Medieval Times

In three days I will board a plane and wing my way through the friendly skies to sunny California! Yes, I am off to visit my daughter Julie’s family for a week—and I am so excited I can hardly wait! I am crossing things off my lists as I prepare to go—make and freeze food for Bob and Robbie while I am gone; make sure all the bills are paid and prescriptions picked up; clean house; pack suitcases; print boarding passes… I am sure Julie, son-in-law David, and their six children are just as busy on the other end getting ready for Grandma’s visit.

Speaking of my son-in-law, I have to brag on him for a moment. Julie called the other day and said David had noticed that I would only be there five full days after taking away the traveling days on either end of my trip. “That’s not long enough! Call your mom,” he told Julie, “and tell her if she wants to stay a few more days, I’ll pay for the change in her ticket.” Now, I ask you, how many men do you know who can’t get enough of their mothers-in-law and want them to stick around any longer than necessary? Bless his heart! It was a sweet offer, but I could not see him paying $200 for just a couple days more of my presence—plus, Bob needs me to come home and take care of Robbie so he can get back to work. So I will go and be thankful for the (short) time I have with them and enjoy every minute of it!

It is always non-stop fun when I visit David and Julie and their six children. Five of the six are BIG kids now—James is 18, Benjamin and Anastasia are 17, Joshua is 15 and Hannah is almost 12—but just as grown up in many ways as her older siblings. Only Josiah is little still. He is not quite one year old. The last time I was out there he was a newborn and they were just bringing him home from the hospital. I can’t wait to see the changes in that little rascal! I am sure he will keep us entertained! Julie says he is a wild child on wheels. He gets going in his walker, leans forward and lifts his feet in the air as he zooms around the kitchen. I can’t wait to see that!

The Big Five make their own fun, too. They love to play games, and if a game is one-on-one, such as ping pong or Connect Four or Battleships, they hold tournaments. They all play musical instruments and several of them enjoy different crafts. They’re all very active and love to hike, swim, fish, do archery and target shooting, ride bikes and skate… Julie and David jump right in and do many of those activities with them.

Grandma slows them down a bit when I come, but we will spend hours every day I am there playing games, or they will put on a concert for me, and we will cook or bake together or do crafts.   They even taught me to shoot a bb-gun the last time I was there and I am looking forward to that again! One of our favorite activities together is to go to the beach—not to swim (there are sharks in that area and swimming is prohibited)—but just to explore the shore and enjoy God’s creation.

Julie and I have something special planned this time. Last year when I was there, we surprised the kids with “Hobbit Day.” When they woke up they discovered we had designated each room in the house a part of Middle-Earth and had fun activities and games geared to that theme planned to last throughout the day. They each took a name from one of the characters in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, and we ate “hobbit food” at every meal. Another time, later that year, she and David did something similar with “Star Wars Day.” We decided to surprise them this time with “Medieval Day.”

I’ve already packed the two knight costumes I bought several years ago for a Medieval Banquet we had at our church, along with their swords, shields and battleaxes. (If my suitcase gets x-rayed at the airport, will plastic swords show up? I really don’t want my suitcase opened by security!) I also have a jester hat and plans to make the girls’ headpieces with Julie. I am taking my costume from the banquet, too, and hope to get a couple crowns and capes for David and Julie (the king and queen.)

We will start the day off with a Royal Proclamation (Hear ye, hear ye!) telling the kids that it is Medieval Day. Everyone will choose their costumes and titles (ie. Sir Benjamin or Princess Hannah). We have a tournament planned with a catapult, pool noodle jousting, archery, toothpick and balloon fencing, stone-throwing (at targets, not each other) and tug o’ war.   We will hold a juggling contest and a jester contest (who can make the others laugh the fastest), and maybe to top off the day, a movie like “How to Train Your Dragon´ or “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”

Julie and I have planned a menu including “dragon” eggs, cheeses and homemade bread for breakfast; vegetable barley soup, fruit and hard rolls for lunch; grilled drumsticks and meat and veggie skewers for supper, and Pepperidge Farm Chessman Cookies for a snack. No eating utensils allowed, since they didn’t use them in the Middle Ages, and we will eat off of gold (paper) platters. I found a cute “Dragon Taco Dip” the other day that I would like to make for the evening when we watch our movie, and maybe we will combine that with “Knights of the Round Table” Pizza. Instead of ale, beer or wine, we will have ginger ale, root beer and grape pop. Hey, it may not be very authentic, but it will be fun!

And who really wants to go back to living the way they lived back in medieval times anyway? I cannot even imagine how difficult those days must have been. It’s fine to pretend for a day or a few hours a romanticized version of what it might have been like, but daily life back then was horribly hard and life expectancies were very short. We have some idea of what it might have been like back then, but people living in medieval times, in their wildest dreams, could never have begun to imagine how people of the twenty-first century would live! People speeding down the road, or even crazier, flying through the air, hundreds or even thousands of miles in one day?! Talking to someone on the other side of the world, even seeing and talking to them instantaneously?! Modern medicine that more than doubled the life span of man. Cooking a meal in a microwave. Buying clothes off the rack, groceries from a supermarket, anything our hearts desire.

Yes, times have certainly changed—but people have not. From the beginning of time, the Garden of Eden, people have loved, hated, laughed, cried, raised families, worked hard, had happy days and borne sorrows, struggled with relationships and struggled to survive. In Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, 9-10 we read,

Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?

That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

The way we live our lives is certainly different than in ancient times, but there truly is nothing new under the sun when it comes to human nature, emotion and spirit. As Adam and Eve sinned, so we still sin today. As they were created with a nature meant to worship their Creator, so are we all born with a need to worship Him. And from the moment they sinned, Adam and Eve needed a Savior—as has every single person born since then.

The Lord God has not changed from ancient times, either. The Psalmist said, “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.  I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, (Psalm 77:5, 11-15) The Bible tells us in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

From ancient times all the way until the end of time He will never change. He says in Isaiah 46:9-10, “ Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,  Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’“

He is the eternal God. He pre-dates ancient times and will exist when all time ends. Psalm 90:1, 2 says, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” The relationship He forms with all those who trust Him for salvation will endure eternally, as well. “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,  To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.” (Psalm 103:17, 18)

The medieval age has passed. The years and decades, centuries and millenniums have marched on through the passage of time. Kings and kingdoms of history have come and gone. Only one King reigns eternal! “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (I Timothy 1:17)

From Bad to Worse to Bad to Praise the Lord Anyway!

Thursday was a rough day. Robbie went into a small hospital as an outpatient to have his feeding tube replaced. He is no longer fed through the tube since he is eating regular food now, but we still give him all his medications and extra fluids through the tube, and it is there sort of as a safety net in case we go through another crisis with him again. The g-tube he had was beginning to deteriorate, so last week his doctor decided it was time to replace it and lined up a time and place for the procedure.

All was well until the anesthesiologist came in. He and all the nurses were as nice as could be, but for some reason the anesthesiologist seemed rather timid—perhaps even scared?—of putting the IV in for the anesthesia. He hemmed and hawed around for several minutes and finally tried to get the needle in Robbie’s hand. He missed but continued to poke around, trying to place the needle in the right spot. He finally decided it wasn’t going to work, but rather than removing it, he held it there for several minutes while he waited for a nurse to bring him something.

In the meantime, Robbie was getting agitated and more and more apprehensive. The anesthesiologist apologized and said he would have to try again. By that time there were seven people gathered around the bed—five nurses, Bob and the anesthesiologist.   He stuck Robbie again in the same hand—and again dug around with the needle trying to get it in correctly. Robbie was frightened by then and the other six people tried to hold him still.   The anesthesiologist gave up finally. “We’ll give him an injection in the arm of a sedative called katamine to relax him,” he decided. “It will only take a couple minutes before Robbie will doze off a little and we should be able to get the IV in the other hand.”

Two or three minutes went by, but rather than sedating Robbie, the katamine had the opposite effect. His body began contorting horribly and he began screaming. We have never heard Robbie scream like that in a panic and almost delirium. He was wild and thrashing about and Bob was doing all he could to hold him and comfort him. Now, we have seen Robbie have many, many very awful grand mal seizures throughout his life, but this was worse than anything we had ever seen.

I fled the room, crying and praying. A nurse came out to the waiting room nine or ten minutes later. When I asked if he was any better, she shook her head no. “How long will the katamine affect him? Will it wear off soon?” She replied that it would, so I continued to pray—and yes, cry some more.

Finally, I could wait no longer. I went back to the room. All was quiet and most of the people had cleared out. Robbie was lying on the bed, playing with his Winnie the Pooh pillow—and acting a little drunk! Bob was still standing next to our boy. When I asked what had happened, he said that the anesthesiologist had tried a third time to get the IV in the other hand, and when that failed, Bob told them they either had to give Robbie gas to put him to sleep or find someone else to put in the IV. A nurse came and put it in his foot with no problem.

We breathed a sigh of relief and a prayer of thanksgiving. We were trying not to blame the anesthesiologist for his three botched attempts at placing an IV (although, really? He’s a doctor and that is supposed to be his specialty.) And no one could have foreseen the adverse reaction Robbie would have to the katamine. They came in a few minutes later and whisked Robbie off to have his procedure done. The worst was over.

Well, yes—that was the worst of it, but we weren’t quite through with the bad. It seemed like no time at all that they were coming out to tell me that it was over and Robbie was in the recovery room and I could go back there with him. (Bob had left to run home for a paper the hospital needed.) The doctor came in a few minutes later to tell me all went well, Robbie did fine, and oh, yes—they had to put in a saline balloon tube instead of the g-tube he has had for the last nine or ten years.

“A balloon?” I repeated. “But you know that will only last three months or so and then we’ll be right back here again having to replace it!” The stomach acids eat through the balloon holding the tube in place and when it bursts, the tube falls out and has to be replaced immediately.

“Yes, I know,” he said, “but that’s all they had here. So long!” He quickly left.

I was not happy, but when Bob got back and discovered they had used the wrong g-tube he was really, really upset! Bob is very protective of Robbie, and he had just been through an awful experience with him. To think that we would have to put him through this all over again in just a few months was dismaying. At that point there was nothing we could do about it, so we gathered up our son and things and left the hospital.

Robbie had not quite forgiven us for the trauma he had been through earlier, but a stop at McDonald’s for a very late lunch quickly made his world right again. When we got home I prepared his seizure medicine to put through the new tube—and discovered the port was not quite big enough to insert the syringe enough! Aargh! Somehow I managed to get the medicine in without spilling it all over.

“I’ll put an adapter valve on it before his next medicines,” Bob promised. He and Robbie lay down to take a long, well-deserved nap.

The first thing Bob did when he got up from his nap was get the adapter valve and scissors to cut off the plug that was on the end of the new tube. He had done this many times before, so did not think twice about it. The next thing I heard was, “What?! Oh, no!”

“What happened?” I asked in alarm.

“When I cut off the plug, the saline filling the balloon inside leaked out! The tube is falling out. We’re going to have to go back the hospital and get a new tube!”

My heart sunk. By that time it was 8:00 PM. It had been a hard day. We would have to go to the ER, which meant hours of waiting—not to mention putting Robbie through even more. We quickly taped the tube to Robbie’s abdomen to keep it in place, got dressed and headed to the hospital—our regular hospital this time, not the little podunk hospital where the procedure had been done that afternoon. We didn’t even know if they had an ER, and after our experience there earlier, we weren’t willing to find out.

Our time in the ER at Community Hospital went much better. Robbie was relaxed and unafraid. No one was poking him or trying to hold him down. The ER doctor was very knowledgeable and understood exactly what had happened and why. Eventually, after several hours of back and forth between doctors and hunting down the correct materials, he was able to place a new g-tube for Robbie quickly and easily while Robbie lay back with his hands behind his head. Unfortunately they had to use another saline balloon-type tube since it was after hours and anything else was locked up and no specialist was around to do it even if they could have found the correct tube. The ER doc was experienced and comfortable with placing the balloon tube, though, as a temporary measure to get us by until his regular doctor could do the other kind.

We got home a little bit after midnight. As we talked over the day’s events, I tried to soothe my husband’s aggravation with the problems we had encountered. I have rarely seen Bob so upset over something, but the fact that most of what had happened could have been avoided with a little extra care by the professionals really irked him. “Bob, what we went through today, except for Robbie’s reaction to that sedative, is so minor compared to what we have been through in the past. And what we went through is very, very minor to what millions of people go through every day! Let’s just let it go and praise the Lord!”

Praise the Lord anyway! Psalm 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” It is easy to praise the Lord on a beautiful day, when all is well, and we and all our loved ones are healthy, safe, comfortable, and have all that we need. It is when our circumstances darken, when things don’t go as we had planned, or when we are afraid that it is more difficult to see the praise in every situation.

But praise the Lord anyway! Praise Him for who He is! Psalm 104:1-3 says, ”Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind…” Go on and read the rest of Psalm 104 to see a picture of the awesomeness and majesty of our God! And that does not even begin to describe the character of our good, loving, faithful Father.

Praise Him for what He does! We praise Him for who He is and what He does—in our lives and in the world. Psalm 9:1-2, 11 tells us, “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.” What he has done, what He is still doing today, and what He has promised to do in the future—how could we ever begin to count His blessings upon our lives? “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.” (Psalm 40:5)

Praise is a matter of Trust. Because we have seen who He is and what He does, we can know beyond a shadow of doubt that our God can be trusted, not only for the here and now, but for whatever lies ahead. Habakkuk 3:17-18 reminds us, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” We may not see what He is doing in our darkest times as we walk through trouble and trials, but we can trust Him, knowing that He is working for our good—and when we are trusting Him, it is easy to praise Him. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7)

Praise is a Testimony. How can we not share all the wonderful things God is doing? The easiest form of witnessing is just sharing with others what the Lord has done for you. Psalm 40:3 says, “He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.” Praise is a testimony and a teaching tool, as well. Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.” When our children and grandchildren and all those around us hear us praising the Lord it will touch their lives and their hearts, hopefully drawing them to the Savior and a closer walk with Him.

Praise is a matter of Thanksgiving. Praise is rejoicing in all that God has done and who He is. He fills us with joy as we see Him working in our lives. We ought then to turn that joy around into an attitude of gratitude and giving thanks and glory to God. Psalm 100:4 tells us to, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” Praise and thanksgiving go hand in hand. “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God.” (Psalm 147:7) “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” (Psalm 95:2)

Praise is Therapeutic. Praise not only blesses God’s heart—but it blesses our own, as well! How can we go through life disheartened and depressed when we are concentrating on praising God? Psalm 147:1 says, “For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.” I would far rather see life through the lenses of praise than discouragement, wouldn’t you?

Praise Him all the Time—all day, every day and forevermore! Praise should be on our lips—or at least in our hearts—from the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night. “From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised.” (Psalm 113:3) The Lord wants our praise continually throughout our lives. “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” (Psalm 104:33) Our praise will not end then, when we breathe our last breath! We will be praising Him for all eternally! “But we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 115:18)

Our life’s journey is never easy. We all bear burdens of one kind or another; we all go through the deep waters of testing, and sometimes through fiery trials. Let us, though, go on that journey with a song in our hearts of joy and peace, trust and thanksgiving—and praise the Lord anyway!

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth.  Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised.

Psalm 96:1-4

Rolling It Forward

Sometimes  things happen in our lives that we know are simply God-ordained. We can be in a certain everyday place at just the right moment and our paths cross those of a stranger and we just know the Lord meant it to be. We had an experience like that this week.

Robbie had a doctor appointment the other day. He knows that after we see the doctor, Mommy and Daddy will take him to McDonald’s for a treat. Lucky Robbie—he actually had two appointments this week, so on Wednesday we went to MD’s for ice cream cones, and on Thursday we were back for cheeseburgers! You should see him, from the time we leave the doctor’s office, swiveling that head from side to side looking for those Golden Arches!

Anyway, we were leaving the restaurant and as we walked out the door, I said to Bob, “I think I’ll get on the internet this afternoon and see if I can find a new wheelchair for Robbie.” His chair was beginning to feel a little rickety and one of the brakes was not working right. We actually had bought a new wheelchair for him a few months ago, but it was too wide and his feet kept falling off the foot rests. We had only used it one time, but did not feel that we could return it after using it for several hours. Robbie had the money in his account to try again (the transport chair we wanted was only about $160) so it was time to begin the search anew. I just figured someday someone in the family would need the bigger chair and we would hang on to it until then.

A minute or two later we were standing in the parking lot, about to take Robbie out of his chair and load him into the car, when an old couple walked slowly past us. The man was blind and shook with Parkinson’s; his steps were slow and faltering. His elderly wife helped him as best she could. We could see they were not well off. Their car was a bit of a clunker and they were dressed poorly.

To our surprise, as they started to pass, they stopped. “Would you mind if we looked at your wheelchair?” the woman asked. “We need to get a wheelchair for John.”

We discussed with them for a few minutes the details of the chair—how it folded and to what dimensions, how heavy it was to lift in and out of a car, and so on. “Where did you get it?” Ellen, the wife, asked.

I started to answer and then Bob interrupted. “You know, we have another brand new chair, only used once, just like this one at home—just a little wider. It’s too big for Robbie, but I think it would fit your husband perfectly! If you want it, we’ll give it to you!”

“What?! Oh, no—I can pay you for it,” Ellen protested.

“No,” Bob insisted. “The Lord has blessed us so much—we want to pass the blessing on to you. He’s blessed us especially with Robbie, and He keeps on blessing us with all that we need. Please let us give the wheelchair to you.

“I can’t believe you would do that for me,” the old man quavered.

“It’s no coincidence we met here at this exact place, at this exact time,” Bob responded. “God knew that you had a need and that we could fill that need for you so he brought us together.” We could see that John and Ellen were overwhelmed. Bob invited them to follow us home to check out the new wheelchair.

Bob ran into the house when we got there and brought out the chair. John slowly got out of their car and we helped him into the chair. It was a perfect fit. Bob adjusted the foot rests to the correct length and then showed Ellen the different features and how they worked. The whole time John kept repeating, “I just can’t believe you would do this for me!”

“Let us pay you for it,” Ellen tried again.

When we refused, citing again God’s blessings upon our lives, John said, “Well can we at least make a donation in your honor to some charity?”

“You can make a donation if you want,” Bob smiled, “to whomever you want!”

“Well, I’ll make it to a veterans’ organization then,” John said. “I’m a vet.”

“That’s fine,” Bob replied. “And thank you for your service to our country!” Bob has a soft spot for our nation’s veterans and often gives to them himself, so I knew he was pleased. He helped John back into the car and then loaded the wheelchair in with them, and they went on their way.

Bob said several times that afternoon how very happy he was that we had been able to pass that wheelchair along to John and Ellen. We hoped most of all that they would remember our brief testimony as to God’s working in our lives and that He fulfills our needs and so much more. We prayed that somehow it would have a spiritual impact on them and be used to draw them to the Savior.

Psalm 103 has always been a favorite passage of mine. When I need a reminder of how truly blessed I am, I have only to read these verses to begin to count those blessings, one by one! See how many you can count—

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; ³ Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; ⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; ⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

⁶ The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. ⁷ He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. ⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. ⁹ He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever, ¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. ¹² As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. ¹³ Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. ¹⁴ For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.

¹⁷ But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, ¹⁸ To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.

Psalm 103 tells us not to forget these blessings of God! Verse 3 reminds that we have forgiveness of sin and healing through Him. In verse 4 we see that the Lord blesses us with deliverance and protection. He provides for us and gives us strength (verse 5). Verse 6 tells us that God will dispense justice and care for the weak and oppressed. The Lord made His presence known to Moses and the Israelites, and he does the same for us as we see how He works in our lives (verse 7). In verses 8-10 we see His grace and mercy toward us when we don’t deserve His forgiveness at all. And throughout this passage we see God’s compassion and everlasting lovingkindness to us (verses 4, 8, 11-18).

We could go on and on, I am sure, counting the physical blessings we have in this world, as well—family friends, country, home, health, church, job, car, food, clothing… You get the picture. We are abundantly blessed! And then there is the peace, joy, hope, love, faith and spiritual gifts with which He fills our lives when we walk with Him. And just the fact that we have a personal, real relationship with the Creator and Ruler of all; that we can come to Him in prayer and hear from Him through His Word; that His Spirit indwells us and guides us; that He has a plan for my life and a place for me after this life in eternal glory; that we can know the righteousness, faithfulness, power and goodness of God for ourselves—all these things are blessings showered upon us by a loving Father.

The phrase “pay it forward” has been around for almost a hundred years. The concept of paying it forward is that the beneficiary of a good deed repays it by doing a good deed for someone else instead of repaying the original benefactor. How much more should we as Christians, who have been blessed so abundantly, desire to pass on the blessings to others? We may not have much financially or of material things to give, but we can do small kindnesses every day to brighten someone’s day. Most of all, along with that good deed, we should be willing to share what God has done for us.

And by the way—I did find a good deal for a new wheelchair for Robbie and ordered it that afternoon. It should be here by the end of the month and we’ll have that boy rolling again—rolling it forward!