I try not to be, but I become a big wimp when sick. I moan and groan when Patty is around so that she will come over and give me some sympathy and ask if she can get me anything. I hate it when she is gone too long because there is nobody to moan and groan to. She has never told me to shut up and quit complaining, but I can tell when she gets a little weary of my need for attention and sympathy. Occasionally, she will hurt my feelings with her responses to my baby’s behavior. As she crawled into bed tonight, she said, “Please don’t come on my side of the bed tonight and breathe on me!” What kind of thing is that to speak to a man on his last leg of life!

All I have is a nasty head cold; I cough and sneeze, my nose runs non-stop, I blow my nose constantly, my head hurts, my muscles ache, and I have zero strength. It sounds terrible but isn’t; it’s just a major inconvenience. We have so many people in our church with cancer who are going through chemo and radiation, others with MS and heart problems, and some have seizures.

One of the principles of dealing with life is, “Many people are going through worse things than I am, so rejoice always and pray for those going through real problems.”

I haven’t been able to go to the five days of prayer much this week, so I spend more time than usual praying for people in our church who have a variety of trials and problems.

Many people have trials so much worse than mine, so I need to rejoice because I am not going through what they are going through and because my rejoicing results in character growth for me.

And I rejoice because my wife loves me so much!!