I dedicate this post to Rev. Joshua Dunham, our former Associate Pastor and Youth Leader. Joshua brought light and understanding to the words of Micah 6:8 in a sermon a few years ago. Since then, I have read it, studied it, and prayed on it. God bless you, Joshua!
These are cool June days.
First thing each morning, our black Bombay kitty, Ignatz aka Iggy, cries to go outside. He doesn’t like being indoors, but he complies with our nightly wishes to stay in. Depending on the weather, he may change his mind.
Today and for the lasts few days the morning air is cool, the sky gray. Occasionally, a beam of light slips between these tall trees, and then it’s gone. Continue reading →
Transitions are never easy. We are habitual creatures and enjoy life when all goes along as usual. Move-in day my freshman year of college is a memory like none other. It is representative of life going any way but the usual.
My parents drove my roommate, Nancy, and me to the small town of Pulaski, TN, about 70 miles south of Nashville. Daddy had done his very best at getting everything into the trunk or between Nancy and me in the back seat.
When we arrived at the address we’d received for our dorm, we found a mass of cars, parents, and other students. Dad began to unload the car, and Nancy and I ran ahead to the front doors of the building. When we gave the receptionist our names, she had less than a large smile on her face.
It was not good news. The room assigned to us was on the first floor. Unfortunately, the first floor of this brand new building was still under construction.The first thing that popped into my mind was where would we sleep that night. But better yet, where we would shower the next morning?
Our housemother arrived just then with new living arrangements. We would be living on the third floor of the home of the Dean of Students and his young family.The dean’s home was in an old Victorian house. This meant no air conditioning and no bath on the third floor.
The Housing Office had gone out of its way to provide comfortable accommodations. Finding space for eight freshmen girls and one sophomore “big sister” in one place was a challenge. However, the situation provided the nine of us with the opportunity to get to know each other in a smaller community. Solid friendships were formed during this time.
Many good memories grew out of this experience. We did get noisy at times. Dean White had a clever way of alerting us to lower the noise level. He used the light switch at the bottom of the stairs to douse us into total darkness if we were bothering his family.
Spending your freshman year in college at “The White House” is not something everyone can brag about!
Today I’m joining a talented group of writers at Five Minute Friday. This community connects each Friday in an online, unedited free-write based on a one-word prompt. My timer is set for 5 minutes. Let’s see where this week’s prompt–DISTANT–leads me.
I had no idea when I agreed to a revision of two previous spinal fusions and additional hardware placement lower in my lumbar spine what a long healing and recovery process it would be. As the journey began on March 6, 2019, I knew it was a much bigger surgery than others, but I had no way of knowing the collateral issues that would greet me after surgery. The finish line going in wasn’t clear.
It was obvious when I woke up to a right leg that I couldn’t feel below the knee that my goal line was in a far and distant land. It was not close at hand. My three-day stay in the hospital turned into six days followed by two weeks in a rehab center. Navigating my way into our home at the end of that two weeks, I sprained my right ankle extending the distance to the finish line by more time than I wanted to hear.
Physical therapy now appears to sit on a far and distant horizon. Each week, as I shared in my Wednesday post, it seems I come home with aches and pains I didn’t have when I left. The same thing happened this week so it is obviously standard operation (no pun intended) to push the patient into accepting the saying, “No pain, no gain.”
Yet, I know that the surgery itself was a success and all pre-operative pain is gone. This is a good thing, believe me. So, I’ve decided that my go-to verse, Jeremiah 29:11, still stands true as ever. I can go to distant places, including distant finish lines, as long as my God is with me. And He is!
