Update:
Last Friday, I
pulled my 16-foot long trailer to Eau Claire for Karen’s cast and crew to load
all the stage pieces and scenery to move them to the State Theatre for “Simon
of Cyrene.” I didn’t try to help pick up
anything; I basically sat on the tailgate and watched. During the course of the evening I stepped
over the tongue of my trailer about a dozen times. Just doing that high-stepping motion with my
prosthesis pulled a muscle in my abdomen.
Since Sunday, I’ve been in pain. Right
now I am not planning to wear my prosthetic leg all day; I’ll keep a heating
pad on the muscle and let it rest. I did
that most of Tuesday and the muscle has already begun to respond—much less
pain! Do you know how often you use your
oblique muscles? Apparently all the time!!! Bending over. Sitting up. Lying down in bed
or getting up. Stretching to the side. Standing. Etc. Etc. Etc. How is it that something you don’t even
really know that you have can be so critical to everyday life and produce so
much pain?
It is becoming
painfully obvious to me that I cannot assume that I can do whatever I
want. I am in the process of strengthening
and training my entire body how to carry the weight and do the extra work of
wearing a prosthetic leg. Something as
simple as a high step motion done too soon, too many times (12x) can be too
much. If you watch me walking from the
handicap parking into a store, you’d probably ask yourself, “Why does he need a
handicap placard?” and think that I am abusing the system. What you don’t see is all the limits that I
currently have (some I’ve yet to discover).
I have just enough energy and stamina to go and do that errand and then
I am done for the day. It is hard for me
to wrap my noodle around it some days. I
feel good walking. It seems that I
should be able to do those things.
Mentally I’ve always been able to tough it out and push beyond my limits
to get something done. Not anymore; I’m
faced with obstacles that I might eventually be able to overcome—but not
necessarily on this day. With that said
I would encourage you to withhold judgment and not make assumptions about
someone’s physical capabilities based upon how they appear at the moment.
I got my new
foot on Tuesday. I really like it so
far. It has better range of motion,
especially on the side-to-side motion which will be important walking on uneven
terrain. My prosthetist, Leah, said I am
ready to have my first “permanent” leg made.
It will be made of lighter, more durable materials. That means next Monday (4/21), I turn in my
current leg and then on Friday (4/22), I’ll be given my new leg. So I will be back in the wheelchair full-time
Monday through Friday of next week. This
leg will last for 6-12 months depending upon how rapidly my physical leg
changes shape. Leah says that at my
current rate of change, it should last closer to one year.
One of the
decisions that I am faced with is do I want my leg just to be flesh colored or
do I want something imprinted on it.
Basically I can take anything printed on a t-shirt and have that
imprinted on my leg. I saw a sample of a
leg with a big Green Bay Packer logo on it.
I could go with a camouflage pattern or a scripture passage or any
number of things. Some of my firefighter
friends are lobbying for me to have a fire hydrant imprinted on my leg. My first thought was how many dogs I would
attract with a fire hydrant on my leg.
So I have until Monday to come up with something or just keep the leg “plain
Jane.” Honestly, I don’t know if I have
the chutzpa to walk around with an imprint on my leg—I guess it would only be
an issue during the summer if I am in shorts—but still. I’m open to suggestions or ideas if you have
any; but I’ve got to get it on a t-shirt (or similar cloth material) by Monday.
My daughter, Ruth,
and her husband, Cody, are coming home for Easter weekend. They’ll arrive here in Fall Creek about 10
p.m. tonight. I look forward to seeing
them. I’m glad they get to come for a
long weekend.
Today I am
focusing my attention on writing my Easter message. Thankfully I already have the main points in
mind, so now all I need to do is flesh it out.
Christmas and Easter can be tough times on preachers trying to present
these well-known themes in a fresh and interesting fashion. The very last thing that I want to do is to
bore people with such an important message.
And speaking of
presenting the message in a fresh and compelling fashion, if you live in the
Eau Claire area you should plan on seeing my wife’s musical drama “Simon of
Cyrene” at the State Theatre on Thursday (4/17) at 7:30 p.m. or on Good Friday
(4/18) at either 3 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are priced to cover expenses but if you cannot afford the full
price, just tell the theatre what you can give and they’ll give you the
tickets. This is a two-hour event with a
very moving crucifixion scene. There is
a ninety member cast, crew, orchestra, and choir. The drama helps bring the biblical story to
life. It is well worth your time to
attend. I attend every year as a means
of preparing my heart for celebrating Easter.
Thought for the Day:
“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude towards it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every
difficulty has an opportunity” [J. Sidlow Baxter, Awake My Heart].
“Life can be likened to a grindstone.
Whether it grinds you down or polishes you depends on what you are made
of” [John Maxwell, How High Will You
Climb?].
My son, Jon, has gotten into auto mechanics. He is now the “go to guy” when his siblings
older cars need repair. Jon has been
working on David’s car out in my driveway.
Jon has some knowledge and skill; but he also has the internet. It is amazing how many self-help videos you
can find to give you step-by-step visual instructions on how to replace a
timing belt on a specific year and model of a vehicle. However, since Jon isn’t a trained mechanic on
that specific vehicle, there are times when he has to backtrack a bit. He gets to a point of rebuilding but has to
take a few pieces back off to do something he overlooked at the appropriate time. The other day he had to tear a number of
things out that he had just installed to do something he missed earlier. That cost him about four hours dismantling
and rebuilding. That would drive me
insane—but Jon’s got the perfect attitude “that’s one mistake that I won’t make
again.” He is enjoying the learning
process as much as getting the job done.
He has the right attitude for the job.
If all we see are difficulties and problems, it would be easy for us to
develop a bad attitude and give up in the face of “insurmountable obstacles.” Most obstacles are only insurmountable when
we choose to give up. It is better to
see these as temporary setbacks and learning opportunities. If we can find a solution or a way around
what is blocking our path—there is a good probability that we will reach our
goal. And even if ultimately we cannot
reach our goal, the process of striving and reaching toward it will have made
us a better, stronger person—so even if we fail, we win.
Philippians 4:13 “I can
do all things through him who strengthens me.”
What things have you decided
to never try? What have you given up on
because you decided that you couldn’t do it?
There are some limits that we will bump up against that will stop
us. For instance, you’ll never play in
the NBA if you are 5’ 7” and cannot dribble the ball without hitting your own
foot. But through hard work and
determination you can become a basketball star in your neighbor pick up games.
Maybe your dreams are
unattainable because of money or time.
If you have a family, you have to be considerate of them and not leave
out; however it is possible to still achieve many things even with the limits
we face. We often just need to be
creative and tenacious. We need to seize
opportunities and work hard towards our goals.
Don’t let glass ceilings stop you.
This is especially true in
the area of personal character and relational skills. I know people who years ago would tremble at
the thought of standing in front of a crowd and speaking who are now
accomplished public speakers. It is also
true of personal flaws and failings. If
we decide, “that’s just the way I am” we are giving ourselves an excuse to
never strive to improve. Better to
decide, “I know that is a weakness; but I am working on it.”
I know that at the end of my
life that I will not be perfect. But my
goal is to be constantly improving and becoming a better man, a better husband,
a better father, a better friend, a better pastor, and a better chaplain. I see all sorts of opportunities ahead for
me. I can’t do them all at once, so I’ll
just take one step at a time towards that goal.
Some days it feels like I’m just taking baby steps; but over the long
haul it is amazing how far that I’ve come.
I still have a long way to go—but I am on my way.
What about you? Are you on the road to personal
improvement? Don’t give up on yourself
and settle for “good enough.” Keep
reaching forward and looking beyond.
No comments:
Post a Comment