So I'm sitting here this morning having yet again woken up way too early on a day that I could sleep in. And being that it's Thanksgiving morning it's only normal to ponder about things that you are thankful for. I have also found over the last few years personally having potentially serious life events makes you look at what you are thankful for in a different way. Some of you may or may not know that I ended up in the hospital about a month ago with they called atrial flutter. Basically it was causing my heartrate to spike and do crazy things. I went to the ER and within 5 minutes of walking in the door I was in a room that quickly filled with about 8 people putting stickers and wires allover my upper body so rhey could see what my heart was doing. I looked over at Laura and could see some fear creeping in, and knew that she was praying. I need to say that I am very grateful for a wife that prays especially since when I go through stuff like this I am generally unphased of the brevity of the situation until afterwards. Anyway they hooked me up to an IV and admitted me to the hospital, 2 days later I had a procedure called an ablation where they essentially break the circuit that causes the flutter and went home the next day. So back to the IV I can't remember what the medicine was called but they use it to force your heart to behave (go back into a regular rhythm). They kept saying that my heart needed to convert, which led to some fun underlying jokes on our churches group chat. I am thankful that the medicine worked because the alternative would have been a procedure that would mean shocking my heart to get ot to stop and reset. Working for Microsoft this would have been the reboot of all reboots. Through all of this I want to say that I am grateful for some amazing nurses and doctors especially the cardiologist that was able to fix the issue. I get to see him next week for a follow up.
Through all of this Abba started talking to me about the heart. How because we are all essentially born with hearts that are broken and don't function properly that we need a great Physician to perform surgery to make things right. To bring our hearts into a correct rhythm a rhythm that is instep with His.
In Matthew 11:28-30 it says “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and light"
He was talking to me about how through Jesus, when we make Him the Lord of our lives that we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5) in Him. He also showed me that because of what Jesus allowed Himself to go through with His body being broken and His blood being spilled that He provided not only cleansing of sin but also healing. (Isaiah 53:5 says that by His stripes we are healed)
I find in life and the older I get and hopefully the wiser I take Jesus's commands to us more and more seriously. They are simple but don't come without cost, but we need to remember the cost was already paid for. He tells to love God, love others as ourselves, to heal the sick, set captives free and to make disciples. He wants us to be a reflection of Him wherever we go and whatever we do.
So what am I thankful for the list is long because I am a greatly blessed man. My greatest blessings are my wife, my daughters and their husbands, my amazing grandchildren, my siblings, nieces and nephews, my extended family which includes many of my kids friends, our spiritual kids and all of our church families. But then there are the not so obvious ones the people I get to meet at the store, on the street, at the airport or on a plane, the people that Abba leads me to so that I can pray for them, prophecy over them or just be a random helping hand. I also have a list of cool stuff that He has blessed me with as well like this ridiculous house that He provided for us. But the one thing I am most thankful for is Abba, that He loves me and continues to put up with me while He teaches me to learn and grow.
