Our Bodies as Fragile Vessels

We are, as Adam, created from the dust; our bodies are temples unto the Lord, yet are subject to fatigue, injury, sickness and ultimately death. Today was one of those days weather-wise that really brought the fatigue and sickness to the forefront, but news from my dad about the state of my grandpa's condition made it even more real.

My grandpa is a retired Methodist preacher, a great man of God (I am named after him); he was a circuit preacher (meaning he traveled to three or four churches over a month's period) in some of the coldest country there is, North Dakota, when my dad was little then settled into Indiana. He has a great passion for the Gospel, but early Alzheimer's has set in and he has been dealing with numerous health problems. Lately he has had mini-strokes which cause him to blackout and lose his balance; this, coupled with not remembering certain things have started to rob him of who he is. Within the last week, he has been hospitalized with a severe bacteria infection (he has been put in isolation where you can only approach him with a protective suit because it's so contagious) and has been diagnosed with what's called "sundown syndrome." Sundown's has this effect: about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, my grandpa becomes a different person, very nasty and very curt with anyone (even his wife) that is near him.

This is really wearing his wife out physically, and she knows she really can't take care of him at home with all that's happened. I am most sad that due to finances and distance, my wife has never had a chance to meet the man I knew growing up, and if things do not improve, Josiah will never see or know his great-grandpa. This would be tough, but God has His hand in this. I imagine the hardest thing for my grandpa is that he wants to remember things and can't; I pray that the grace of God abides in Him and with his wife during this situation. I'd appreciate the prayers of any of those out there reading this as well. Most of all, I pray that the Alzheimer's doesn't rob him of his knowledge of the Gospel and that, if all else leaves, the grace of the Gospel will guide him through to glory.

All this reminds me how fragile we are, and that while we may be called to suffer for Christ's sake, the road is most certainly hard.

Life Before Cable?

So I was watching the PGA Golf Tournament yesterday on CBS, and the tournament was about 45 minutes from being over, Tiger Woods was on his way to his 13th major, and suddenly, the TV got stuck. I mean every channel became freeze-framed. The DVR stated that all the channels were temporarily off the air, and when I took the DVR off-line, the channels were all stuck in that particular moment in time.

I thought, "man, I'd like to see the rest of the tournament, guess I'll have to see if they are broadcasting it on the internet." (for some reason, the internet, which we also get by cable, was working) So, for a few minutes, I was watching on the PGA website some very grainy "live" webcam action from the tournament.

A few minutes later, my wife says, "you know, we might be able to get some type of reception." And I was thinking, "but the cable's out, right?" She says, "through the antenna."

And it was like transporting to a former time (not too long ago for us, but still a few years ago) where we adjusted the ol' rabbit ears to see if we could get this or that channel--lucky for me the tournament was on a network station, and I got to watch the rest of the tournament. Always nice to have a backup plan.

Great Memories, Part Three

So I was chatting with my brother the other day about old video game systems, and we were talking about the Sonic the Hedgehog (yeah, Sonic is to the right) video game we loved to play, and it took me back to the time we bought the Sega Genesis game system we used for playing Sonic.

Flip back to when I was about 14 or 15 (or was it sooner? I can't really remember the exact year) and our family had a BIG yard sale, and sad to say, I sold some toys and other items now that I wish I had not but my brother and I were making money like crazy! I cringe now, but I sold an Atari 7800 and 40 (yes, 40!) games for about $50 Who knows what it would fetch on Ebay now?

At the end of the day, we counted our money, and do you know what? We had about $160 between the two of us! Know what we did? Well, what any self-respecting kid would have done, but march right down to the toy store (might have even been that day!) and buy a Sega Genesis video game system. We thought we were on top of the world! Now, of course, we got tired of it eventually, but I'd have to say that we felt pretty good to take our earned money and go down to the toy store and buy something so expensive! We thought we were rich!

Hit Me! (Or, Great Memories, Part Two)

I had thought with these posts that they might go in chronological order, but I dispensed with that when I was watching ESPN this evening--I was watching something about a poker tournament, and that got me thinking about playing cards, etc. and it brought back a great memory.

When I was a kid, one of the greatest things about going to public schools was the opportunity to go on field trips. You couldn't get your permission slip signed fast enough! You found out what day you were going and counted down the days because you knew it would mean a) no schoolwork for that day and b) a chance to get outside the school building. Yeah, you'd learn something too, but who thinks about that?

The story on the game of poker reminded me of a particular field trip that I took when I was in 4th grade. There was an air show that was being held at the Bluegrass Regional Airport (that was then, this is now), and they had planes from World War I and World War II, as well as other types of commercial airplanes. In addition, there were Air Force and Navy airmen, both veteran and current, that were there to answer questions about the planes. I thought planes were the coolest thing--I had a poster of the Blue Angels on my wall, along with posters of F-14 Tomcat planes.

They had a lot of events going on, and for some reason, there were airmen playing cards with passers-by and giving out prizes, one of them being a set of playing cards. The game my friends and I played with an Air Force lieutenant was Blackjack. I can't remember how many times I played, but I remember that I did win at least once and came away with a pack of playing cards that had different airplanes on each card with facts about each plane (yeah, Blackjack is mostly luck and knowing when to press yours, but winning is winning, to a kid).

It was the coolest thing in the world to win a prize, but to win against a grown-up? THAT was priceless, and I got to tell that story to my friends for a while ("Remember the time I beat that Air Force guy at Blackjack? Here's the deck to prove it"). I think if I looked around long enough at my parents' house, I might find that pack of cards.

But really, the great thing was not the cards: it was having a field trip in prime of Spring, being freed from the confining walls of a school building to go look at cool planes (what boy doesn't like planes?) and beat an adult at Blackjack.

What a day indeed.

Great Memories, Part One

It would be very easy for me to continue to complain about my job situation or other personal problems, but instead, I'm going to take an opportunity on this blog to recount some great memories and times I've had. I don't really know what form or structure these will take, or even if they will be ranked in a certain way, though I think I'll try to go chronologically.

When I sat down and thought about it, I tried to think of the first thing I could remember. It's interesting, but when I think of my childhood pictures, much of it I don't actually remember but the pictures do bring back a glimpse of the memory. I grew up in Versailles, KY, a small town in one of the richest counties in the state (due to horse farms and the tobacco crop) outside of Lexington, KY.

We had lived at three different addresses by the time I was five, and at that third address, my first memory that I can remember was my first real bike. It was red and yellow, with a guard over the chain, big pedals, and of course, training wheels while I was learning to ride it. I rode that bike during the summer as much as I was allowed, and I remember when I asked my dad to take the training wheels off and he helped me learn how to balance. Yeah, I fell--a BUNCH (I'm convinced this is when my accident prone nature began to rear its ugly head)! Once I learned how to ride, I rode everywhere! Wind in your face, going down the hill (of course, way too fast but it was fun!), and riding until your legs are too tired to move!

It wasn't the best bike or even the most expensive, but it was my bike. And I thought it was the best thing in the world.