Last Thursday I had a time of thanksgiving and celebration over my morning coffee. I was celebrating my 175 day since I entered the ER and was then transferred on the ventilator to ICU. If you want more of the story you can scroll down a few posts on this blog and find more of the story and a sermon I preached “Whispers of the Spirit in the ICU”.
Some lessons I continue to learn from my medical journey and continuing visits with excellent doctors and therapist:
1) Celebrate the good days when you sense you are gaining strength and being productive.
2) Celebrate the not so good days when you are surprised by the stalking companions Fatigue and Loss of Balance. Celebrate the grace to stop and think, take a nap, and getting up to go again.
3) When you take a walk focus on one sense at a time for a few minutes. What can you smell right now? What can you see right now? How does it feel to grip your walking sticks, swing your arms and feel weight going on to your feet as you plant them for the next step? What can you hear? Boy — have the wood peckers been going crazy on some mostly dead trees near our home. Hope they don’t like vinyl siding! After a hard thunderstorm you can almost taste the clean air and the gardenias.
4) Closing your eyes while you exercise also helps exercise your balance systems…but be careful where you are standing.
5) Cleansing breaths between exercises help you slow down the repetition, tighten your core, and be glad no one can see beneath your t-shirt. At least I don’t have to worry about flexing my muscles and ripping the shirt… not yet anyway.
6) I was walking and talking with God about several decisions and plans I need to make and I kept hearing the Jesus Spirit whisper to me, “Roy, it is about the heart. It is ALWAYS about the heart. I am ALWAYS more concerned about restoring your heart to its design to love than the parts of the decision you tend to focus on. It is your heart…”
7) I breath IN through my nose, OUT through my mouth. (a cleansing breath) and in the words of 2 Cor 6:11-12 — Is my heart opening or closing? Open to take in his love, his grace, his joy, his peace and open to release all he gives me.
8) Hey! That is a U-haul trailer at a house empty for several months, near our house. God what gift should we bring? That looks like a child’s toy in the yard. Jesus loves the little children. Help me love in your name.
9) I love the taste of vine ripened tomatoes, fresh strawberries and the first cantaloupe of the season. Isn’t our creative God amazing!