Update:
Yesterday I visited my prosthetist for some adjustments to my leg. She added some additional padding around the
knee and really tightened that up. I was
amazed at the difference that made going up and down stairs. I was able to walk up relying more upon my
leg muscles and less on the cane and the handrail. I also was walking slightly on the outside of
my foot and the adjustment in the knee straightened that out as well.
Next we looked at why when I switch from my shoes to my boots, my left
leg is shorter in the boots. It is fine
in the shoes but short in the boots!?!
We couldn’t find a reason; but after adding a 3/8 inch pad in my left
boot, I walked normally again and my hips were level. It feels much better now than before when I definitely had a limp in my gait (or a hitch
in my giddy-up).
I next asked about getting my prosthetic leg wet. I was fairly certain that I was told not to
do it. But it just struck me that as a
pastor I need to be able to do baptisms.
My denomination practices baptism by immersion which means that I stand
in the pool of waist-deep water along with the person being baptized. So I was wondering how I could do that. They’ll be ordering a water leg for me, a
special liner-like material that covers the exposed part of my residual leg and
goes down over the top of my prosthesis. This is supposed to water proof my leg. I have to cover the locking mechanism with
packing tape so water doesn’t get in that way and coat the set screws in my
ankle with Vaseline to keep them from rusting.
I also have to have a pair of
water shoes to wear. I just bought a
pair at Scheels but I never checked to see how they fit on the shell foot of
the prosthesis-I just fit them to my right foot. My right foot and my shell foot are
technically the same size, however since my shell foot is rigid, it makes a big
difference how easily a shoe goes on it. I have to go back to the store and get
a second pair that are one size larger for use on my prosthesis. Fortunately they are on clearance sale so it
is very reasonable to do that.
Thought for the Day:
I spent some time this morning sorting through clothes that no longer
fit me well with my diminishing waistline.
I did that about two months ago but it was time to do it again. As I removed the last of the 46 inch
waistlines and size 18 shirts from my closet, it struck me how easy it is to
fill our lives with clutter. I have to
admit that there were some shirts that I hung onto for too long because of an
emotional attachment. “How can I give up
this shirt? It is one of my favorites?” It doesn’t fit anymore. It doesn’t look good on me so why hang onto
something that I definitely won’t wear again?
I am also amazed at how long it takes to sort through everything. You accumulate things one or two at a time
and I don’t remember gathering this much stuff; but over time it all piles
up. And it takes a long time to go
through a closet full of clothes to try them on to see if they still fit.
And this just doesn’t happen with clothes. I can go to the garage and look at the tools,
the nuts and bolts, along with various miscellaneous stuff that I don’t even
remember that I own until I need to dig through the pile in an attempt to find
something. I couldn’t believe how many
shoes that I got rid of after my amputation.
I have a number of coats that are already too big for me; but I’ll wait
until spring to get rid of them and get one more season of use before I turn them
in to some place like Goodwill.
Most of our closets are stuffed with clothes that we no longer wear,
don’t fit, or we don’t care to wear anymore.
There is no room to hang up one more shirt or put one more piece of
laundry in our chest of drawers. Even if
we want to there is absolutely no way we can squeeze in one more thing.
Another reason that I am sorting through clothes once again is that I
have to plan ahead on pants to wear. I have to get most of my pants modified to
fit over my prosthesis—the majority of pants right off the shelf don’t
work. So I have to plan ahead so that
when I need the next smaller size of pants, I have what I need already for me
hanging in the closet.
Our closets are sort of poetic representations of our lives. We stuff so many activities into our schedule
that we don’t have time for one more thing.
If an emergency or last minute request comes in we have no way to handle
because we are already maxed out. And
forget about having any time left to just sit quietly and reflect on our lives
for a little bit. “I have too much to do
to just sit around and do nothing!”
I would suggest that our lives would be simpler and much more
productive if we cleaned out our schedules like we clean out our closets. Get rid of activities that no longer really
fit who you are. Are there things that
you would like to be doing but just don’t have the time? Perhaps you need to drop a few good things so
you have room to do better, more important things? One thing you should ask yourself is whether
you current activities and things that consume your time truly reflect your
values. If they don’t it’s time to off-load! Most of us don’t normally think along these
lines. Take some time to evaluate and do
a bit of house cleaning!
Many of us feel guilty if we aren’t actively doing things every spare
moment of the day. And this carries over
to our religious life as well. We can
get so busy doing for God that we don’t have time to spend with God and build
our relationship with Him.
In the bible, two sisters had Jesus over to their home. A large group of people came over to listen
to Jesus teach. Martha was consumed with
her hostess duties while her sister, Mary, dropped the chores she was doing and
sat listening to Jesus teach. Martha became
frustrated at her sister and she asked Jesus to make Mary get up and help her
get everything done; after all, taking care of a house full of guests is a lot
of work for one person to do alone.
Listen to Jesus’ response:
Luke 10:41-42 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many
things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is
better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
We get
distracted by the things in our lives.
The more possessions we own, the more of our time they take up. Our schedules get so packed that we don’t
have time for God, friends and sometimes even family. We trade the good for the better and the
best, instead of the other way around. We
also can clutter our minds with old memories, unhealthy thoughts, grudges we
nurse, and bad attitudes. Imagine all of
the emotional energy we could save if we just dump some of that junk!
I’ve found
that unless we purposefully stop to evaluate our lives, we just won’t do
it. Sometimes an accident or an illness
might force us to do so; but for many people, they just continue on with lives
never even aware of the amount of junk they drag around with them.
Take some
time to clean your house, empty your closets and make room for something
better!
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