Good Saturday! It is a sticky hot day here in Iowa with storms on their way. Must be July in the Midwest. Ugh...Our plants seem to like it although the pansies are droopy in the afternoon heat. We try to get things done in the mornings that require us being outside, spending the rest of the day in air conditioning.
Speaking of air conditioning, we lived in 4 different parsonages during Joel's ministry and not one had central air. In Montana that was not an issue, but in Minnesota? Not fun at all. Growing up we did not have air, and there were a few summer nights we spent laying on sheets on the floor with a lone fan blowing on us while we tried to sleep. I remember one night in Minnesota in our early years of ministry that Joel was so hot he put a sheet on the large picnic table and slept outside on it on the top deck. When we were moving here and buying our own home, my main requirements were a basement (storms) and A/C. Now, after having central A/C for 26 years, I would never want to live without it and am grateful I don't have to.
Speaking of houses, has anyone else experienced frustration when it comes to getting renovations done in your home? When we decided to redo our upstairs black and white 1980's bathroom (with a high sided jacuzzi tub we have never used) the pandemic hit so we waited.....now we feel it is time and the people we have hired have called and changed the starting date 3 times. While we wait.........while we don't make any summer plans........We are only doing a partial renovation so it will not take long if we can pinpoint them to a date. And you kinda feel your hands are tied because it is not easy to find anyone who has the time to do it! Monday is the day they promised......well, Tuesday at the latest. So we will see....we will see.....Eventually it will be done!
This past Monday Joel and I went to his primary doctor as a follow up from the TIA he experienced. We heard again, "you are so healthy and active". There was a nurse, doctor, Joel and myself in the room and the doctor said......"I think you are probably the healthiest person in this room!" So using some caution, proactive blood pressure checks at home ( it's normal now), educating but not dwelling on the risks now that he had a TIA, he moves forward. We move forward. He is back to his usual self and I am trying not to hover over him like a helicopter worry wort!
Speaking of Joel, the past 10 days have caused us pause as I have said. When Joel was healed over 10 years ago in the middle of the night of every condition and disease he had. we saw only a strong healthy man for a decade. Even the arthritic bumps on his hands disappeared. Our doctor was not sure what to make of it. She said, "Well, he is a pastor, so if God was going to heal anyone it would be him." Okay then? So over the years he just speaks to what tries to come on him and for the most part it goes. If you had lined 10 guys up in front of all of us no one would pick Joel as the likely one to have a TIA. If you had put the two of us in front of our family it would be me as the one. So this has given us pause. Please don't think we feel he is super human and can't get sick. We just haven't seen it for a long time. Then he had Covid and of course the TIA could be linked to that. At this point we don't know. We just know it happened and there was no damage.
But we know we are all going to die some day. We will each step over into the heavenly realm where we will be welcomed home. No doubt about it. But from now to then? How do we live more alive? How do we fill each day with purpose and joy? I told someone recently, "I would rather wear out than rust out".....I feel a bit rusty and I don't like it. I never get my hands "dirty". In other words my serving God is pretty minimal and I want more.
During the past week the co-founder of a large ministry in California died of cancer that returned in her lungs. She had started her journey the same time I did, but chose different treatments at first. She and her husband believe strongly in healing and we have been to their church ( five years ago) and witnessed the power of God in so many ways. I would guess at least a million people around the globe were praying for healing, standing firm in the belief she would be healed while here on earth. And she died. The healing came when she went to Heaven. Three days later her grieving husband got up and preached to several thousand people about the goodness of God because, yes, no matter what comes or doesn't come, God is a good good Father.
I think I wrote most of my scribbles to say, the past 10 days have given us a somewhat different perspective on life and on living and dying. And, yes, the mysteries of God. Kinda like this kitten below.....And we ask God to use it. He always does! And we ask God to use us as we wake to each sunrise to give thanks for another day.
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