Who am I that a king would bleed and die for?

These last few days have been days full of blessings and answers to prayer--long term prayers!

I have had a family prayer request answered--something for which I had prayed a very long time. Thank you Jesus!

Today was my monthly appointment with my orthopedic surgeon. It has been three months since my shoulder surgery. I know I have shared this before, but I will share it again. I have no insurance coverage of any kind for physical therapy. (As a matter of fact, I still owe $70,000 plus for my surgery. As of this writing, I have not received any bills, but I am trusting God to handle it in His way and His time.) Because of our financial situation, my doctor wrote an order for only seven weeks of PT, just once a week. Ordinarily, this kind of surgery would require 3-4 months of PT, three times a week.

Last month he was very pleased with my progress, but for some reason, I didn't seem to make the progress I felt I should have this month. And I've worked--boy, have I worked. The exercises are difficult and sometimes, still, painful.

So...I dreaded going in to see him today.

Don and I prayed and prayed that he wouldn't bawl me out or in any way be discouraging. Our prayers were answered!

His words to me were, "Three months since your surgery. You are right on schedule...right where you should be." As he did his dictation, he mentioned therapy. When he was finished, I reminded him. "I don't get therapy anymore. Remember our financial situation?" He nodded and said, "I know. That's what makes this even more impressive!" Do you know what impresses and amazes me? It's that God cares about me so much that He has stepped in and taken over where therapy left off.

As he walked out the door, I said, "I had help," as I pointed upward. His reply? "That doesn't hurt." I said, "I have had many people praying for me."

Yes, God has answered prayer. He has given me the strength to keep on keeping on when I felt like quitting. I have to work hard for recovery, but God is the one Who is healing my shoulder.

And these last few days have found me singing these words from a song I heard several years ago. "Who am I that a King would bleed and die for?"

Indeed, who am I? A sinner saved by grace. Thank you Jesus for bleeding and dying for me and caring for me in every way.

A Time of Thanksgiving

Have you noticed that blogs are going by the wayside? They seem to be replaced by face book and twitter. I figure that by the time I learn to do those things, they will start to go by the wayside too. And it's so hard to teach an old dog new tricks!

I don't blog as often as I use to. For me, it is still an effort to type for very long. Yes, the pain in my arm and shoulder continue, the exercises continue and on and on it goes. I remember that the doctor told me 4 to 6 months of recuperation. But who believed it? Or who wanted to believe it? Now I realize that it may go on even longer than that. Sigh!

Enough complaining! Thanksgiving is coming and I want to focus on all the things God has done for me. I don't want to take the every day things for granted--a roof over my head, food on my table, shoes on my feet. You know what I mean. And yet, there is so-o-o much more.

What about that home He has prepared for us? Heaven. What about knowing that whatever comes into our lives, He is always there for us? It is so comforting to know that when I go to bed at night, He is there. He is there when I wake up. He is there through the bad times and the good times, loving me as nobody else can. And yes, He loves me even when I am not so nice.

When I want to complain about a lack of sleep, I need to be reminded of our many, many soldiers who are risking their lives so that I can climb into that nice warm bed every night. They don't ever know what it is like to get a good night's sleep. When I sit down to a nice hot meal, I need to be reminded of all the people in the world who are starving. We have so much!!!

And America--the land of the free! How much longer will we have our freedom? Yes, we have many, many things for which to be thankful.

Let's not forget about our church, our family, and our friends. And at the top of our list? It should be our salvation.

When I was seven years old, I knelt beside our bathtub (yes, our bathtub) and accepted Jesus Christ as my own personal Saviour. We had just come home from revival services that night and my mother had told me to take a bath. When she came into the bathroom a few minutes later, I was sitting there and crying. She asked me, "Cindy, what's wrong?" I asked her, "If I die tonight, will I go to heaven?" She said, "I don't know. Will you?" I answered her, "No, I won't. I'm not saved." So we got on our knees, and there, by the bathtub, I asked Jesus to save me. He did! I am so thankful that Jesus loves me, this I know!!

Remember all that God has done for you this Thanksgiving.

My Son -- the Winner!!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I hate the word "retard." It is a cruel, senseless word that hurts many innocent people.

The other day I looked up Special Olympics on the computer. One of the first things I read made me very happy. Special Olympics is trying to get people to take a pledge refusing to use the "R" word. Then I scrolled down the page to other websites and one site drew my attention. I clicked on and began to read. I won't mention the website here because not only it is not worth anything, it is also very hurtful.

It was written by a young man who apparently was asked to help in Special Olympics at one time. I began to read and I thought that he was going to tell about what he had learned as a volunteer and have something positive to say. Was I ever wrong!

He made malicious statements about people who have special needs. He seemed to have a very limited vocabulary indeed as he favored one word which should be censored.

At the very end of the article, he had a picture of a runner finishing the race and winning. The caption under the picture read, "Even though he won, he's still retarded."

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. Obviously the young man who wrote this article had no life. How could he? In a way I almost felt sorry for him. He does not know the value of a person. He does not know that God made everyone and everyone has a purpose. I would like to ask him the following questions:

How many 29-year-old men do you know who have cleaned house for the last 10 weeks for his mother who had surgery?

How many 29-year-old men do you know who do the laundry every week without complaining (acually love to do it)?

How many 29-year-old men do you know who do not complain that they do not have a car to drive and are grateful for those who provide their transportation?

How many 29-year-old men do you know who will stand by their mother when she is in terrible pain and shed tears for her?

How many 29-year-old men do you know who cut the grass, take out the garbage, rake the leaves, and shovel the snow without being asked?

How many 29-year-old men attend church faithfully Sunday Morning, Sunday Evening and Wednesday Evening and pitch in and help wherever they are needed?

How many 29-year-old men do you know who love to meet and greet people as they walk into the church, making people feel welcome?

How many 29-year-old men do you know who touch other's lives in a significant way--one person at a time?

My son! That's who! He is a wonderful 29-year-old man who happens to have Down Syndrome. He has meant so much to so many people. We cannot imagine our lives without him. Whether he wins or loses a race, it makes no difference. He is our son, and he is God's creation. He is a winner!!!!

How can we possibly measure the worth of any individual? When someone writes an article such as this young man did, I can only hope that he will somehow find God.