Claimed, gathered and sent

Weekly, RevGalBlogPals has a meme for us. This is the first I've actually participated in and is very apt for this time in my life. Let me know your responses to the following. Mine are. 1. How important is the "big picture" to you, do you need a glimpse of the possibilities or are you a details person? Primarily a big picture person who doesn't worry about the details, sometimes even though I should. 2. If the big picture is important to you how do you hold onto it in the nitty gritty details of life? Lots of prayer and communication with friends who help me keep on track, particularly if I am comparing myself with others too much and second guessing myself. 3. Name a book, poem, psalm, piece of music that transports to to another dimension ( one....what am I thinking....) "I am a Servant." 4.Thinking of physical views, is there somewhere that inspires you, somewhere that you breathe more easily? When I'm sitting, reclining on the swing on our deck. I...

Michael Kruse has an interesting post on religious affiliation . How much like the culture should we be? Take a peek and tell me what you think. Photo from flickr. ---------------- Now playing: WFEL 99.9 FM Antioch, IL via FoxyTunes

I came home a week ago Sat. from rehab after knee replacement. It hasn't been easy--physical therapy exercises, pain, little sleep, pain, reading, pain, praying, pain...you get the idea. What sleep I have been getting has been interrupted with pain. Henri Nouwen in The Inner Voice of Love, wrote: There is a deep hole in your being, like an abyss. You will never succeed in filling that hole, because your needs are inexhaustible. You have to work around it so that gradually the abyss closes... There are two extremes to avoid: being completely absorbed in your pain and being distracted by so many things that you stay far away from the wound you want to heal.1. Pain can be all consuming, whereas it is God that should be all consuming. Yet again, I am confronted with that which I am unable to do in my own strength, reminded of who I need to look to . Our faith walk is not always easy, but in the tough times we learn upon whom we can and must lean. That's the lesson for me, what abo...

I am homeward bound as the song says. Despite my initial trepidation, I am rapidly progressing and will be ready to go home Sat. When talk of such an early discharge first arose, I was scared . Even though I was progressing much more rapidly than I did with my left knee, I still had to accomplish a number of feats. Since then, those goals have been met. So the next few weeks will consist of a parade of people through our home: phlebotomists to draw my blood three times a week and physical therapists to work those muscles. Then with greater strength comes the task of packing up to move Aug. 1. Thanks be to God for another chapter of our lives. Picture courtesy of flickr.

God delights in our cooperation with his purposes, but thankfully he works in spite of us. An update on L's situation--progress has been made and her blood work has improved. A weight has been lifted from their shoulders. Thank you for joining in prayer wih us. picture from flickr

God's presence is evident wherever we dare to look for it. My relationship with L. is one such example. When I had my knee surgery last week L. and I were next to each other in the recovery room. We have the same doctor and had the same procedure on the same knee. We were room mates in the hospital. We are room mates here at Riverview . One sleepless night as we talked, we discovered that Ray and I know her brother from church! Coincidence...I think not. So I have been asking God what was going on, what purpose does he have for our meeting? It is becoming much clearer now. My surgery was nice and straightforward, unlike L's. Whatever could go wrong has gone wrong, the latest of which is problems with the clotting of her blood, leaving her vulnerable to blood clots. She and her family are scared. As doctors work to resolve the crisis, they wait and wonder how and if a solution will be found. But God knows all about this. My role is to befriend and pray. Picture from flickr.

This beautiful, mansion-like building is where I will be in a few days. Tomorrow morning I am having a knee replacement for my right knee and will be in the hospital for two to three days. I won't be feeling too badly there because I'll be numb from the waist down. But boy, when the epidural comes out the pain is something else! After that, I will be in rehab at Riverview Healthcare Community. I took a tour of the rehab unit Fri. and it was very nice. I expect to be there two weeks, three at the most. I will not have wi-fi in my room, but there is a common area where I can plug in the laptop, so for a while I will not be posting as much. Peace.