January 7 – “Movie star”

We reached a milestone in our exercise program yesterday.  We actually walked an entire mile.  All at once.  Without stopping.  Freddy held us back a little bit.  She was really huffing when we got home.  Chris was kind of huffing, too, but she assured me she was fine.  No chest pains. 

 

Guess what?  I’m a movie star now.  Sort of.  Proverbs I produced a three-minute video yesterday.  Actually, I think it was a little longer than three minutes.  And I wasn’t really the producer.  I was just a contributor. Lauren Humphries was producing a video training piece for their ministry to families in crisis up in Alaska.  Her plan is to interview several people, asking them what they think “hospitality” is.  Then my part was to share a snippet about what biblical hospitality is and how that is different from the care received in hospitals.  Not an easy thing to boil down into three minutes, I might add.  She saw my finished product and seemed to like it.  But then Lauren has always been the gracious type …

 

By the way, we are back to puzzle-working again.  We have the Mickey Mouse one back on the table.  It’s not an easy one. 

 

Chris finally connected with her cardiology nurse.  She has been trying to schedule an appointment with the cardiologist, but apparently everybody else is on vacation, so he’s having to cover all the heart caths at the hospital.  That puts clinic appointments on the back burner for everyone.  They did tell her that the cardiac rehab office should be calling her to set up appointments.  But they are backed up, too, so it will probably be a few weeks at best before that happens.  Meanwhile, she is supposed to walk as much as she can.

 

Proverbs 11:24 says, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.”

 

Father, thank you for the work that cardiologist guy is putting in.  Keep him healthy and rested and generally blessed by you.  Amen.

January 6 – “Six months …”

I finally have some news about my back surgery follow-up.  Yesterday was my appointment with the neurosurgeon.  First time I have seen him since the surgery.  Well, I saw him in the halls when I went in to have the stitches out, but a resident did that deed for him.  He was on his way to get his regular Covid test.  Yesterday was his first day back after a six-week vacation, so I suppose he was well-rested.

 

The session didn’t really take very long.  He watched me walk to make sure I was straight up and down.  He looked at the incision site.  Well, I guess it’s the scar site by now.  All appeared well.  Then he sat down and went over the whole, don’t lift anything stupid thing.  He did say I could walk as much as I wanted, and the pain I have been having should begin to dissipate.  “After all,” he assured me, “it’s going to take you about six months before you are fully recovered from the surgery.”  I’m supposed to take stock of my situation at the beginning of each month.  If I can say to myself that I feel better than I did last month, then I still have a ways to go.  When I reach the point where I say, “No, I feel about the same,” then I have probably reached the “as good as it’s going to get” stage, and that’s what I’ll be blessed to live with from then on. 

 

But then he sat down and said, “Now here’s the thing.  You and I both know that the rest of your lower back is messed up.  And the fix for that is something neither of us want to do.  In fact I will do everything in my power NOT to do anything to your lower back.  You and Dr. Not Me will have to be debating that in the years to come.  In the meantime, I am sitting here as a fat man telling you that the next step in relieving some of the issues in your lower back is to maintain or lose weight, because all the weight from our upper body is transferred at some point to that lower back.  Basically, do what I say, not what I do.”  I had told him earlier about Chris’ heart attack, and he jumped all over that.  He said basically, what she was doing to stay alive, I needed to do to stay away from a greater degree of pain.

 

So, out of all that … I have been officially released.  No further follow-ups needed.  Lifting heavy stuff is stupid; don’t do it.  Walk a lot.  Lose or maintain weight. Eat healthy, tasteless stuff.  Thanks, Doc.  Can I go back to dealing with Covid and the Zombie Vaccine Apocalypse now?

 

Psalms 75:1 says, “We praise you, God, we praise you, for your name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds.”

 

Father, thank you for the good news that things are going well with my back.  Help me to still be careful.  Amen.

January 5 – “Sparse is good”

The news around here is a bit sparse again for yesterday.  Sparse is good.  We took our walk.  We actually increased it a little bit and made a longer loop.  Chris seemed to do well.  She is determined to build her stamina back up.  Oh, and Freddy did fine as well.  She kept up with us and only tugged at the leash once.  I think we both forgot she was there.  My back did fine, but my hip started bothering me as we approached the finish line.  Looks like I have a new issue on tap.  Still not worthy enough to unseat Chris from her “Victor’s Throne” of ailments, though.

 

It was Monday, so most of the rest of the day I spent at the computer doing work stuff.  I wanted to get as much done as I could, since I have an appointment with my neurosurgeon today.  Here’s where I see how “released” I’ll get, if at all.  I’m pretty sure the lifting restrictions will be here to stay in one form or another.  But I’m ready to get back on track building up my stamina as well.  I do have to be able to keep up with Chris, after all.

 

I found out that the hospital is once again receiving applications for clergy badges.  Sounds like they are going back to being pretty restrictive about who gets one and how many hoops you have to jump through to get approved.  Maybe I can get that done after my appointment this afternoon. 

 

Psalms 146:1-5 says, “Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, my soul.  I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.  Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”

 

Father, thank you for sparse days.  We need a few of those every so often to re-boot.  Amen.

January 4 – “The 37”

“The 37.”  Sounds like a new TV thriller, doesn’t it?  Around 37 brave souls elected to start the year out right yesterday.  Well, 37 at Seaside, anyway.  I know there were many, many more around the country and around the world, but Seasiders will always be special ones to my heart.  Several of our Winter Texans returned to our midst.  Always great to see them.  And we even had a visit from Violet. A Seasider who took up residence up in Texas to be nearer to her family.  But hey, Vi … once a Seasider, always a Seasider.  Chris stayed at home, though.  She has a cold, complete with runny nose and sneezing.  Just like the commercials on TV.  Except she is wary of taking any antihistamines without talking to her cardiologist.  She also didn’t want anyone else to feel uncomfortable.  You know, she didn’t want the building to empty with people screaming into the parking lot in terror if she sneezed.  So, she decided to stay away and worship online. 

 

And speaking of Violet, a group of us joined her and her friend for lunch at Pit Stop Barbeque.  It is always good to relax with a group of kindred spirits.  Or in our case, “Just a little bit weird-red” spirits.  It was fun to laugh and banter and just be together.  I’m pretty sure there is a little bit of biblical fellowship involved in there somewhere. 

 

Chris and I have discovered another Netflix show that we are watching.  Not really binging, I wouldn’t say, though.  we haven’t watch more than two episodes at a time.  It is an oldie called Stargate (some other letters follow that, but I don’t remember them).  Pretty fun science fiction action. 

 

Well, it’s time to dive back into full-on weekly workness.  New year, same Monday responsibilities.  Here we go …

 

Psalms 147:1 says, “Praise the Lord.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”

 

Father, thank you for our Seaside togetherness in the midst of the world’s Covidness.  Amen.

January 3 – “Mickey Mouse is back”

Chris has officially started her post Christmas cleaning binge.  It’s actually a process, though, because she can’t get it all done in one day the way she does it.  Her plan is to take one room at a time and attack it until she is somewhat satisfied with the result.  Then she’ll sleep on it and the next day decide what else she needs to do in that room before moving on to the next.  It’s also her grand opportunity to try out new arrangements of furniture.  Historically that’s where I come in.  I still haven’t been cleared to do any heavy lifting, though.  Not sure that clearance is ever going to come.  I do see the neurosurgeon on Tuesday for my follow-up appointment, though.  But back to the room.  We pretty much finished the family room.  That’s where the Christmas tree was.  Even though it is an artificial tree, that thing sheds just like a real one.  It takes forever to get up the remnants.  Oh, and speaking of remnants, we have to undecorate at church, too.  Maybe we can get some folks to stick around for a bit after church today. 

 

As part of the process, we brought our puzzle table back inside.  Chris brought out the one we had been working on.  Mickey Mouse is back and apparently declaring his undying love to Minnie.  Cute picture, but a really hard puzzle to get into.  I got the edges back together and even found a few new places to fit pieces.  We’ll be on this one for a while.  Feel free to fit a piece or two whenever you come over. 

 

We also watched some college football.  We decided it was kind of hard to get into the games without the fans in the stands or – and this was the surprising piece that I really miss – without the bands.  There’s just something so college-like about the fight song being played after a touchdown.  I don’t remember everybody we watched play.  One game was full of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, though.  Really wild.  And it wasn’t just one player or coach.  IT was a different one every time.  Guess that was good, though.  no one got ejected from the game.  I watched a lot of the Texas A&M game last night.  I confess I went on to sleep in the fourth quarter with the score 27-20 against them.  Little did I know the Aggies would score three times in the second part of that last quarter to win the game 41-20.  Nice job, Aggies. 

 

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

 

Father, thank you for a day where our biggest concern was couch placement and Aggie football.  It was nice.  Amen. 

January 2 – “The Christmas Limit”

Well, Chris hit her limit.  Her Christmas limit, I mean.  Yesterday was the time to take down all things Christmas in the way of decorations.  She has actually been working on this goal for several days already.  But when she sets her sights on the tree itself, I know the time has come.  Empty boxes made their way in from their temporary home in the garage.  Ornaments slowly disappeared from the tree.  Garland and stockings and nativity scenes and red bows that once dotted our internal landscape … all gone.  Then the tree itself came down, as did the outside lights.  Now-full boxes now sit in stacks in our family room, patiently awaiting the arrival of some wiry grandkids to muscle them back into their yearly storage home in the attic.  Sigh.

 

We noticed later in the afternoon that Corey and Janell decided to do the same with their decorations, at least with their outside lights.  At one point, Janell came over and presented us with a light clip – the kind you use to attach the glittering luminaries to the eaves.  Apparently, I missed one when I was pulling them down.  She noticed it, and once she notices something like that, she just can’t un-see it.  So she took it upon herself to liberate it from its solitary perch.  Thanks, Janell.

 

After watching some college football, the time came for us to be heading over to Nathan and April’s for a New Year’s Day dinner.  They slaved all day over a grand meal of ham and black-eyed peas and cabbage.  Very yummy stuff.  They invited several friends over as well, so there were even three or four youngsters flitting about.  Apparently, someone felt that a side dish was in order to go with all the traditional New Year’s fare.  So before long a pizza delivery car rolled up.  Add that to your traditional holiday fare.

 

Oh, and there may or may not have been some fireworks being set off in the street nearby.  Very pretty.  And very loud. 

 

Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 

Father, thank you for friends and family and friends who are like family, for us and for our kiddos.  Amen.

January 1 – “Today is next year”

I have officially started my yearly purge of receipts and bill statements that I have saved over the course of the year.  That means there was lots to throw away.  But it also means there is a lot to keep track of.  At least until I get around to doing income tax preparation.  Can’t say I’ll wait until next year anymore.  Today is next year.

 

We made a trip over to Randall’s the other day.  Had to pick up another prescription for Chris.  Then it was over to WalMart.  Come on, we were already so close.  Besides I needed some envelopes for my end of year stuff, and we needed orange juice for Chris to take her pills with.  Yep.  Doctor’s orders.  Never had orange juice specifically prescribed before.  Strange.  But while we were there, we even checked out the dregs of the Christmas leftovers. 

 

Back home I finally jumped the truck battery that I have neglected since Chris’ now-infamous heart escapade.  I let it run for a good thirty minutes.  Hope that holds it for a while.  It started fine when I used it to go out to the church yesterday.  Guess I’ll have to be more intentional about driving it in the new year.  And I think I’ll also start saving up for that new transmission.  Does that count as a resolution or two? 

 

Nathan came by yesterday afternoon with his two young charges.  Cailyn and Noa were with him.  He was coming to pick up the ham hock we had so April can use it for the black-eyed peas portion of their big New Year’s Day lunch.  We even got invited.  Yum.  He also brought over the last of the Christmas presents I ordered for Chris.  It’s a phone battery charger plug-in port with the new sized port for her new phone.  I wanted her to have access to charging the phone on the go, assuming we ever get to do road trips again.  Thanks for finding that for me, Nathan.

 

So now we crash for the rest of the day.  Not that we stayed up late last night.  We went on to bed around ten.  I did look at the clock around 12:30 though.  Things had gotten eerily quiet.  I finally figured it out.  The constant stream of fireworks had stopped.  Thanks for that, neighbors.  I slept until seven this morning.  Wow.  Very strange to wake up to actual light outside.  I think I could have gone longer, but I had one of those “good morning” calf cramps that work way better than an alarm clock.  Ouch.  I guess there aren’t any parades on TV, so when do the college football games start? 

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”

 

Father, thank you for giving us a fresh start … yet again.  Maybe we can honor you in 2021.  Amen.