I’ve told several people that April through August of this year has been the most difficult five months in my entire adult life.
My dear wife Susan (married for 55 years) got seriously ill during the first few days of April and went home to be with Jesus on May 30th. None of us in the family saw this coming. It happened so quickly. We are still somewhat in shock—grieving and missing her.
In the middle of June, I began to have some serious medical challenged which culminated in major surgery on August 7th.
During that entire time, I passed out twice, hitting the floor hard, having to call 911. All in all, I spent ten days in the hospital. I’m thankful to still be alive. It’s been six weeks since the surgery and I am doing quite well considering everything I’ve been through.
When you are in the hospital (as some of you know) you don’t get a lot of sleep. It seems that every couple of hours (day and night) some nurse has a good reason to come into your room to do this or that—give you your meds, check your blood pressure, get you to the bathroom, which I needed permission and help in doing as I was rather unstable, weak and susceptible to yet another fall.
I had lots of time to think at night, staring up at the ceiling, not able to sleep very well and not strong enough, well enough to do much of anything except lay there. It was tough, really tough!
Allow me to share three things I learned from these five months:
1. I gained wisdom
I like to think about things, learn what I can, observe life and people. Proverb 18:15 in the MSG says,
“Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.”
Especially during those ten days, pretty much lying on my back and not able to do much of anything, I had lots of time to simply think. I was able to watch doctors, nurses and helpers go about their assignments with varying degrees of engagement and different attitudes. Some did well some did not do well. I watched, I took note, I learned, I made some promises to myself about how I would go about the work He has given me to do. I believe I’m a bit more wise.
2. I endured pain
From the middle of June until about 2 weeks ago, I have had my share of pain. At times, pain like I‘ve never ever experienced before. The days immediately after the surgery were unbelievably painful. I had to have my chest cut open as they would do for open heart surgery; not for my heart but to remove a tumor that was growing beneath my breastbone. After all of this, I think I may be ready to face any kind of physical pain that could come my way—by His grace.
3. I got perspective
Like me I’m confident you know people who are going through things similar to yours, and at times much worse than yours. More than once during those ten days in the hospital I heard people in rooms close to mine screaming with pain. A few times this went on for quite a while. I’m reminded of the man who use to complain that his shoes hurt his feet until he met a man with no feet. Yes I was hurting, but others were hurting much more than me.
It helps to have biblical perspective with what’s going on in my life—what God has allowed that I truly don’t like, don’t want and didn’t vote for. I either trust Him or I don’t and I’m honestly tempted to question Him and take matters into my own hands thinking I could do a better job.
I have a good friend who is several years younger than me (I’ll be 85 in December) who has multiple medical issues going on and spends a lot of time going from one medical specialist to another. He’s in pain 24/7.
He recently shared 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 with me which I decided to memorize to help me have better perspective and see things from God’s vantage point. Grab your Bible and check it out. Hopefully these verses will help you as it helps me to not keep giving myself permission to have a “Pity Party.”
What’s God been teaching you lately?
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