Tuesday, March 10, 2009
This Thing Called Healing.
By now you must be weary of stinky skunk stories, and surgical details, but I'm still trying to figure this out, so please bear with me as I look at some parts of it again.
Who would have thought a skunk would have anything to do with a sweet smelling flower. but it kind of does, and it requires some serious thought about this knee condition. When you've needed better understanding about a troublesome situation, have you tired of logic, since that isn't working; and played a mental game with yourself I call "what iffing"? What if something hadn't changed, what if life as you knew it just kept going, and you kept doing the same old things. Things like working at a job you'd done so long, it becomes automatic.
Perhaps that is why when God wants our attention, He uses unusual things, like a pretty flower, (Electron hybrid Tea roses) and those awful smelling mammals we call skunks. If I hadn't tried planting the rose bush, I probably wouldn't have injured the knee, but more importantly, I would have kept on putting miles on it, on the halls of my nursing home job.
Spring forward a little, and here I am, with free time you'd think would be heavenly. But as a creature of our habits, I'm not accustomed to to THIS much time off, and the skunks didn't make it any better.
You wouldn't believe how many nights, as the evenings darkened, I dreaded night fall. I tried leaving certain lights on, and made sure my bed covers fit over my head. Playing music only seemed to aggravate the critters. I about wore out the window curtains, pulling them back, to see if anything was caught in the traps.
I can't tell you how happy I was when my son improved the catching process, and two of those big ugly things were carried off to wherever they take captured skunks.
Still, I wrestled with what to do with this healing time. A tremendous help in all of this, was my friend who came here with her son and his family, who is our new church pastor. Another important lesson was learned from her caring. I had formed the habit of not being with people nearly as much as I should, and determined to change that.
My first effort about it was to start going to Wednesday evening training programs. and just like so much of what God does for us, a new series started the first night I was there. It's about becoming more intimate with our Lord. The text we're using is written by Dr. Charles F. Stanley, a pastor of a Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia. The title of his book is "In Step With God". I believe I've seen this pastor giving sermons on TV, and right away noted how sensible he always spoke, and I cannot recall one time his asking for money, or selling trinkets. Not that we shouldn't support whatever we care to. I just think if you're good at what you're doing, it will show.
The first night I went to the "In Step With God" program, I felt a little out of place, because almost everyone there was younger than me. The pastor had us pair off so we could learn more about each other, and the only one without a partner was a young woman who just happened to be black. I remember thinking, this is just right, for my hometown in Southeast Texas, is nationally known for its bigotry, something I'm far from proud of. This young black lady whose been coming to this church for years, forever is safe paired off with me. See. God knows exactly where to put us. It's just that we need to be willing to go there.
Other things I'm enjoying while off all this time are books. Several. One I just finished called "FINDING HOME" by a man named James Daniel Daly, brought teardrops mixed with occasional smiles; Sometimes made me laugh. Early in the book James Daniel writes about being terribly let down, when his father promises to bring him a leather baseball glove, but never does.
In another part of the book he writes about riding a bus somewhere to be with his Dad, but is heartbroken when the Dad doesn't ask him to live with him. That part of the book reminded me of my own bus trip from Houston to my hometown, to be with my father, and how unwelcome I felt, when it was obvious he wasn't happy for me to be in his life. Today I can disect it happening, and even be a little objective about how it was. But back then, I buried my feelings down deep, and looked for someone else to love me.
The book is described as "an imperfect path to faith and family". The "Focus on the Family" organization learned about Mr. Daly, and hired him to work with them, and over time he became part of their management. His biggest struggle there was that because he didn't have a nurturing childhood, how could he help others who also didn't. But thank god he got this straight in his head, that his own unbelievable childhood and growing up, and God directing it, gave him everything he could possibly need, to help others with. His process of getting to know our Lord could fill another book all by itself. God just kept putting exactly the right people into his life, when he needed them.
Yesterday I discovered another book I'm starting. It's obvious they are almost always serious writings. This one, "THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW", 1995, featuring an excerpt from "THE BIBLE JESUS READ". is by Philip Yancey. The book cover says it was voted Best Book Of The Year, and that "Philip Yancey helps reveal what two thousand years of history covered up". Billy Graham endorses it with: "There is no writer in the evangelical world that I admire and appreciate more".
I think I am in for some wonderful historical reading, with the main character being our Lord. One thing's for sure. It must be more interesting and life guiding, than fighting with smelly animals, or worrying about knee pain. So far, it's been five restful nights of not having to deal with skunks, but if I do, my son will help me. I haven't felt so freed in years. It's not that I've figured out what to do when I grow up yet, or how to manage when I get old. I am trusting God to send me work that is better than what I've done for years. I need to stop working my knees to their bones, (except maybe in physical therapy). I hope something I've written here helps you live your life better. I am working on mine, beginning now.
Who would have thought a skunk would have anything to do with a sweet smelling flower. but it kind of does, and it requires some serious thought about this knee condition. When you've needed better understanding about a troublesome situation, have you tired of logic, since that isn't working; and played a mental game with yourself I call "what iffing"? What if something hadn't changed, what if life as you knew it just kept going, and you kept doing the same old things. Things like working at a job you'd done so long, it becomes automatic.
Perhaps that is why when God wants our attention, He uses unusual things, like a pretty flower, (Electron hybrid Tea roses) and those awful smelling mammals we call skunks. If I hadn't tried planting the rose bush, I probably wouldn't have injured the knee, but more importantly, I would have kept on putting miles on it, on the halls of my nursing home job.
Spring forward a little, and here I am, with free time you'd think would be heavenly. But as a creature of our habits, I'm not accustomed to to THIS much time off, and the skunks didn't make it any better.
You wouldn't believe how many nights, as the evenings darkened, I dreaded night fall. I tried leaving certain lights on, and made sure my bed covers fit over my head. Playing music only seemed to aggravate the critters. I about wore out the window curtains, pulling them back, to see if anything was caught in the traps.
I can't tell you how happy I was when my son improved the catching process, and two of those big ugly things were carried off to wherever they take captured skunks.
Still, I wrestled with what to do with this healing time. A tremendous help in all of this, was my friend who came here with her son and his family, who is our new church pastor. Another important lesson was learned from her caring. I had formed the habit of not being with people nearly as much as I should, and determined to change that.
My first effort about it was to start going to Wednesday evening training programs. and just like so much of what God does for us, a new series started the first night I was there. It's about becoming more intimate with our Lord. The text we're using is written by Dr. Charles F. Stanley, a pastor of a Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia. The title of his book is "In Step With God". I believe I've seen this pastor giving sermons on TV, and right away noted how sensible he always spoke, and I cannot recall one time his asking for money, or selling trinkets. Not that we shouldn't support whatever we care to. I just think if you're good at what you're doing, it will show.
The first night I went to the "In Step With God" program, I felt a little out of place, because almost everyone there was younger than me. The pastor had us pair off so we could learn more about each other, and the only one without a partner was a young woman who just happened to be black. I remember thinking, this is just right, for my hometown in Southeast Texas, is nationally known for its bigotry, something I'm far from proud of. This young black lady whose been coming to this church for years, forever is safe paired off with me. See. God knows exactly where to put us. It's just that we need to be willing to go there.
Other things I'm enjoying while off all this time are books. Several. One I just finished called "FINDING HOME" by a man named James Daniel Daly, brought teardrops mixed with occasional smiles; Sometimes made me laugh. Early in the book James Daniel writes about being terribly let down, when his father promises to bring him a leather baseball glove, but never does.
In another part of the book he writes about riding a bus somewhere to be with his Dad, but is heartbroken when the Dad doesn't ask him to live with him. That part of the book reminded me of my own bus trip from Houston to my hometown, to be with my father, and how unwelcome I felt, when it was obvious he wasn't happy for me to be in his life. Today I can disect it happening, and even be a little objective about how it was. But back then, I buried my feelings down deep, and looked for someone else to love me.
The book is described as "an imperfect path to faith and family". The "Focus on the Family" organization learned about Mr. Daly, and hired him to work with them, and over time he became part of their management. His biggest struggle there was that because he didn't have a nurturing childhood, how could he help others who also didn't. But thank god he got this straight in his head, that his own unbelievable childhood and growing up, and God directing it, gave him everything he could possibly need, to help others with. His process of getting to know our Lord could fill another book all by itself. God just kept putting exactly the right people into his life, when he needed them.
Yesterday I discovered another book I'm starting. It's obvious they are almost always serious writings. This one, "THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW", 1995, featuring an excerpt from "THE BIBLE JESUS READ". is by Philip Yancey. The book cover says it was voted Best Book Of The Year, and that "Philip Yancey helps reveal what two thousand years of history covered up". Billy Graham endorses it with: "There is no writer in the evangelical world that I admire and appreciate more".
I think I am in for some wonderful historical reading, with the main character being our Lord. One thing's for sure. It must be more interesting and life guiding, than fighting with smelly animals, or worrying about knee pain. So far, it's been five restful nights of not having to deal with skunks, but if I do, my son will help me. I haven't felt so freed in years. It's not that I've figured out what to do when I grow up yet, or how to manage when I get old. I am trusting God to send me work that is better than what I've done for years. I need to stop working my knees to their bones, (except maybe in physical therapy). I hope something I've written here helps you live your life better. I am working on mine, beginning now.
