Tag: Good news

TMI Risk

Quilter2 Comments
© jb katke

Can I do this?

I had the best experience from an undesirable situation. But I don’t want to gross you out. Let’s see if I can share without offending you. Let me know if I succeed, please.

The date was set during the Christmas season last year. Not the best time of year, but then when is a good time for medical procedures? This was not my first rodeo. The last time was horrible and wound up making me sick. Just to find out if all my innards are as they should be.

The process began five days in advance of the doctor visit. Happenstantially, it was at this time that something jumped out to me from my Bible study. “Purification ceremony” presented itself for me to contemplate. My five-day advance took on new meaning. John chapter eleven, verse fifty-five is where I was reading.

A little back story for you to understand the scene I had read. This was prior to Jesus being crucified on the cross. It was during the Jewish Passover celebration. People came from all over to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in worship. The need was for the participants to be cleansed in order to meet the criteria of sacrificing.

Because I was on a special diet that would become more intense as the hospital arrival day neared—I latched onto this purification and took it personally. Literally, I was undergoing a cleansing. The day before was a clear liquid diet.

I was ready for what was coming, with anticipation. For the procedure itself, I’m unconscious. Although waking up is usually difficult, at least it would all be over. To my surprise, I woke up alert! The good news is all is well for me until five years when I get do a repeat performance. I’m not dreading it either.

  1. More than once I discussed this with Jesus. Generally speaking, thinking is always worse than the actual ordeal.
  2. The directions were different compared to my previous experience.
  3. I prayed for an accepting heart to do what must be done.

What made the difference? Was it my nagging the Lord over this concern? The more palatable directions? Or praying for an accepting heart? My answer is yes to all of the above.

The things that concern us, are in Jesus’s wheelhouse. He’s got this. Stuff that we have no control over are his specialty.

The Ones Most Missed

Quilter2 Comments

Recently we have lost some significant people in our life. Death is a part of life, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. Or for that matter even welcomed. COVID is still lurking around and that is bad enough.

Pictured here is Bob Saget. His death came suddenly and no one was ready for it. Many memories of Bob have come forward since then. As with many in show business, he was involved in other realms of the Hollywood scene. His thing was stand-up comedy; it has been said some of his routines were raunchy; but that was prior to my awareness.                                                     

He loved entertaining, helping us all forget about our problems and making us laugh. I like you, might best remember him as the wise and loving television dad on Full House. Everyone loves a dad involved in a child’s life, offering wholesome support. He will be missed.

Bob wasn’t the only one though. Betty White was another pillar in Hollywood. I first ‘met’ her watching Password on TV. She was a delight to hear and seemed to be forever full of joy. Betty didn’t take herself too seriously and seemed to make anything fun. She portrayed a life well-lived and will also be missed.

Totie Fields is another one. She is from way back. I first became ‘acquainted’ with her on the Mike Douglas show. A comedian like Betty, never taking herself seriously. As I recall her jokes were mostly of her being overweight, but at peace with herself..

The one joke Totie cracked that stayed with me was when she thumped two fingers under her double chin aiming to reduce it. She would hold those fingers up for us to see how slimmed down they were. Upon hearing that, I recall thinking I’ve gotta tell Mom that, she would love it. Then it hit me, Mom died. No more could I share funny little things with her. I miss Totie’s humor.

But I miss Mom more. It’s interesting to think how much people impact our life, but we never let them know how much they mean to us. Good, wholesome people that bring a smile and joy, but it is too late now.

That is not a new realization. Back when Jesus walked the earth, he was not a funny man. But he did take himself seriously, and sure could make people smile, forget their problems, and enjoy his presence. Not everyone loved him. He would tell it like it is, much like a parent that speaks what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.  .

He exuded a different kind of joy, not fun, but giving hope and restoration to people that badly needed it. Not until after his death did people realize who they had lost. The good news is it is never too late to revere him. He is a timeless kind of guy, who sent a comforter to come behind him. A spirit that gives a strength beyond what we know, and hope for a better future. We don’t have to miss him because the Good Book says he is closer than a brother. He doesn’t leave memories; he makes them as we go along together.