Difficult Times

 

I am overwhelmed with the kind words from so many friends following my medical event (I still don’t think it was a heart attack).  Many have said that they were so sorry for me.  But did you realize that the Lord was not sorry for my problems?!  Hey, everything that happens in my life is under the control of my heavenly Father.  God uses good and bad things to teach me and to accomplish His ultimate purpose for me.  For the Lord, there are no bad things and good things.  He uses them all!  Paul said in Romans 5:3-5, “… but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed …”  (And just a reminder: never pray for patience because the dear Lord will give you tribulation to teach you patience.)  But what a wonderful chain of events that follow tribulation!  Hey, let the Lord direct your life.  Don’t wallow in pity with hard times.  Rest in the knowledge that God is using every event in your life for your good.  Yes, He is!

An Important Person

 

Years ago, my mother was flying back to Maryland from our tiny Chattanooga airport.  As we were walking to the gate (back in the days when you could walk to the gate) she grabbed my arm and excitedly said, “That’s Reggie White!”  And with that, my mother walked right up to him and introduced herself.  She pulled out her little camera and asked if she could get a picture with him.  Good-natured Reggie White agreed and stood up, but my mother had a better idea.  She had my little five-year-old son hold up his small hand in front of Reggie White’s huge NFL-sized hand, and mom snapped the picture.  What a memory!  Hey, we have the chance to interact with someone much more famous than Reggie White every day!  We can get out our Bible or get on our knees and have a personal meeting with the Creator of the Universe.  How exciting that should be for us!  But all too often, we take it for granted.  Hey, let’s renew our excitement to meet with God every morning!  Read His words with the thrill that we should have when we come into the presence with our Maker!  Really, really meet with God this morning!  God said in Jeremiah 29:11-14, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD.”

Heart Problems

 

My recent event at Memorial hospital is fodder for many posts.  Sorry.  But at least they have a happy ending, for which I am thankful.  Thursday, I was on my way to get Prevacid at the drug store for my stomach problems when my dear wife intervened.  Chest pressure was not something to treat at home, she said.  I wisely (albeit stubbornly) listened to my wife and drove to the emergency room.  They took me right back and drew blood. The first report revealed a heart enzyme number of 100 (normal is <70), indicating a heart attack.  They gave me nitroglycerin under my tongue.  In 2 hours, the next test revealed a number of 400.  So, I was scheduled for a heart cath the next day (Friday).  After an x-ray, EKG, sonogram, and more bloodwork, a coronary artery was opened and secured with a stent.  I came home with four new meds and a small bottle of nitroglycerin to carry with me until my next stent this coming Friday (prayers solicited).  That little bottle with twenty tablets is a solemn reminder of my current condition.  I may or may not have chest pains before Friday.  But if I do, I am prepared.  And that little bottle is a reminder of what is going on inside of my chest.  James 4:14, “… For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”  It seems like just yesterday that I was in elementary school, and here I am pushing 74 years old!  Life is really so short!  James said it is like the fog on the bathroom mirror when I get out of the shower that vanishes in two minutes.  Hey, use your life for good because it will be over very soon.  Really.  You may feel sorry for me facing another heart catheterization this Friday (again, prayers solicited), but you may have something worse before this Friday!  I’m not trying to discourage you; I’m trying to encouraging you to settle things with God and your fellow man.  Hey, refer to James 4:14 again.  Get things right with God, get things right with your spouse, get things right with your children.  And then have a great week!

Dialysis Bag

 

My wife goes to dialysis three days a week.  She is a trooper and doesn’t usually complain.  But if she does, she gets a pass from me.  I donate platelets and plasma at Ft. Oglethorpe Blood Assurance about once a month, so I understand a little about what my wife goes through.  The difference is that my donation is voluntary, only one hour long, and only once a month.  Her dialysis is mandatory, three hours long, and three days a week!  My wife has a bag that she takes with her to dialysis.  It has in it her blanket, pillow, headphones, Kleenex, cough drops, Band-Aids, lip gloss, animal crackers, and medicines.  And when she gets home after her morning at dialysis, she is so done with that bag!  I wash her blanket and pillowcase, but Kathy doesn’t want to see that bag at all (until the next dialysis session).  She tosses that bag into the back of the bedroom where she can’t even see it, because it reminds her of difficult times.  Peter tells us to dispose of our cares just like my wife discards her dialysis bag: I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”  Jesus confidently tells us to throw our cares upon Him.  Hey, Jesus can handle your problems!  Yes, He can!  Don’t worry, don’t fret.  Just throw those cares upon the strong shoulders of the dear Lord, just like my wife throws her dialysis bag into the corner.  And the best part of the verse is that Jesus CAN take care of your problems, and that Jesus CARES about your problems!  Yes, He does!

Praise the Lord!

Well, my picture today doesn't look very much different from the one yesterday (certainly no better), but the background is different. Yesterday the background was Memorial hospital, but today's background is my bedroom. Praise the Lord! Yesterday about 11 am (they moved it up from 1 pm) I had a heart Catheterization, and a stent was inserted to open a coronary artery (This Friday, I'll get another one done). Modern medicine is such a blessing! And I am grateful to you for your prayers and kind words. One day I am in the hospital with chest pains and the next day I am at home with a new lease on life! Wow! And just like my coronary artery was opened up to renew my 73-year-old heart, God has given us new life Christ. Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." I have a new heart physically and a new heart spiritually. Hey, have you been born again? Did you let Jesus give you a new spiritual heart? Message me and we can chat. Let Dr. Jesus, the Great Physician, do His work. No bill will be in the mail! ;<)

New Car

 

In 1974 I bought a brand-new car.  It was actually the only new car that I ever bought.  It was a 1974 American Motors Gremlin.  I paid $2,770 for it, right out of the showroom in Rockwood, Tennessee.  I was so proud of that car.  I can still remember that new car smell.  But, some six years later, I sold my old, worn-out Gremlin for $600.  And I was glad to get that much for it.  Hey, nothing lasts forever.  Everything wears out and wears down.  Everything, that is, except for God.  Our old world may wear down, but our dear Lord is eternal.  “They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment.” Hebrews 1:11  One day, I’m proud of my shiny new car and just a few years later, it’s a rusted old piece of junk!  But it’s great to put your faith in the eternal God of the universe who never wears out and Who never changes!  Hey, have you put your trust in God?  Right now would be a good time to trust in the Lord.  Message me, and we can chat.

New York Yankees Hat

 

July 20, 2019 I attended the funeral of a dear friend.  Brother Bob Humphreys (1934-2019) was 85 years old and had been a pastor/missionary for many years.  Brother Bob had a great personality and was loved by everyone.  Brother Bob had a New York Yankees baseball hat he wore everywhere that he went.  When asked about the hat, he would tell the story of Micky Mantle and Bobby Richardson, two famous Yankee ball players.  Theirs was an unusual friendship.  Micky Mantle was a hard-living, hard-drinking superhero for the Yankees and Bobby Richardson was a clean-living homebody churchgoer who played second base for the Yankees.  After liver failure, a liver transplant, and liver cancer, Mickey Mantle was in the hospital dying.  Bobby visited Mickey in the hospital, once again sharing Bible verses with him.  Mickey Mantle trusted Christ as his Savior only days before his death in 1995.  Brother Bob Humphreys told that story hundreds of times sharing the Gospel with hundreds of folk.  “Thank you, Brother Bob, for being a faithful witness.  Thank you for the great example that you were.  Enjoy your heavenly reward.”  Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”