A week has now passed since I last used my prescription pain medication given to me following my shoulder surgery. It hasn't been pain-free, of course. The last half of the week, I have felt more aches in the shoulder than pain, as I have (per the doctor's instruction) begun to use my arm lightly again. (I am typing with both hands now.
Although I have a long way to go before I'm back to my post at work, I am thankful to be farther along than I thought I would be at this point. When I knew I was to have surgery, in my mind, I thought I would be confined to a sling for 6 weeks with no moving my arm at all.
This brings me to the main point of this update... I'm learning to be thankful in and for the little things. I have recounted a few of these things in other posts whether here or elsewhere, but I don't think I'd be going out on a limb to say that the following things are almost always taken for granted.
The Top Three Reasons I Thank God I'm Not on Pain Pills.
3. I can drive again! (It is difficult to fasten a seat belt, though.)
2. I don't feel like I could fall asleep at any moment of the day.
1. Bodily functions, such as pooping and peeing, are back to normal!!!!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
What are you storing?
As this may be the last post for a while, (I will be back to one-handedness after surgery in several hours) I wanted to write this before I forget or find typing inconvenient. For close to a week, mortality has been on my mind. You might think this stems from surgery looming ahead. I'm not saying that didn't have any effect, because, although "I'm a few credits shy of a degree in medicine", clearly having any surgery has at least some chance of the patient dying. Of course, you and I are not even guaranteed our next breath, so whether you have surgery or not, there's a chance you may die tomorrow. I really started thinking about it probably from Friday on, when I went to Missouri with my mom and aunt to visit family. Part of the reason for going was the estate sale auction for my grandpa's estate. He has Alzheimer's and now lives in a nursing home. To say that my grandpa is a pack-rat would be an understatement. You see, when he was able, he liked to go to auctions and estate sales to pick up things he might need/want or just bargains in general. It was very much like the person who has to have a garage sale because they went to too many garage sales. My uncle, the executor of the estate, spent countless hours over many months going through stuff, pitching or burning the junk and setting aside the many many many things that would be sold at auction.
I'm not really sure why auctioneers have a cadence that is so hard to understand but can be understood perfectly when they're not auctioning something. Saturday, it started raining right around the time we got to the auction house. I hear that buyers get the best deals in nasty weather, and I believe it, because not a whole lot of people are going to venture out into the nastiness. That said, we were able to pick up some things (some sentimental, some not) for not much money. Maybe it was the sheer volume of items that struck me. But the more I think about it, I think it was the fact that often things were going for pennies on the dollar of what the items could be purchased for at a resale store/consignment shop. In fact, when the auctioneer couldn't draw even a $1 bid, he would lump things together to garner more interest. On a side note, that's how I temporarily acquired a porta-potty for a camper (I was bidding on something else), which I gave to my cousins' cousin, who plans to use it while hunting. "One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Before we returned home, we stopped to visit my grandpa in the nursing home. It was hard to see how far he'd gone downhill (both physically and mentally) since the last time I saw him. He had to have help getting around, and his speech that day was unintelligible. We understood words but there was no meaning. But in a nursing home, due to the size of the rooms, a patient is very limited on personal items. What a change, to go from all the accumulated stuff to a room with a few personal items. You see, "you can't take it with you."
I thought of Solomon, the richest and wisest king. He, too, found out that things don't make you happy.
I'm not really sure why auctioneers have a cadence that is so hard to understand but can be understood perfectly when they're not auctioning something. Saturday, it started raining right around the time we got to the auction house. I hear that buyers get the best deals in nasty weather, and I believe it, because not a whole lot of people are going to venture out into the nastiness. That said, we were able to pick up some things (some sentimental, some not) for not much money. Maybe it was the sheer volume of items that struck me. But the more I think about it, I think it was the fact that often things were going for pennies on the dollar of what the items could be purchased for at a resale store/consignment shop. In fact, when the auctioneer couldn't draw even a $1 bid, he would lump things together to garner more interest. On a side note, that's how I temporarily acquired a porta-potty for a camper (I was bidding on something else), which I gave to my cousins' cousin, who plans to use it while hunting. "One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Before we returned home, we stopped to visit my grandpa in the nursing home. It was hard to see how far he'd gone downhill (both physically and mentally) since the last time I saw him. He had to have help getting around, and his speech that day was unintelligible. We understood words but there was no meaning. But in a nursing home, due to the size of the rooms, a patient is very limited on personal items. What a change, to go from all the accumulated stuff to a room with a few personal items. You see, "you can't take it with you."
I thought of Solomon, the richest and wisest king. He, too, found out that things don't make you happy.
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:17-19 NIV)I thought of the rich man in Luke 12:
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself ?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."It's getting late, and my mind is starting to wander, but basically the point is
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.(Matthew 6:19-24 NIV)We MUST stop putting so much of our energy, time, hope, and effort towards things that are or may be considered worthless by other people. After you're gone, the stuff will probably be sold for next to nothing, and your life here will be over. We, like the apostle Paul said, must please God rather than men. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." (Matthew 6:33a) Store up treasures in heaven!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Killing Time
Last Tuesday, I had an appointment to get the oil changed and no other concrete plans, but I did have a few other things I wanted to do. You know, important things like picking up Modern Warfare 3 (which had come out that day), going to the chiropractor due to tightness in my lower back, and the possibility of meeting with my friend Michael for Bible study. With that possibility looming, I really didn't want to drive all the way home only to turn around and drive to Granger, so I went in a few stores to pass some time.
While I was in Dollar Tree, Alyssa came in and said hi to me. My favorite memory of Alyssa is that when she was in jr. high, I used to drive her crazy--picking on her by raising only one eyebrow. (I was a jr. high small group leader at the time.) But I digress... As we talked, she asked what I was doing? Without a lot of thought, I said, "Killing time... waiting for surgery." For those who may not be aware, I'm scheduled for shoulder surgery at the end of the month, after I've been off work since my latest dislocation 10/15. Now, some time off is good, but I'd much rather be working than have all this time off due to this physical injury. Still, if those words didn't hit me as soon as they came out of my mouth, it wasn't long for the gravity of what I had said to sink in. "Killing time... waiting for surgery."
As if the twenty-one (plus) days are a waste of my life. As if there is nothing productive (physically or spiritually) that I can do until surgery.
The problem is in the mindset! My time is not my own, as my life is not my own. I CANNOT live according to my flesh in such a way that I feel like such a length of time is to be wasted! This has greater ramifications than just that, though. How can I, going forward, spend so much time and money feeding the flesh?
While I was in Dollar Tree, Alyssa came in and said hi to me. My favorite memory of Alyssa is that when she was in jr. high, I used to drive her crazy--picking on her by raising only one eyebrow. (I was a jr. high small group leader at the time.) But I digress... As we talked, she asked what I was doing? Without a lot of thought, I said, "Killing time... waiting for surgery." For those who may not be aware, I'm scheduled for shoulder surgery at the end of the month, after I've been off work since my latest dislocation 10/15. Now, some time off is good, but I'd much rather be working than have all this time off due to this physical injury. Still, if those words didn't hit me as soon as they came out of my mouth, it wasn't long for the gravity of what I had said to sink in. "Killing time... waiting for surgery."
As if the twenty-one (plus) days are a waste of my life. As if there is nothing productive (physically or spiritually) that I can do until surgery.
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16 NIVHere's something I found on specifically on verse 16, as other translations substitute "redeeming the time" for "making the most of every opportunity":
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Redeeming the time - The word rendered here as "redeeming," means "to purchase; to buy up" from the possession or power of anyone; and then to redeem, to set free - as from service or bondage; notes, Galatians 3:13. Here it means, to rescue or recover our time from waste; to improve it for great and important purposes.
The problem is in the mindset! My time is not my own, as my life is not my own. I CANNOT live according to my flesh in such a way that I feel like such a length of time is to be wasted! This has greater ramifications than just that, though. How can I, going forward, spend so much time and money feeding the flesh?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
taking things for granted
After a long hiatus from blogging, I'm compelled to write this tonight. Most of you who read this know that I dislocated my shoulder (again) on Saturday while I was working. So here I sit, typing with my left hand while my right is in a sling.
It seems to me we don't always appreciate things, big or small, until they are taken away from us (or are nearly taken).
Here's a list in no particular order of things that I now have difficulty doing that I have taken for granted.
typing, using a mouse, writing (I'm right-handed), tying my shoes, fastening my pants (button, zipper, and belt), driving (it's hard to change gears and to start the car, closing the passenger door, accessing my right pockets, opening child-proof medicine bottles, doing laundry, folding clothes, brushing my teeth, shaving (can't stretch the skin to get a closer shave), cooking, stirring stuff, taking things out of the oven, using a can opener, taping a shipping label on a package, playing video games, opening containers, getting comfortable, showering (while trying to keep the sling dry)
Surely there are more I can't think of right now. That leads to a bigger question, though. What things are you taking for granted in your everyday lives? The air you breathe? The fact that you can breathe? Your safety? Your health? Your job? Your God?
God, although I'm not fond of my situation, thanks for reminding me to be thankful!
It seems to me we don't always appreciate things, big or small, until they are taken away from us (or are nearly taken).
Here's a list in no particular order of things that I now have difficulty doing that I have taken for granted.
typing, using a mouse, writing (I'm right-handed), tying my shoes, fastening my pants (button, zipper, and belt), driving (it's hard to change gears and to start the car, closing the passenger door, accessing my right pockets, opening child-proof medicine bottles, doing laundry, folding clothes, brushing my teeth, shaving (can't stretch the skin to get a closer shave), cooking, stirring stuff, taking things out of the oven, using a can opener, taping a shipping label on a package, playing video games, opening containers, getting comfortable, showering (while trying to keep the sling dry)
Surely there are more I can't think of right now. That leads to a bigger question, though. What things are you taking for granted in your everyday lives? The air you breathe? The fact that you can breathe? Your safety? Your health? Your job? Your God?
God, although I'm not fond of my situation, thanks for reminding me to be thankful!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Sabbath = Good
i'm not sure why my phone refuses to insert capital letters. this may be the first time i have blogged on the mobile browser.
regardless, i feel really relaxed right now. Hey, what do you know? I figured out the trick to capitalize in this browser. Sorry, ADD moment... Seriously, though, after working what seems like a lot of days in a row, I got some time off to go to a union convention followed by vacation in California.
I started this post on my phone on 6/24, but I gave up when it wouldn't let me make corrections or add anything.
During my time off, I was very relaxed. I didn't have the pressures of work or projects around the house. I was free to enjoy the awesome family God has given me, free to sleep in more than I usually can, and free to enjoy the days without any rain (as we had so much rain in the days and weeks prior to that). We enjoyed In-n-Out a few times. (They need to bring one out this way!) I didn't have to go to bed so early, because I was going to be sleeping at 5:30 when the alarm normally goes off 6 days a week. I read Tolkien's The Hobbit in its entirety and began reading The Fellowship of the Ring. I didn't spend as much time in the Word as I probably otherwise would have, but I was enjoying Him through enjoying that which He has given. We drove up Mt. Baldy and took the "scenic route" (read long way) down. It was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of the mountains that we lived among in Bolivia. While we were up on the mountain, I found two pine cones that were each about 12 inches long... I didn't know they could get that big! Oh, and I didn't mention them specifically before, but my niece and nephew are both adorable (and I miss them lots)!
Anyway, now that I've been back going on two weeks, it's hard to remember to sabbath; or perhaps more accurately, it's just hard to set aside everything (that has piled up) and focus on and really enjoy our Creator. It's really hard--especially when you work basically every day and then have major catch up to do at home. Enough of that, though. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I get to enjoy family and friends, brothers and sisters, and, of course, God himself!
goodnight!
I started this post on my phone on 6/24, but I gave up when it wouldn't let me make corrections or add anything.
During my time off, I was very relaxed. I didn't have the pressures of work or projects around the house. I was free to enjoy the awesome family God has given me, free to sleep in more than I usually can, and free to enjoy the days without any rain (as we had so much rain in the days and weeks prior to that). We enjoyed In-n-Out a few times. (They need to bring one out this way!) I didn't have to go to bed so early, because I was going to be sleeping at 5:30 when the alarm normally goes off 6 days a week. I read Tolkien's The Hobbit in its entirety and began reading The Fellowship of the Ring. I didn't spend as much time in the Word as I probably otherwise would have, but I was enjoying Him through enjoying that which He has given. We drove up Mt. Baldy and took the "scenic route" (read long way) down. It was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of the mountains that we lived among in Bolivia. While we were up on the mountain, I found two pine cones that were each about 12 inches long... I didn't know they could get that big! Oh, and I didn't mention them specifically before, but my niece and nephew are both adorable (and I miss them lots)!
Anyway, now that I've been back going on two weeks, it's hard to remember to sabbath; or perhaps more accurately, it's just hard to set aside everything (that has piled up) and focus on and really enjoy our Creator. It's really hard--especially when you work basically every day and then have major catch up to do at home. Enough of that, though. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I get to enjoy family and friends, brothers and sisters, and, of course, God himself!
goodnight!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Clutter
My house is filled with clutter. There is a mess in every room save for the bathrooms. In the past, I've said, "I have a project in every room of the house." Whatever I call it doesn't change its nature. The clutter consists of books, cds, dvds, video games and systems, boxes/shipping materials for selling said video games/systems, t-shirts, tools, and other paper clutter.
The task of cleaning the mess is so daunting I don't know where to begin. It's not that I don't know where things are; I have a pretty good handle on that. The problem is that things are piled up just about everywhere. When I invite people over, I intend to get the other rooms in order, but I just end up cleaning the living room, bathroom, and the kitchen, ie. the presentable rooms. Also, when I do start cleaning, I get distracted easily.
This leads me to a couple of quick thoughts, which I'll throw out there now, since I've been putting off packing or going to bed.
1. Do we (like my cleaning for company) only work on the parts of our lives we project to others, or do we thoroughly clean (or allow Him to clean) our internal mess?
2. Do we have too many distractions in our lives (whether tangible items, work, people, events, etc.) that we can't hear God's voice?
The task of cleaning the mess is so daunting I don't know where to begin. It's not that I don't know where things are; I have a pretty good handle on that. The problem is that things are piled up just about everywhere. When I invite people over, I intend to get the other rooms in order, but I just end up cleaning the living room, bathroom, and the kitchen, ie. the presentable rooms. Also, when I do start cleaning, I get distracted easily.
This leads me to a couple of quick thoughts, which I'll throw out there now, since I've been putting off packing or going to bed.
1. Do we (like my cleaning for company) only work on the parts of our lives we project to others, or do we thoroughly clean (or allow Him to clean) our internal mess?
2. Do we have too many distractions in our lives (whether tangible items, work, people, events, etc.) that we can't hear God's voice?
Friday, June 10, 2011
wowsers
Wowsers... it's been a while since I've posted anything or read the other blogs I'm following.
Today, I was glad to find out that the place I had fix my tire yesterday isn't incompetent. As I was delivering mail today, I heard the sound of air escaping my tire (the one that was fixed yesterday). It seemed like it was coming from the same spot, so I headed to the tire place, mildly annoyed that "their patch wasn't holding." Coming to find out, though, it was not the same hole but a different one... :o/ I'm thankful they got me in and out quickly both days!
As I've been reading the Psalms lately, God has been speaking to me about being thankful. It isn't easy to have an attitude of thanks unless you remain focused on Him. I still need work on that...
Today, I was glad to find out that the place I had fix my tire yesterday isn't incompetent. As I was delivering mail today, I heard the sound of air escaping my tire (the one that was fixed yesterday). It seemed like it was coming from the same spot, so I headed to the tire place, mildly annoyed that "their patch wasn't holding." Coming to find out, though, it was not the same hole but a different one... :o/ I'm thankful they got me in and out quickly both days!
As I've been reading the Psalms lately, God has been speaking to me about being thankful. It isn't easy to have an attitude of thanks unless you remain focused on Him. I still need work on that...
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