A Fruitful Old Age

 

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Psalm 92:14
King James Version
[The righteous] shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

 

I wrote this letter to a friend of mine who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke recently:

Dear John,

    Your stroke both stunned and dismayed me. And this hit you before you even had a chance to retire. However, I don’t believe God is finished with you, I do believe that He is trying to communicate something to you. Dad used to say that in order for God to get things through to him, He sometimes had to hit him across the head with a two-by-four. God waited for three years after I retired to hit me with west Nile virus and recurrent cancer. He wanted me to get my act together and use my retirement to “bring forth fruit” in my old age.

    Now is the time to claim this beautiful promise from Psalm 92: the righteous “shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” In fact, read the whole psalm, and while you’re about it, read Psalm 91. Our God is strong to save and heal!

Before Christ left His disciples, He reassured them: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John included this in his gospel for us. 

Christ knew we would go through really trying times, but He is never going to forget any one of us. He promised us in Luke 11: “I say unto you, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’”

You may remember that my friend, Bob, had a nasty stroke some thirty-odd years ago. It left him with a limp, but he recovered well. We are praying that God will heal you, too; and restore you to full health!

Thank You Father, that You never do forget us and promise us a fruitful old age.

 

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[1] https://www.app.com/story/life/home-garden/luxury/mansions/2016/12/29/5-most-incredible-mansions-shore/95870234/

Think Love, Joy, Hope, and Beauty

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Philippians 4:8 

Good News Translation (GNT)

⁸ In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.

Shortly after I began teaching at La Sierra University, Hilmer Besel came into my office. He was very worried. His wife Lily was in hospital and I knew things were not going well for her. She was naturally very short and her osteoporosis had stolen another 6 inches from her height. Besides that about everything else in her body seemed to have given up. They had her lying in bed with tubes protruding out of almost every orifice. She couldn’t speak, drink, or eat. Everything hurt and she was miserable. She wrote a little note to her beloved husband and requested that they remove all the tubes and let her die in peace. Hilmer asked me what I would do if my wife had made that request.

Lily was a lovely woman. She was always interested in the welfare of those about her. She was a pleasure to talk to. We all hated to see her go. But who would keep such a lovely person alive in such unbearable torture? Hilmer gathered their three daughters around her and prayed with her and then they pulled all of the tubes out of her body and quit giving the life preserving drugs. The doctors told the family that she would be dead in twenty minutes.

Four days later she walked out of the hospital, delighted to be free from most of those pains. She regarded the next four years as a gift from God. When I would see her she was always interested in my well being and expressed no complaints. She had not been miraculously cured and her ailments finally took her about four years later. I remember visiting her again just before she died. She knew her time was short and she expressed her concern for Hilmer. Would I look after him especially when he needed something? I promised her I would.

Hilmer had founded the mathematics and computer science departments at La Sierra University. He ate lunches at the university cafeteria, so he would come by my office almost every day. He spent his time studying scripture, working on an elementary proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, or finishing his copper roof. He would report on progress and often seek my help in one or another of his current projects. Like his wife, he never dwelt on the failings of his fellow humans. He lived a lonely life, but never complained. At his lunch meals, students and faculty would often spend time with him learning from his wisdom. He outlived Lily by almost twenty years.

Thank You Lord for people who love to redirect our thoughts to joys, beauties, and topics beyond our meager existence.

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[1] Hilmer Besel at a Departmental Christmas Party in 2012

Cancer Recovery

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Isaiah 40:31 

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

³¹ but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.

This week I completed my last chemo infusion. I started the chemo five months ago in January. At that time I had made remarkable recovery after the West Nile Virus bout I contracted a year and a half before. Our dog Katie and I would walk over the La Sierra Hills in front of and behind our home. Katie would come home dragging her tail behind her and trying to duck into the shade of every desert plant that looked like it might offer a bit of cool respite.

Then I started the chemo. Within a scant fortnight I was winded just walking up to the Pumpkin Rock nestled on a low point on the ridge to the west of our home. Since then I have only once or twice made it up to the saddle point—an even lower destination. Otherwise I have restricted my goings to the almost level area in our valley. I walk with uncertain steps and brace myself for any slight slip on the dirt. I feel this constant headache that decries my actually being upright. Sylvia walks next to me gently pushing the middle of my back on the uphill stretches.

Meanwhile Katie runs joyfully around and digs energetically in every gopher burrow and rabbit hole she can find. I have pushed myself to walking about 2,000 steps according to a pedometer program I have on my smart phone. Then I return home and sit in the recliner and allow my heart and lungs to catch up with my body. Usually I am too tired to even sleep, but if I do, it will often be an hour and a half before I awaken. That is unless Katie suddenly explodes into a barking session.

Now that I am no longer being infused with the chemo poison that is supposed to zap the cancer I’m carrying, I eagerly await the renewal of my strength in a very literal sense. The Lord brought me back from a much closer brush with death during my West Nile episode. I fully trust that he will again fulfill this promise in Isaiah.

I thank You, Lord, that I can trust in Your promises and that You have seen fit to preserve me a second time. Let’s go for it, Lord!

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[i] https://www.google.com/search?q=pumpkin+rock+hike+norco&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS744US744&source=lnms&tbm=i

Win Some, Lose Some, Ever Forward

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Psalm 138:7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁷ Though I am surrounded by troubles,
    you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
    and the power of your right hand saves me.

For four months now I have been suffering with a headache when I’m not lying down. This appears to be the result of my bout with West Nile Virus (WNV). The hospital did several lumbar punctures to diagnose the disease. After seeing numerous doctors who were simply clueless as to how to solve the issue, I was finally referred to Dr Olivo, a neurologist.

When I described my symptoms to him, his eyes lit up, and he said, “It’s undoubtedly a cerebrospinal fluid leak (CSF) at a lumbar puncture site.” I had come to the same conclusion after reading the Internet. Apparently the fact that the headache and other symptoms disappear when I lie down is characteristic of a CSF leak.

Dr Olivo went right to work to get the various preliminary tests done and then get me into the hospital to have the patch done. Results are supposed to be immediate, so the patch is an outpatient procedure. The radiologist who administered the patch had me lie down for a half hour afterwards and then had me get up and dress. Of course he inquired if I felt better.

I walked around a bit, somewhat bewildered. The room swayed from left to right as I turned my head. I needed to hold onto something in order to walk straight. My entire head ached from my shoulders on up. Not only was I not better, I was also a lot worse.

There was the hope that it would clear up over time. That hope never materialized. I was sorely disappointed but not discouraged or depressed. By chance I had read the promise in the verse above the very morning of the procedure. I sensed as I read the promise that I might need its comfort that very day, though I certainly hoped not.

God has brought me through alive from the very deadly WNV after 9 weeks in hospital and rehab. There are some lingering areas where I haven’t fully recovered besides the CSF leak. The literature suggests that healing from the WNV usually takes at least a year. So I have a while to go yet.

Thank You, Lord, for the promise that Your mighty right hand will save me in the very midst of my troubles.

#CALIFORNIA, #IE, #PSALMS, #BIBLEPROMISE, #WESTNILEVIRUS, #HEADACHE, #NEUROLOGY, #LUMBARPATCH, #DEPRESSION, #CEREBROSPINALFLUID, #CSFLEAK, #MEDICALFAILURE, #HEALING

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[i] Picture from http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/normantranscript.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/e0/1e07211b-16d6-5bef-ba77-3e091c456d63/58713d2bb304f.image.jpg