bears no spiritual fruit.
God thinks it is a terrible waste of resources. A religion, a church, even us as individuals
were all created to worship God and to bring Him glory. If we fail to do that; we are not fulfilling
the purpose for which we were created.
Churches can have lots of activities scheduled and hundreds of people
attending service each week; but is there anything of spiritual value going
on? People can spend a great amount of
time going to church and even reading the bible; but if they don’t allow God to
touch their hearts in such a way that there is a life changing transformation,
people are just fooling themselves. God
calls us to bear fruit.
So if you go to church week after week and you haven’t been challenged
and you haven’t changed—what good is that?
It isn’t worth your time to go just to attend if your heart isn’t in it
and you aren’t bearing fruit. Don’t
misunderstand me on this! I am NOT
saying “then quit going to church.” What
I am saying is make the necessary changes in your own heart so these things can
happen.
It is easy to blame someone else for your lack of spiritual fruit—but the
reality is that it all depends upo you.
Bloom where you are planted. Seek
after God. Ask Him to soften your heart
so that you hear His voice. Look for God
at work around you. Ask God to use you
and to strengthen you for the task. Ask
God to begin a good work in you so that you bear fruit.
John 15:4-6 “Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he
it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers;
and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (ESV).
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