Romans 12 It's well worth reading and it's short

The last few months have been a time of many emotions, celebrating new life, mourning with those who mourn, and praising God for the increased strength that I'm feeling.
I am particularly happy for a young couple who have decided that it's time to unite in marriage. Congratulations to Jake and Alycia.

I watch the local news and I see that the flu is in full force throughout Oklahoma right now. I've had my flu shot as have all those who are around me day-to-day. This is really something that I have to be careful about. I do believe that God is the great physician and that my breakthrough is on the way, however, he gave me a brain and I don't think it was an afterthought. I miss attending Church, I know some people that believe attending Church isn't really necessary to be in service to God, but I can tell you that there is something about gathering with those who believe as I do. I can watch sermons on TV but it's not the same. As Christians we are to gather for fellowship and worship, but large groups of people mean higher percentages of the presence of the virus. I've always enjoyed high school basketball, but that means large groups from diverse places.  I do plan on watching some games after this flu bug seems to have run its course and I will be in Church..
I have to say, some Sundays I find myself wanting to choose to be lazy and stay home.
A friend of mine, Garen, shared this with me a couple of weeks ago. It could apply to somebody listed as a Church member, but not attending. His name might be Dennis.


A new pastor moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his parishioners.
All went well until he came to one house. It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several times. Finally, he took out his card, wrote on the back "Revelation 3:20" and stuck it in the door.

The next day, as he was counting the offering, he found his card in the collection plate. Below his message was a notation "Genesis 3:10."

Revelation 3:20 reads: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."

Genesis 3:10 reads: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked."

Much Love, Dennis

Breakthrough

I'm still battling issues with pain in my abdomen. I've been blessed with a doctor who is willing to work with me beyond usual practices. The first hour after I wake up is usually the toughest part. I have medication that kicks in after about 45 min. This morning was going just like every Saturday morning. Cheri and my dad were getting me ready for the day ahead. One of the things that we do every Saturday requires unhooking my diaphragm pacer and changing the tape on the bracket that keeps the wires in place. I was still feeling a little plain, but not much during this process. I am laying flat, so I can't see what is actually happening, but I knew they had changed out the pacer tape and started changing the dressing on the skin breakdowns  (these are healing well).  I was feeling lethargic and really felt like I was not getting deep full breaths. When they rolled me over onto my right side I had them stop and lay me back flat because I could tell my oxygen saturation was low. What I actually was feeling was me breathing on my own for about 15 min. The pacer had not been turned back on and I was controlling every breath on my own. I have done this in the past, but that was before I went through a setback about a year and a half ago. It may not sound like much, but   Praise Be To God,  I know that He is not through with me and my healing process. When I came home from Houston over six years ago I had virtually no activity in my diaphragm. The have an instrument called a spirometer, and most of the time their measurements of my diaphragm activity was zero, so today is actually a pretty big thing. THANK YOU JESUS.
I don't want to dismiss the significance of this breakthrough, but it always feels good to close with a joke. Here is one that includes someone having trouble breathing.

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"

OK, don't tell me that you didn't smile  :-)

Much Love, Dennis

Good clean humor

When I was younger, I loved to watch Tim Conway. He made me laugh continually, sometimes without uttering a single word. As far as I know he never used profanity or any type of vulgarity in his humor. I think he probably even made God laugh. There are several places in the Bible that deal with your state of mind. Proverbs 17: verse 22 is probably my favorite. It says: A merry heart does good just like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

In Psalms 16:20   He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

Psalm 144:15   Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Tim was a regular on the Carol Burnett show, he served two years in the military and three years on McHales Navy, which he said gave him five years of service. But some of his best work was as a character named Dorf. He did: Dorf on golf, Dorf on baseball, fishing and several other sports.

Many of his funniest moments were improvised or planned without the other cast members knowledge. I like Tim because he had a happy heart .

Much Love, Dennis
　

　

God is good

Cheri and I received a gift in the mail today. It was monetary and it was anonymous.
We will take a portion of our blessing and try to be a blessing to someone who is in need. As is always the case, these blessings come in God's perfect time. We want to say Thank You to whoever is responsible and we know that it was given in love and we accept it with love for you. I know that God will bless you for your generosity.
Thank you and Much Love, Dennis and Cheri
           Thank You