Are We Limping?

As you all know I have recently had a knee replacement surgery. The surgery was the easy part. The therapy after, has been the hard part. I did get lucky though and got to have only in home therapy. 

The therapist has been coming every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the last 3 1/2 weeks. During this time she takes my vitals and gives me exercises to do, but the main thing she comes for is to measure how far I can bend my knee back and how straight I can make the leg go. That is the main thing that the doctor who preformed the surgery is concerned about. He measures the success of the knee by these measurements.

Yesterday the therapist told me that I was ready to graduate from needing her to come. I am bending and straightening as far as I need to according to the time frame of the weeks since surgery. I still have about 3 more weeks of babying the knee and healing and exercising to go before the doctor may release me from his care, but for now I am on my own.

Since she is not coming to check on me and my progress does that mean I should just be lazy and not do the exercises? Of course not. The only thing that would do would be to take me backwards and I would not be able to walk without a bad limp from now on. It would only hurt me.

That is the way it is when we hold grudges and stay angry at people. As the anger festers inside of us we cannot grow as a Christian. We limp farther and farther away from a close relationship with our Heavenly Father. Did you know this anger only hurts us. No one else. Not even the person we are holding hard feelings for.

When we pray the Lord's prayer and ask God to forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, do we really mean that?

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever.

Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

What if God forgave the way we tend to? What if He never forgets what we did and is more than willing to bring up the disgrace when ever we do anything else that bothers Him. Would we really feel forgiven? 

Of course not.

But that is what we humans do. We say we forgive but boy do we pounce on any chance to remind the other person about how big we were to do this considering how far, in our eyes, they failed. Or we just plain choose that we can never forgive and avoid the person all together or go out of our way to make sure they feel humbled whenever we are around.

Happiness and contentment can never be found when this is going on in our lives because we can never have the relationship with anyone to achieve these things. We can never be close to God feeling this way. How sad!

I know I have had to work on this in my life. How about you? Maybe this week is the time to let go and let God help you forget as you forgive those who have sinned against you!

Maybe this week is a time not to limp backwards, but with our God's help we can move forward with healing, contentment and peace. 

Blessings! 

Winging It!

Friday evenings are usually the day of the week that we eat out. Last night, though, I was thinking that I would cook and we would just stay home. But my husband, the creature of habit that he is, wanted to go out.  Since we hadn't really made any plans we got in the car and decided to wing it and end up where we end up  We started toward Richmond, going down Hwy 40.

As we were heading down 40 we came to the cemetery, over by Earlham. Since it is Memorial weekend  it seemed to be a good evening to drive through the cemetery. Of course there were quite a few cars in there as people were placing flowers on the grave sights of their loved ones. Seeing the love and attention they were giving was very moving. 

The evening temperature was perfect for having the windows down as we drove through, so we could hear the birds singing and see the flowers blooming on the beautifully maintained grounds. We could easily read the names and dates on the headstone, so Riley had a good time sounding out some of the unusual names and Rodney and I were amazed at some of the very old dates that were listed on  the older gravestones. I know that this may seem weird, but to us it was very peaceful.

After we found some dinner we headed back towards Hagerstown by driving on the back roads to see what we could see out in the country. When you really look at some of these old farm houses and barns you can see such beauty and gracefulness in the way they sit in the field. They are landscapes that urge a person to grab a camera or a paint brush.

Yes, there are troubles in this life. Things don't always go hunky dory, but if you look, you can see beauty everywhere. In a country field or even in a cemetery. God loves for us to stop, take a breath and really enjoy and appreciate all that He has done for us.  

This verse came to mind as I was thinking about our family's Friday night.

Isaiah 32:18

18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
in secure homes,
in undisturbed places of rest.
(NIV)

What a great reminder of what God truly wants for our lives. Peace!

I am so glad that we decided to go out and "wing it" last night. Looking for some peace? Maybe it would be a good time for you to "wing it" too!

Blessings!

Missing Our Routine!

“What can you do to promote world peace? 

Go home and love your family.” 

― Mother Teresa

 I am back home again after visiting our oldest son on the east coast. I loved getting to be with the grand kids and my son and daughter-n-law but I know two guys who are happy,  and once again feel a peace in the house now that I am home. When I woke Riley up for school yesterday morning he hugged my neck and would not let go. I did not get home till after midnight so he did not know I was home till I got him up. Rodney talked for about an hour straight after I walked in the door Thursday night and was so happy to be able to sleep in and not have to be the one to get Riley on the bus before 7 Friday morning.

It is apparent to me that am I needed and appreciated here. Well at least for my ability to get up early. Not really, I know that we all missed being together as a family. I don't know about your family but ours misses the normal of our routines when they are interrupted. 


What routines do you and your family keep? One of ours we did last night. Friday nights are eat out night. Used to be pizza night when Riley was in his "gotta have pizza" mode. I thought since I had been gone I should cook at home but the boys would have nothing to do with this. It was our night to eat out and they wanted to eat out. So we did. Routine continued! It gives my guys comfort and helps keep everything right with their world to resume with the way things always have been.


Ladies, another routine that makes everything right with the world is to spend time with God. When we daily make time to pray and read the Bible as a family and on our own it keeps us in regular, thankful, communication for all that we have from our creator.

Deuteronomy 4:9 says...
⁹ “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—
  
 We need to help our children understand that we have life because of our God. That everything we have is a gift from Him. Thanking God for all of this should be as routine as the air we breath. (Which, by the way is another gift from Him!)

So yes, being home and loving my men is peace on earth but there would be no earth at all if it weren't for the love of our Heavenly Father!!!

Blessings!