I have been on a diet since April Fools Day. I started at 227 pounds, and my goal was to get down to 180 pounds. The day before my hip replacement surgery, I weighed 197 pounds. It was the first time I had been under 200 pounds for years. I weighed 188 on our wedding day and weighed 200 pounds the day I started pastoring. But one year later, I climbed steadily up to 210 pounds. On my 50th birthday, I weighed 260 pounds. That was the year I started running and got it back down to 215. Since then, I have kept my weight under 220 most of the time, with occasional lapses during the holiday seasons of pigging out. This recent diet has been my most successful ever. I eat a lot of fish, meat, eggs, chia seeds, spinach, lettuce, Greek yogurt, and other things I like that have no carbs. So you can imagine my surprise when I got on the scale a couple of days after my surgery and found that I had gained six pounds! I went online and found that my new hip probably weighed about 10 oz more than my natural hip. As I read further, it appears the culprit is the water weight from the swelling in my left leg after the surgery. I should lose most of that water weight after about 12 weeks. Who knows, I may be down to my goal weight by then. The key to my weight loss success in these last months was my discovery a year ago that I was allergic to sugar and gluten. It was easy to quit eating them because of the muscle spasms they caused and the irritation they caused while trying to sleep. Once I had stopped eating anything with sugar or gluten, adding rice, potatoes, and corn to the list of things I didn’t eat was not that difficult, and walla, a low-carb keto diet, has worked well for me in losing weight.

Hebrews 12:1: let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

“Lay aside every encumbrance.” Fat men don’t run marathons. Have you ever considered what might be an encumbrance in your life? It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just something extra that keeps us from serving Jesus as well as we could. We need to identify it and then voluntarily lay it aside. 

A lot is going on in the world right now. Reading the news is an ongoing saga of conflict. Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Iran, the USA and China, ICE and immigrants, Democrats and Republicans, and on the list goes with many sub-conflicts. In all these areas, as we all read about what is going on and listen to the various news outlets and podcasts, there is a vast difference in opinion on who and what is right or just. I read and listen to many of these and to many of those who disagree with one another. One of the obvious facts is that a lot of misinformation and lies are being communicated as proof of a particular view. It seems odd that someone would use information they know to be false to try and substantiate their view that they believe to be true. The devil is the father of lies and is constantly getting those who are his servants to introduce lies into the world, and he is ramping up that strategy more and more in these last days. It becomes increasingly more challenging to know what is true and false.

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.

The “word of righteousness” is the Bible. Some people don’t read and study it much; they are an infant in thinking. They are easily deceived by what is false. The mature read the Bible a lot, their senses are trained, and they can discern the truth from error. The Bible is supernatural; it is the Word of God, the mind of Christ, and the Sword of the Spirit. When the devil attempted to tempt Jesus, Jesus resisted by simply quoting scripture to him. We find it challenging to maintain a regular Bible reading discipline or find it almost impossible to memorize and meditate on scripture “day and night.” It is because satan’s demons are constantly talking to us, working hard to persuade us to put it off one more day. Suppose we can break through that barrage of mind control from the enemy and have a season of successful and faithful reading, study, memorization, and meditation of God’s Word. In that case, the enemy’s voice will become less and less pronounced in our thinking.  

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.

When I was six years old, I got run over by a caterpillar at a construction site. The pile of dirt I was standing on caved in because of the heavy equipment vibration. The dirt covered me up, and the cat driver didn’t see me until one of my arms popped into view. I had climbed up on the pile on my way to school to see better what was happening with all the trucks, cats, and other construction equipment. My left leg was broken in six places as the cat track ran up my leg, breaking the bone at each track cleat. I was in the hospital for some time, but I recovered fully. If you are interested, I have written several blogs on this event in my life in much more detail. One slight problem in my recovery was that my left foot was crooked; it stuck out to the side at about a 45-degree angle instead of straight ahead. The only time anybody noticed was if they followed me in the snow. I had a distinct set of tracks, and my left foot looked like a duck track. I never saw any consequence to this difference in my left foot as I grew up playing sports and running a dozen marathons as an adult. But now, since my hip replacement surgery, my left foot is straight. I have no idea whether my “duck foot” was a factor in my hip going bad, but it sounds reasonable. I didn’t notice at first, but a couple of days ago, I was walking on the treadmill and looking down at my feet as I walked and thought, my foot is straight, cool. Several years ago, when I was running marathons, I went to a running shoe store that would do a video of you running on a treadmill and then replaying the video in slow motion to try and determine how much pronation there was in your ankles to help determine the style of shoe that would work best. When they looked at my video, the salesperson commented that my feet and pronation were way different and I should buy two pairs of shoes and wear a different shoe on each foot. My response was to buy one set of shoes halfway in the middle. How is this for a discussion question in a small group, “Is your physical body perfect, or do you have some defect, even a small one, in you physically?” Or maybe this question, “If God would fix or change anything in you physically, what would it be?” Most people would mention something less than perfect in them. The cool thing is that when I get my glorified body, it will be perfect in every way; it will be exactly like the body that Jesus now has. How about my character? What needs fixing with that? When I step into heaven, will that defect be fixed?

I assume that I will be as physically fit and mobile as I was 10 years ago in a couple of weeks. Ten years ago, I climbed Mt Adams, ran a marathon, and bicycled across the USA. I can’t wait!! But if I cannot do all that, I will still be excited about increased physical ability. I am working hard on my recovery, doing my assigned exercises, riding my stationary bike daily, walking on the treadmill, icing my hip, and attending physical therapy twice weekly. The orthopedic doctor said that my right hip looked very bad from the ex-rays, but it doesn’t hurt me at all. He had talked about replacing my right hip as soon as possible, but I think I will wait for a while as long as it doesn’t bother me. I expect Jesus is coming any day now, so I might as well wait for my really good hip. Today has been a good day. Between time on my bike and the treadmill, I talked to my son Seth on the phone for a while. He lives in Idaho now. Today is his 41st  birthday. I also spoke to a friend who had hip replacement surgery three weeks before I did, and we compared experiences. I am a little bit ahead of him in terms of recovery. I graduated from the walker to the cane in one week, and my goal is to walk without the cane this Monday, which will be two weeks, and then the following Monday to be done with Physical therapy and to be walking normally. People often say, “Don’t get your hopes up too far.” I know the reason that they say that is because of the pain of disappointment. They think it is better not to hope or anticipate big things or victories to avoid disappointment; wait and see what happens, and then you can be surprised. High levels of hope motivate and inspire me to work harder. Suppose things don’t turn out as well as I had hoped, I know how to adjust my thinking and continue hoping. It is like going fishing. I expect and hope to catch many big fish every time I go. But If it is a bad day of fishing and I don’t catch any fish,  I always go fishing again, and I fully expect and hope that I will catch a full limit of monster fish. Sometimes I do, and those trips keep my hope engine running full steam.

When things like hip replacement surgery happen in our lives, it’s pretty big stuff we hadn’t planned on. Things change for a while; routines change and schedules change. We all have things like that happen pretty often. I had known this season was coming for several months, so I was mentally prepared for the changes in my routine. I like changes in my routine, even though I like routine. Change in life requires us to think creatively to continue to function responsibly. I get bored with life, and change stirs things up a bit. With change, there are fresh challenges and obstacles to overcome—new ways of doing things, new things to learn. If nothing new has happened for a while, I will plan one.

A new boat-building project, a bicycle trip, a fishing trip, and a research project. I have been thinking of new things to do, new learning challenges, and new skills. I have thought about earning a doctor’s degree online. I have an honorary doctorate, but this would be one I get from studying and writing that would force me to learn. I have been thinking about a doctorate in early church history, the early church fathers, the early church, and the New Testament. I have found good schools that offer those majors and are almost entirely online. I have also considered getting a creative writing degree in preparation for writing some books. I have been thinking seriously about learning to play a musical instrument for several years. I haven’t conquered the intimidation factor yet on that one.  I like to take on things that I am sure I can succeed at.

Today is the one-week anniversary of my hip replacement surgery. Anniversaries and birthdays are one of the ways we mark or measure the passing of time. One of our daughters and her husband just had their 17th wedding anniversary. We have kids and grandkids’ birthdays all the time. I will have my 77th  birthday in about five months, Patty’s 78th in 8 months, our 56 wedding anniversary in three months, and my 50th anniversary as a pastor in 17 months. We also remember events because we mark them as important. We take pictures and have celebrations and special gatherings on those days. The most remembered day in my mind is my High School graduation in 1967; I remember that day and the events leading up to it clearer than any other in my life. I am not sure why, but I do. You might think my wedding would be most memorable, but I have little memory of that day and event; I believe that fear blocked it out! Another highly remembered day is the birth of our first child, Sarah, and the birth of our first grandson, Josiah. The most significant day in my life was when I was born again into the family of God. That happened at Fir Point Bible Camp in Glendale, Oregon, in June 1961 when I was 13. I was baptized in June 1966 in Mt Adams Baptist Church in Trout Lake, Washington. I was wondering yesterday at Dave Kennedy’s memorial service, when we were remembering his life, how much we will remember of our life when we get to heaven. I think we will remember every detail and every thought and every motive. When I was a kid, we would celebrate birthdays by showing slides and super8-movie clips of whoever’s birthday it was. If Jesus does that for each of us in heaven, that will be fun or embarrassing, depending on the event and scene. Some would say that God has forgotten all the bad stuff as per Psalms 103:12. I think that reference is to the consequence of sin,  not to actual memory, but we will see. In the meantime, I will live my life daily as if Jesus sees everything I do, say, and think. It is all being recorded by Jesus to celebrate and remember for all eternity: eternal entertainment, like watching the three stooges😂.

I preached today at The Evangelical Church and will share a few minutes in my good friend, Dave Kennedy’s memorial service this afternoon. I can get in and out of bed without help from Patty, bathroom visits are no longer a trial, and I am exercising faithfully every day. My hip replacement surgery seems to be healing up fine. One of the things that I have discovered is that there are a lot of people who have had hip replacement surgeries. Once I realized this, I also found that most of them wanted to talk to me about theirs and to give me some advice from their experience. There are right and wrong ways to respond to these people. One way is as a busy person who doesn’t want to take the time for this long, boring conversation that I have already had umpteen times. The other way to respond is with grace, humility, kindness, and consideration for the other person. I know myself well enough to know that if I don’t pre-meditate my responses, I will go the first route most of the time, but if I think about it and decide what the loving thing to do is, I will do much better. One of the things I know well is that we all go through life planting seeds daily based on our actions, choices, and words. We will soon reap the blessings or consequences of those seeds we have sown. Because we are slow to connect the dots in our lives, we are unaware of why blessings or curses are happening to us. I always tell people that wise people choose to do things all day long that God promises to bless. That seems like a wise way to live life to me.

I have this app on my phone that gives me exercises every day for my hip. Right now, it is still pretty much dead from the spinal block. I still can’t feel anything, and I have very limited motion in my left leg. The exercises are designed to stretch things out and gradually get things to work again. The easiest exercise is to point my toes as far forward and backward as possible while lying on my back in bed. I can do that one with minor pain. Sitting on the edge of my bed and raising my leg is the hardest. Right now, I only have about an inch of motion, but I keep pretending that I am in a contest with an evil spirit trying to keep me locked down! I am also struggling to slide my left foot up to my butt while lying flat on the bed. Patty helps me out and pushes on it. I am getting up and walking around regularly using the walker. I rode my stationary bike for an hour today as well.  It is like anything else: the harder you push, the faster you improve. In our Christian walk, Paul says to “press on to maturity,” some press on a lot, and many don’t give much effort. What we are in character the day we step into heaven is what we are; it is worth working on. 

I had hip replacement surgery done two days ago, and I am lying in bed, healing up. Patty is taking care of me. Patty is a servant in temperament and spiritual gifting, and she is attracted to those with needs. She often spends way more time with others who have needs than she does with me at home regularly because I am fine and don’t need much help.  I am good with that because she gets so much fulfillment in helping others. But now, she is entirely devoted to taking care of me. Getting this much attention from her is almost worth the pain and inconvenience of hip replacement surgery. She helps me into and out of bed, brings me coffee whenever I want some, massages my feet, scratches my back, brings me food to eat, gets up, and gets me a drink of water in the middle of the night. She hugs, kisses, and tells me how wonderful I am.

I have counseled so many marriages where when one or the other spouses gets sick or laid up, their marriage struggles because of the extra pressure and demands on their schedule. I can’t remember everything, but when Patty had her hip surgery a number of years ago, I think I did OK as her caregiver. I certainly didn’t feel put out or that my schedule was being infringed upon. I felt honored to be able to help Patty when she was laid up. However good I might have been assisting Patty, I wasn’t close to being as wonderful as Patty has been to me. I get all choked up as I think about it as I write this blog. I have a lot of blessings in my life, but my wife is the most wonderful of them all.

My hip replacement surgery was done today at Willamette Falls Hospital in Oregon City. The surgery was at 2:00 pm, and I was home by 8:00 pm. It was an enjoyable experience. All the nurses and doctors were super friendly and very helpful. The spinal block worked well, and the stuff they gave me to knock me out worked well. I had a nice four-hour nap. The doctor looked at the hip he took out and said it was a mess😳! Today, I used a cane to leave the hospital made by hand with black ebony wood that I bought in Sierra Leone about ten years ago. It is a nice cane, very heavy and stout. I whacked a coon with it that ran into our bedroom a couple of years ago, and it worked well for that. I expect that when the spinal block wears off, my new hip will get to hurting a lot, but I have an entire bottle of painkillers, so I expect that I will be fine. I plan on riding my stationary bike for 15 minutes or longer tomorrow, depending on how I feel.

I look forward to standing up straight and walking normally in the days ahead. And then when I get my second one done, maybe even walking a half marathon!

My favorite verses in the Bible now are Philippians 3:20-21: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

I got a piece of a new and greatly improved body today, but not a glorified one. That day is not too far away, and I am looking forward to it. Only those who love Jesus can look forward to that day with me.