Putting Things In Perspective

Everything in life has to do with perspective.  How you look at something, determines how you will react to it.  If you look for the negative in a situation, you will surely find it.  It's so easy to find the bad in anything, it's our nature to do it.  What makes us different, what makes us stronger, is looking for the good, the positive, in life.  It's up to us to choose which way we will live our lives.  

I've heard it said that who we really are, is not who we are everyday, when things are normal, and comfortable.  The real us, comes out when the unexpected happens.  The unhappy, uncomfortable things, that happen on the spur of the moment, bring out who we really are.  We can put on a happy face to the world, and fool everybody into thinking we've got it all figured out.  But, we can't fool ourselves.  We can't fool God either.  He knows us far better than even we know ourselves.  

Because God loves us, He wants us to be the best we can be.  He will allow things to come into our lives to 'shake us up' every now and then.  They may look like bad things at the time, if we are faking our way through life, if we are looking for the negative in everything.  But, if we are being true to ourselves, and trying to see everyday life as a good thing, they don't look so bad after all.  Only through God can we see bad as good, negative as positive, down as up.  When we become a part of God's family, we inherit His attitude.  His way of looking at things.  We see through His eyes, not our own.  Because of this, life becomes an adventure, not something to dread.  

There are two different kinds of people.  The first, when 'bad' things suddenly come up in their lives, they panic.  They worry, usually about how it will affect 'them'.  They can't see past their own concerns.  They only see what's going on right now, right in front of them.  When we are worried, and scared, and looking at these things negatively, we can't learn from them.  These kinds of people only try to figure out how 'they' can solve the problem, and get it over with as soon as possible. 

The second kind of people, when 'bad' things happen, stay focused, looking for the reason behind the situation.  These people don't rely on 'themselves' to solve the problem.  They go immediately to the only One that can solve it, God.  If we give a 'bad' situation to God when it happens, He will help us to see past the worry, and the panic.  He will help us to see the lesson to be learned from even the scary things in life.  When we realize that He is in control, that this thing is no surprise to Him, then there is no reason to worry, or panic.  When faced with a life or death situation, there is calmness, and peace.  We sit back and watch what He is doing, and let Him take care of things.

Recently, as my last post shows, I was in what I thought to be one of those life or death situations.  As I was laying on the bed in the ER, with IV's in both arms, and struggling for every breath, I thought that this was my time to die.  I've often thought about when I will die, as I'm sure everyone does at one time or another.  As a Christian, I know that when I leave this body, I will immediately be in the presence of the Lord.  So, it's not really been my death I feared, it was the dying that I was dreading.  But as I lay there, waiting for my last breath, I suddenly noticed that I wasn't scared.  I had a wonderful peace inside me.  There are no words to describe this peace.  As the Bible says, it's beyond our understanding.  I know now, that when my time actually does come, I will peacefully slip from this life, into real life.  Life everlasting.  

I know this has been a long post, but my point is the same as always.  If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can't have this peace.  You might try to fool yourself and go to church, and sing the songs, and put on the happy face.  But, when it comes your time to die, will you have this peace?  Or will there be absolute fear, knowing that you will be separated from the God that created you, and loves you, and wants you to spend your eternity with Him, not in Hell?  

If you want this peace, everyday, no matter how life is treating you, all you have to do is ask God to forgive you of your sins, and ask Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior.  Invite Him into your heart and your life.  Make Him a part of everything you do.  24/7.  When the unexpected happens, and it will happen, then you will be ready to go through it, with peace and calmness.  God bless you.  Amen.

Pericarditis

I have had some crazy, scary things happen to me in my 52 years on this planet, but I thought Thursday, June 9th was going to be the last day I ever spent here.  I woke up at 1a.m. thinking I was having a heart attack.  I had such a crushing pain in my chest, I couldn't even take in a breath.  I immediately got out of bed, hoping it was some strange effect of sleeping wrong.  I know, but I was hopeful.  When I stood up and realized it was still happening, I was truly scared.  Carolyn woke up and told me I was going to the ER.  I started to argue, but it's sort of hard to do when you can't breathe.  So, the adventure began.

We hurried and got to the car, still in our pj's, and rushed off to the hospital.  I'm so glad there weren't too many cars out at that time of night.  I was urging Carolyn to drive as fast as she could, and would have loved for her to run a few red lights.  Like I said, I was scared.  

When we got to the hospital, the lady at the desk could see the seriousness of the situation.  I was clutching my chest, trying to breath, and moaning very loudly every time I tried.  They hurried up and got me in a wheelchair, and took me to the head of the line, rushing me back to the ER, and getting me in one of their little cubicles.  I was immediately surrounded by nurses, asking me questions, and trying to assess the problem.  They were very thorough, and professional.  Even in my state of panic, I felt like they were going to be able to help me.

I was given Nitro-glycerin to help with the pain.  I have never had one of those pills before, and never want one again.  They burn like crazy under your tongue.  But, it helped.  I was given a total of 3 nitro pills, and 4 chewable baby aspirins.  These helped to ease the pain in my chest, but gave me a really nice headache.  I was soon given an IV, and administered a nitro drip.  They also gave me something called Diloden.  I don't know how it's spelled, but did it ever work.  It calmed me down quickly, and helped stabilize my breathing.  I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I wasn't walking toward it right then either.

After an hour or so of this, I was transported by ambulance to St. Vincent's Heart Center, in Indianapolis.  They were very professional also.  They took me to a little room about as big as a broom closet.  It was just big enough for a bed and a chair.  It was called the Short Stay area.  They were so nice and comforting there.  After the cardiologist came in, he had me sent right up to have a heart catherization.  I must have told those poor people 20 times, at least, that I wanted to be put out for this procedure.  I did not want to be brave and experience the sensation of having something shoved through my veins, from my groin, to my heart.  They were so nice to put up with me.  I will never win any awards for heroism.  The results came back, and my arteries, veins, or whatever, were clean.  The other blood tests, and ultrasound test, showed that I had not had a heart attack.  That was very nice to hear.  But then, if it wasn't a heart attack, what was it?

The cardiologist, Dr. Brindley, told me it was Pericarditis.  This is caused by a virus of some kind entering the sac around the heart, and causing inflammation.  According to the Dr., the pain is far worse than a heart attack, but there is no damage to the heart.  Another nice thing to hear.  It lingers for a week or so, making it difficult to breathe.  You also shouldn't try to lift anything heavier than 5 to 10 pounds, or try to do anything to excess, for about 10 days.  I am taking the next week off of work, without pay, so that I can get this healed up and gone.  I don't ever want that pain again.

Now, I am back home, recuperating.  One thing I learned from this experience, is the fact that, when faced with the possibility of sure death, I was not scared.  I found myself more concerned with making sure Carolyn knew that I loved her, and thanking her for praying for me, and being a good wife to me.  The thought of dying was actually quite comforting.  That comes, I imagine, from being prepared to die. 

Facing death is not something that happens everyday.  I remember telling people that I was not scared to die, but in the back of my mind, wondering if it were really true.  I am so glad that almost 18 years ago, I gave my life to Jesus, and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.  I asked God to forgive me of my sins, and turned it all over to Him.  It was a decision that forever changed my life.  And, as it turns out, changed my outlook on death also.  

God is so gracious and kind to us, even when we don't deserve it.  Because of this 'experience', I am going to get behind on my bills, and probably lose a few things along the way.  But the cool thing is, I know that God has a plan for all of it.  Everything I lose, is something that I didn't need anyway.  There are other houses, cars, etc.  If God sees fit to let me lose something, He will provide something else.  I can't say that it's not a little scary to face losing a home I've been blessed with for almost 28 years, but God has gotten us through so many other things in our lives, I know He will be there for us now.  It's all His anyway, to do with as He pleases.  I am just 'borrowing' it while I'm here.  "It's so sweet, to trust in Jesus."  

May God bless you and yours.  And if you don't yet know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today is a great day to accept Him.  You'll never regret it.  Amen.

John Piper Interviews Rick Warren About Doctrine

Video is cut in half, but you can still hear the interview. I hope you enjoy the conversation. It's over an hour and a half long.