November 11 – “First”

I had a lot of "firsts" happen today.  For the first time I talked to a real human being at the flood insurance office without having to listen to music.  We had our first meeting with our insulation guy and found out we have to tear out the rest of our ceiling and throw away all the old insulation.  I realized for the first time that the big toe on my left foot was numb (How random is that?  Chris says it may be related to the messed up discs in my back.  I have an appointment with the neurologist Thursday).  When we got home I caught my first fish since before the storm – a nice slot redfish.  We had a great supper.   We thought our day was pretty well set as far as the house was concerned.  The Texas Baptist Men guy was supposed to come pick up his trailer, and while he was here he was going to power wash and disinfect Mom's house.  We found out about 3:00 that he got tied up in another disaster area and wouldn't be here until tomorrow.  He did give me the combination to the trailer and permission to use anything in it that I wanted – even the souped-up power washer.  That's going to be a first.  I've never used a regular one, and now I get to try out the super version.  Arr.  Arr.  We decided to wait until the morning when Nathan was around to help.    Nathan and I were trying to remove the last vestiges of paneling from Mom's back porch.  Two sections just refused to let go.  I think they were hermetically sealed to some plywood.  Nathan was playing fireman with a big metal stick (the floor scraper).  He poked some holes and we started pulling plywood and all away from the wall.  That's when I got a big first.  We've been here, what, six weeks?  We've demo-ed almost two complete houses.  And none of us have had more than a scrape or scratch here and there.  Well, today a tiny little nail found its way through my leather glove and into my finger.  It wasn't a big puncture, but it did bleed.  And it did go through those gloves.  And those gloves have touched, well, everything.  I knew as soon as it happened what my fate would be … tetanus shot.  My first in way over ten years.  The first for any of our family since Ike.    After we cleaned up and put everything away (Chris said there was no hurry on the shot), we drove over for our first visit to the UTMB Family Care office just around the corner from our house.  It's a new concept in medical care.  You just go there when you think you need a doctor.  You can make an appointment if you want, but you can also just walk in.  So we just walked in.  And it was actually a pretty pleasant experience as far as doctor visits go.  There wasn't much paper work.  We didn't have to wait long.  We both liked the doctor.  The shot didn't hurt all that much.  The whole experience took less than an hour – another first.  It was the best UTMB visit I have ever had – all for a $25 co-pay.   Firsts.  1 Corinthians 15:3-5 says, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve." In Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Firsts.  Sounds to me like we have a pretty clear picture of where our priorities should be … Jesus.   Father, thanks for making it so clear where I need to put my "firsts."  Forgive me when I shove you down on the list.  Amen.