Let the spinning wheel spin!

Well, thank God it's Friday or any other day, right? Today on this July 31, 2009 I am wondering what I would be doing had I lived 100 years ago when things were much slower. That's one of those escape thoughts but my guess is that had I lived back then I would have felt overwrought just like I do now. The photo is of me sitting on top of my spinning wheel, perhaps I was just taking a break. At any rate it has been another busy busy week running here and there and trying to keep up with all that needs to be done. I ran by the hospital last evening to check on a dear friend from our local congregation. He is in for a heart scare. I had my doctor's appointment to take care of. I had to replace a faucet that after 40 years decided it was time to give up the ghost. That was scary to my wife who wondered when she left me to do the repair if we would ever have water again! Yesterday morning I went for the blood work related to my medical check up. Scurrying here and there we sometimes think we know how that little furry hamster dude feels as he pumps on that little wheel in his cage hour after hour. The only way to break out of this type of stressed out malaise is to begin to thank God for the blessings that He has surrounded you with.

As I was visiting my friend last night I thought about all the technologies available today as they had him wired up and being monitored. We are blessed to have all the medical advancements we currently have at our disposal. I thought about the extensive testing my doctor is having done this time on the four vials of blood drawn. This level of testing would probably have not even been a part of his routine 100 years ago. I thought about how busy the schedule is but also how that we have the means to make these appointments while staying in touch with loved ones on our cell phones. Sure, we are busy but we are also blessed. Coming into the office this morning I called out the names of all our boys, their wives, our grandchildren, our siblings, extended family, Church family, mom and dad, those with special needs, our leaders in our nation, and my prayer went on and on. Think about it. What a privilege that we have in being able to make contact with and be assured of an audience every time with our Creator God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! Blessed? Beyond our ability to even imagine.

Sometimes the sights and smells down in the trenches can get us down. Sometimes the press of life squeezes us and makes it hard for us to live in light of the life God has given to us. Is it always an easy go? My experience says just the opposite, it's almost never an easy go. However, that has little to do with the blessings we enjoy as a child of the living God. He knows the frustration we feel when the fellow in front of us, distracted on his cell phone, stops at a green light without realizing it and causes me to nearly smash into his rear end. He knows when you do everything you can to keep your appointments but those on the other end fail to do the same. He knows when the big things to you are really not that big at all and He wants you and I to live based on truth that cannot always be seen, touched, or felt. That truth begins and ends with our connection to Him through Christ and that makes us blessed beyond our wildest dreams even when it seems we are mired in the muck of life in real time here on planet earth. I find myself so often living beneath my identity in Christ but He also understands this and seeks to help me to increase my faith so that I can live aware of and thankful for the blessings He has given, is giving, and will give because of His great love! Be encouraged as you finish up your Friday and embark on your Saturday and Sunday. May God bless one and all! Amen. .....More later.