I had my left hip replaced about 9 months ago. I was pretty much back to normal after two months. There was a little bit of pain, but not much, and I could walk pretty much better than before. I got my right hip replaced almost two months ago, and the pain is still very severe, and my walking is slow and painful. I went to my orthopedic surgeon, who did the surgery last week, and asked him why there was such a difference. He looked at the X-rays and then at the papers in his file folder. He said, “You went to physical therapy twice a week for six weeks on your last hip replacement, but this time you didn’t go at all. Why was that?” Well, the exercises and stretches they had me do weren’t very complicated, so I figured I could save myself the drive into Salem twice a week and do them myself. The next question he asked me was quite embarrassing. “So did you do them the same way and for the same amount of time?” I responded, “No, I mostly forgot.” He laughed and said, “Well, the good news is that the consequences are that you will be a month or two longer recovering than last time, but you will fully recover.” 

In our spiritual walk and growth toward being like Christ in character, the worst words you can say are, “I can do it by myself, I don’t need you.” Small groups, accountability groups, support groups, Bible study groups, and prayer groups are essential for our growth and Christian maturity. Still, many sincere Christians don’t want to take the time and say, “I can do it by myself, I don’t need you.”

I had my left hip replaced about 9 months ago. I was pretty much back to normal after two months. There was a little bit of pain, but not much, and I could walk pretty much better than before. I got my right hip replaced almost two months ago, and the pain is still very severe, and my walking is slow and painful. I went to my orthopedic surgeon, who did the surgery last week, and asked him why there was such a difference. He looked at the X-rays and then at the papers in his file folder. He said, “You went to physical therapy twice a week for six weeks on your last hip replacement, but this time you didn’t go at all. Why was that?” Well, the exercises and stretches they had me do weren’t very complicated, so I figured I could save myself the drive into Salem twice a week and do them myself. The next question he asked me was quite embarrassing. “So did you do them the same way and for the same amount of time?” I responded, “No, I mostly forgot.” He laughed and said, “Well, the good news is that the consequences are that you will be a month or two longer recovering than last time, but you will fully recover.” 

In our spiritual walk and growth toward being like Christ in character, the worst words you can say are, “I can do it by myself, I don’t need you.” Small groups, accountability groups, support groups, Bible study groups, and prayer groups are essential for our growth and Christian maturity. Still, many sincere Christians don’t want to take the time and say, “I can do it by myself, I don’t need you.”

I had my left hip replaced about 9 months ago. I was pretty much back to normal after two months. There was a little bit of pain, but not much, and I could walk pretty much better than before. I got my right hip replaced almost two months ago, and the pain is still very severe, and my walking is slow and painful. I went to my orthopedic surgeon, who did the surgery last week, and asked him why there was such a difference. He looked at the X-rays and then at the papers in his file folder. He said, “You went to physical therapy twice a week for six weeks on your last hip replacement, but this time you didn’t go at all. Why was that?” Well, the exercises and stretches they had me do weren’t very complicated, so I figured I could save myself the drive into Salem twice a week and do them myself. The next question he asked me was quite embarrassing. “So did you do them the same way and for the same amount of time?” I responded, “No, I mostly forgot.” He laughed and said, “Well, the good news is that the consequences are that you will be a month or two longer recovering than last time, but you will fully recover.” 

In our spiritual walk and growth toward being like Christ in character, the worst words you can say are, “I can do it by myself, I don’t need you.” Small groups, accountability groups, support groups, Bible study groups, and prayer groups are essential for our growth and Christian maturity. Still, many sincere Christians don’t want to take the time and say, “I can do it by myself, I don’t need you.”

I like to set goals and then plan and strategize on how to accomplish them. Some of my favorite goals are fishing, hunting, bicycling, and traveling. These goals all require days on the calendar and space in our budget, so some juggling takes place, usually starting about now. Almost all of these goals involve other people, so I am not only considering my calendar and budget but also theirs. New and unexpected events often get thrown into the mix periodically, which usually force adjustments to my goals and schedule. One such new event is that my granddaughter, Praise, recently got engaged, and the wedding will take place in Liberia, West Africa, in August. Round-trip tickets to Liberia cost money that will cut into my hunting and fishing funds, and August 28th is when many of my hunting goals start and run through November. So adjustments need to take place. When planning, the events that are most important to me take priority. When I have ten things I really want to do, but only 7 will fit on the calendar and in the budget, what goes? The events I have already done or can do next year or at a later date are the first to get the axe. Praise is the first of our 28 grandkids to get married, so it is a very high priority in our lives, and adjustments are now being made to the calendar. Time is limited; there are 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, 4.33 weeks in a month, and 12 months in a year. That is all there is, and I am getting to the point in my life where every year I live from here on out is gravy, so I need to choose and plan with wisdom. 

Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Psalms 39:4-5 Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.

It looks like I will have to shoot my moose next year.

Well, here I am back to writing my blog. I have enjoyed the break from the pressure of writing something that was motivating and edifying every day for those who read it, but I also missed writing it. I missed writing it because it was the most stimulating thing I did in order to think and communicate clearly. It isn’t particularly easy to think clearly because our brains are so full of garbage that we hear and see every day. That garbage is like sewage running into a clear, clean creek. Trying to write intelligently and clearly from what is in my mind is like trying to get water out of that creek with a straw and spitting it into a glass. The exercise and discipline of doing that is more profitable for me than it is for those who read my blog. Having great discernment between what is good and what is bad, and between what is true and what is false, can only be done by someone who has wisdom. Wisdom is the great pursuit of life; those who seek it diligently will find it. Wisdom comes to those who read the Bible every day, spend time memorizing and meditating on the Bible every day, spend time with God, pray and ask for wisdom every day, read good books, listen to amazing podcasts and sermons, seek advice and counsel from wise people, and learning from our mistakes and failures. One more major discipline in the pursuit of wisdom is to think about what you have learned and write it down intelligently and clearly. That is why writing this blog is so much more important to me than it is to those who read it. 

Well, here I am back to writing my blog. I have enjoyed the break from the pressure of writing something that was motivating and edifying every day for those who read it, but I also missed writing it. I missed writing it because it was the most stimulating thing I did in order to think and communicate clearly. It isn’t particularly easy to think clearly because our brains are so full of garbage that we hear and see every day. That garbage is like sewage running into a clear, clean creek. Trying to write intelligently and clearly from what is in my mind is like trying to get water out of that creek with a straw and spitting it into a glass. The exercise and discipline of doing that is more profitable for me than it is for those who read my blog. Having great discernment between what is good and what is bad, and between what is true and what is false, can only be done by someone who has wisdom. Wisdom is the great pursuit of life; those who seek it diligently will find it. Wisdom comes to those who read the Bible every day, spend time memorizing and meditating on the Bible every day, spend time with God, pray and ask for wisdom every day, read good books, listen to amazing podcasts and sermons, seek advice and counsel from wise people, and learning from our mistakes and failures. One more major discipline in the pursuit of wisdom is to think about what you have learned and write it down intelligently and clearly. That is why writing this blog is so much more important to me than it is to those who read it. 

I am going to take a couple month break from my blog. I am getting a bit burned out writing it and find myself constantly struggling with writer’s blank. In the past I have had way more stuff rolling around in my brain than I could write. I have enjoyed writing my blog very much, but of late it is becoming a bit of a drag. I look forward to getting my creative juices back, and writing some more.

I lost my cell phone yesterday. I think that is the first time in my life I have lost my phone. Patty loses hers every day, well, at least twice a week. I lecture her continuously, “Have a particular place or places you set it down, and don’t, under any circumstances, set it down any place else. If you travel, the first thing you do is establish that dedicated place for your phone; if you do that, you will never lose your phone.” She obviously has not followed my counsel. Well, yesterday I set my phone on the arm of my recliner, which is one of my dedicated places, but when Roscoe, my dog, jumped up on my lap, he knocked the phone off the arm of my chair without me noticing, and it went down and got caught between the arm and the cushion of my chair. I began backtracking every place I had been the previous couple of hours, checking where I typically put my phone. When I went into our room to check, there Patty had it in her hand, having guessed that it would be somewhere around the last place I used it, which was my chair. I said, “Thank you!” and she said, “You know, if you would put your phone in the same place every time, you wouldn’t lose it.” I can’t wait until the next time she loses hers!

Jesus told a story about a lady who lost a coin. She searches the whole house until she finally finds it, and she gets all excited, telling all her friends she has found her lost coin. There are lost people all around us, and Jesus expects that we will put in at least as much effort to reach them with the gospel as we put into finding a lost cell phone.

We live in a time when many people are declaring what is just and right, yet many of these opinions differ widely. As I hear and read many declarations about what is right, I can’t help but think of Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” As I read and listen to different people, I have a basic rule that I follow: if the person who is expressing his view about life, government, energy, economics, taxes, drugs, and immigrants isn’t a follower of Jesus and devoted to His Word, I don’t believe him or put any stock in what he is saying. Many who claim to be followers of Jesus obviously don’t have a lot of wisdom and are influenced more by the world than the Bible, so I don’t value their message much either. The devil is very real and very powerful and has trapped many people into believing his lies. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” The sad thing is that when a person is led astray from following Jesus, they sincerely think they are right, but they are not. In my goals for this year, I have committed to reading 12 chapters a day in the Bible and to reviewing and meditating on 100 verses I have memorized each day. A key reason is that I want to have the wisdom of Christ, so I know what is right and what is wrong. Hebrews 5:13-14 “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” If you are not in the habit of reading the Bible daily, you are very susceptible to being deceived by the kingdom of darkness. That ought to make you nervous. I am not the source or the judge of what is right and wrong; God is.

Today we had our Jefferson Baptist Church half-marathon fun run/walk. We had almost 40 people, with about half walking and half running, and some doing both. The weather was terrific, and everybody seemed to have a good time. It started badly for me. The race started at our house at 9:00 am, so I got up at 6:00 am to get everything ready. I took a stiff wire with red flagging on it and drove to the halfway point of the 13.1 miles. The half-marathon was an out-and-back course. I got to the 6.55-mile spot, stopped my pickup truck, and tried to push the wire into the ground on the shoulder of the road, but it was too hard, so I went farther down into the ditch. I lost my balance and fell into the ditch full of muddy water. I got up and pushed the wire into the mud, with the flagging showing. But I couldn’t get back up the bank out of the ditch, so I crawled up on my hands and knees. But when I got back up on the road, I couldn’t get back up on my feet. So I crawled over to my pickup and used it to hang onto as I pulled myself up.  A car pulled up while I was on my hands and knees, and a woman asked me if I needed help as I pulled myself up. I thanked them and said, “I got it.” If I had thought faster, I should have said that I was praying. I drove back home, got everything else ready, and then had a cup of coffee. I walked the course with my daughter, Sherrie, and had a great time. We called Patty and had her pick us up at mile 12 because my right hip was giving me fits. I think I am going to go ahead and have it replaced this winter. My left hip, the one I had replaced this last May, worked great. Sherri and I averaged 18-minute miles, a scosh faster than 3 mph, so I felt good about that. When I got back to the house, I took a bunch of ibuprofen and sat in the hot tub for thirty minutes. For most of the walk, I thought about Hebrews 12:1 that says to run the race set before us with endurance. That race is the race of life, and I do, indeed, want to run it well and finish strong.