Update:
On Friday morning, I took my first motorcycle ride since my
amputation. Woot! Woot! I just did a ride around Fall Creek and a
mile loop out into the country so that I could see how I rode with my
prosthesis. The first trouble that I had
was getting my kick stand up. It is sort
of buried underneath my footplates and the new heel shifter. I could touch it with my toe but I couldn’t
get any purchase. It took me five to ten
minutes of experiments before I figured out how to do it. My next issue is that the toe on my
prosthetic leg is flexible enough that I cannot just tap my shifter to down
shift (perhaps if I wore my boots that would work). I found that I had to hit it with the heel of
my foot. I need to adjust the shifter a
bit to get it higher up off of the foot plate and I might have to remove my
highway pegs so that I can get at the shifter better. Riding around town got easier with every stop
and go that I did. Probably the biggest
difficulty is backing the bike into the garage; that motion is hard to do with
my prosthetic leg. So overall riding my
motorcycle is doable; I just have to make a few adjustments and get more practice
to feel totally ready. Right now I would
not be comfortable riding in Eau Claire (100,000 with surrounding
communities). I’ll take it slow and
steady and work back up to that fairly quickly I think. I look forward to the warm weather returning
and getting a chance to get out and ride.
I used the duffel bag strapped onto my back to get my laundry
downstairs to the washer; that worked very well.
The rest of my day on Friday was fairly routine. I got most
of my message prepared and then held the wedding rehearsal. We ironed out a few bugs and familiarized
everyone with what they need to do. I made
it home just in time to start getting dinner ready before Karen arrived
home. We ate burgers from the George Foreman
grill. After dinner, while I still had
my leg on, I remembered to straighten out my bed. I have an adjustable bed (head and feet raise
and lower). I usually sleep with my head
slightly elevated. If I read in bed,
then my head and legs are up. The up and
down movement of the bed knocks the fitted sheet and mattress cover loose from
the head of the bed. The mattress itself
eventually shifts over off of the bed frame too. So at least once a week, it has to be all
straightened out. Until I got my
prosthesis, Karen had to do it for me; I couldn’t quite get it done in my
wheelchair and I found it impossible to make the bed when I was lying on
it. After fixing the bed I did some dishes by hand
and then sat down to rest.
Saturday morning I have to finish my sermon and then get my clothes
ready for the wedding and for church in the morning. After lunch on Saturday, I’ll get ready and
head to the church and wrap everything up before the wedding at 4:30 p.m. For preaching on Sunday’s, I have a stool
that I sit on so that I don’t have to stand the entire time. I couldn’t figure out anyway that I could use
the stool during the wedding without having to move it back and forth which I
thought looked bad, so I’ll stand.
Fortunately it is a short wedding, so it shouldn’t be too bad. I don’t plan on staying at the wedding
reception for too long. I’ll need to get
home and get some rest so that I am fresh and ready to go on Sunday morning.
Right now I don’t have any scheduled medical appointments until Monday,
June 2nd. I will have to go
in to see my prosthetist at least one time between now and then; but almost
three and a half weeks without an appointment.
WOW!!! It will be time to
schedule another round of eye injections that first week of June; but right
now—no appointments sound nice!
Next week I have something scheduled on four nights; and at least one
major event scheduled on six of the seven days.
I’ve got plenty to do and happy that I have enough energy to get
involved in life again. Although I am dragging by the time I get home from the
office each day and I definitely need at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night; Life
is so good.
Thought for the Day:
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that
you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It
is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (NIV)
One of the things that I believe is that God has a plan for your
life. Who you are—your strengths and
weaknesses, the experiences that you have had, the lessons that you’ve learned
and your specific circumstances all help you by placing you exactly where you
need to be to accomplish God’s assignment for your life.
That’s a cool thought. God wants
to accomplish His work through you. He
doesn’t have to do that; but He chooses to put us to use, to include us in what
He is doing. Think about this: God has
hand-picked you for the job He has in mind for you to accomplish. And He doesn’t just toss you out and say, “Give
it a try.” God gathers the resources
that you’ll need; He gifts and trains you; He strengthens and encourages you;
He stands right alongside of you to ensure that you can accomplish the task. God never wastes any event in our lives. The difficult and painful moments also help
to shape us and knock some of the rough edges off of us. They help produce humility, endurance,
patience, and dependence upon God in us.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)
Part of the groundwork He
has done is to prepare you for the task.
If you look back on your life experiences, you can probably see a
pattern of “how God has shaped your life in order to send you out into the
world to accomplish His purposes.” [Henry Blackaby, Called and Accountable].
“When God is shaping a
person’s life, at times, it can be difficult to recognize. In what circumstances do you currently find
yourself? Could God be preparing you for
something He will use your life to accomplish in the future?” [Henry Blackaby, Called and Accountable].
Think about what all this means.
Your life—the good, the bad, and the ugly—can all be used by God to make
you a better person. I am just beginning
to get a sense of how God has used my amputation to prepare me for the future
tasks that He wants me to accomplish.
God had to clear away some of my busyness. I had to let go of some of the things I was
doing that others could accomplish without me.
He had to challenge me to look beyond what I had been doing to see new
possibilities. I needed time away so
that I could gain perspective. I also
have been learning about myself, about pain and suffering, and about God’s
provision during the dark times of our lives.
God put on my heart while I was in the hospital to begin writing these
Updates/Thoughts—and I am amazed at how many people have commented about
something I’ve written at one time or another.
I’ve seen God use my writing about my journey to encourage and challenge
others. I don’t know exactly where God
is taking my life at this point. I just
know that day by day it seems to be more clear that He is moving me in a
certain direction—and I intend to continue to follow His lead.
It feels good to gain an understanding that what you have gone through has
a higher purpose and isn’t just random junk that you must suffer through. It feels wonderful when you find your strengths
being put to use and you have a sense that “I was made to do this.” Right now I don’t know where else this will
lead—perhaps my role is to do exactly what I am currently doing. Perhaps my role is to challenge and encourage
someone else to step forward and that person will accomplish something great
for God. I don’t know. And right now it doesn’t matter because I
know for this time and place in my life—this is what I am called to be doing.
And I want to affirm that the same is true for your life. I am no different from you. God has a plan and a purpose for each one of
us. God desires to use the things you’ve
encountered in life to help sharpen your purpose and enable you to do the task
He has given you. He is there. He is real.
He is alive. He is involved. There are many things in life that I will
never understand; but I do know this: God loves us and will never leave us or
abandon us. We might feel a separation
or distance at times; but that is only so we strive to draw closer to Him.
So don’t give up on yourself. Don’t
give up on your life. Don’t wonder if it
is all worth it and if there is any purpose in life. Trust in Him.
He’s got a plan and you have a part to play in it. Perhaps His plan for you is to be the best
mom to your kids that you can be (Happy Mother’s Day by the way). Perhaps His plan is for you to be the best
employee your company has. Perhaps He
wants you to grow and blossom where you currently are, in the situation that
you currently face, so that in the future you will have the exact qualities
that He needs at that time. So keep the
faith. Continue to believe. Serve Him.
Seek to draw closer to Him and grow in your gifts and abilities. Your future awaits you!
No comments:
Post a Comment