Preaching to Self

When I'm witnessing to someone one-on-one, leading a church service, or making a video, it is easy to cover the Ten Commandments to show a need for salvation. However, some habits or personal actions also break the commands in ways we don't recognize as easily. Tonight, I'm scheduled to lead a church service and will be preaching on one of these common problems. With this message, I'm also preaching to myself as well as those listening.

James 3:1-12 (and more passages) talks about taming the tongue; that it is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we praise God as well as curse men who have been made in God's image (anyone). Directly or indirectly, we break at least six of the Ten Commandments by not holding our tongue. It is something a lot of people struggle with, and I'm not any better.

I know that when an accusation is directed toward me, or a blatantly false statement is made against God's Word, I am quick to respond. Instead of being quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19), I answer without always giving thought and may sin in my anger (Ephesians 4:26). It is a trait that I, and many people, need to constantly work on and continue to fight against.

Another item that is similar is the sin of pride. As I said earlier, when someone talks against me, pride in my heart want to lash out. A few nights ago, I finished reading the book of Job. Every time I read this part of the Bible, it reminds me of how pride can dwell within us. God said Job was a righteous man, but allowed him to be tested. As Job's friends talked with him, he demanded to speak with God and have Him answer Job's accusations. When God did speak with Job, he humbled himself and repented in dust an ashes.

As part of avoiding pride, I try not to promote myself as doing anything special. In truth, I'm not doing anything beyond what God has commanded all Christians. Therefore, it doesn't deserve to be mentioned or given special recognition for all to see. That's why I do very little advertising of my channels and some are surprised they even exist.

Throughout this week, and new month, I will try to follow what I have been given to preach. It is a part to learn in the quad life, but something I need to continue to work on.

Black Button

For the last few months, I have been having trouble with my trach button putting out a lot of junk. I have written about it earlier, but once again had it looked at this week.

Tuesday afternoon, I went to see my ENT in Des Moines. Even though testing said I didn't have an infection in the area, I still wondered if that was the problem. When I saw the doctor and repeated what has been happening and my thoughts, he was certain the issue is coming from granulation tissue. That is small skin growth, or skin tags, around the button trying to close the hole and response to the plastic button.

I eat a lot of protein and take medication to promote skin growth in order to heal my pressure sores. Unfortunately, it appears a necessary hole in my skin is quicker to repair than the area I want to target.

This doctor is also knew to me, replacing my previous ENT who left to work over seas in 2021. Therefore, I try to emphasize my history and previous trouble with infection in the area. No matter my concerns, he took several swabs of silver nitrate to zap all skin tags, just as he did in May. This resulted in a black ring around my button that I was told not to touch for a few days. I would post a picture, but it wasn't a pleasant sight.

Returning home, I made sure to pass along the instructions to my next caregiver and wear a shirt with a very low neck. The treatment also made my neck, and throat, sore which made me try to minimize movement and speech as much as possible.

By Thursday, I allowed my button to gently be cleaned and remove the blackness. The area was still sore, but it looked better at least. It is now Saturday afternoon as I write this and it appears the treatment has helped some, but still not as much as I had hoped. I am scheduled to preach next Sunday and hope to wear one of my new shirts I recently purchased. However, I don't want neck gunk on it the first time it's worn.

Thankfully, I have been blessed with a very healthy quad life and have had relatively few problems. I know this is an issue other quadriplegics regular deal with, but I'm praying it will not become something that's a regular battle. I will see what God has planned and look to Him for whatever comes.

Job Prospect

Sometimes, I look around and dream of possibilities of how life could be different. Last week, I had a few minutes to fill between other activities and started looking around. I wish I hadn't, but the results did get my mind spinning in realms of "what if."

While on Facebook, I saw an advertisement from Answers in Genesis talking about job openings. If I ever was able to work anywhere again, this would be high on the list of organizations I would consider. I scrolled through the list of 102 openings and browsed the headlines. Most of them were seasonal needs for summer, but some were permanent positions in various departments. One opening near the end of the list caught my eye.

The title said it was an entry position for a content manager for the company's web presence. Clicking on it for further detail, it was like I was reading my own qualifications. Required education was a 2-year degree, which I have, and experience with HTML and CSS. The person would work with a content management system to get videos, pictures, and text on websites, social media, and various electronic platforms. In short, the exact thing I do for my clients already. However, the position is for full-time work, including some weekends, in northern Kentucky.

It has been nearly 20 years since I last worked full-time in a regular office environment. With the trouble I have with pressure sores and other issues, I know I can't physically work that much anymore. Also, due to using my dad's employer's insurance as well as Medicaid through Iowa, I am extremely limited in what I can earn. For example, if I lost my caregiver funding through Medicaid, that cost alone would be around $200 per day ($6,000/month).

I would love the opportunity to allow my parents to be free from having to provide so much for me, and be less reliant on government support. Unfortunately, the system basically requires me to stay just as I am with doing very little paid work. 

In any case, it's sometimes fun to dream and wonder. God has given me the quad life right where I am and I will serve Him wherever He leads me.

Double Preaching

Last week, I preached twice on the same day. In the morning, I was at a small church I served several times last year in Bussey, Iowa. For evening, I served a larger local church that had a small crowd due to the holiday.

When I was approached by these congregations, I was hesitant to agree to do both as I wondered if my voice could handle it and time commitment. However, I concluded I could use the same message at both churches and, from past experience, I only needed to handle the sermon. Therefore, I agreed to serve both congregations on July 3.

As I finished final preparations, I coordinated with the secretary of the local church on my material and presentation. When she gave me the bulletin preview the Monday before I preached, I noticed several blank spots. Asking about them, I then learned I was expected to do the entire service. I was thankful I had a few days to prepare, but wasn't sure if I could do it all. I adjusted my PowerPoint to include the welcome message and further notes and prayed it would go well. Emails late Saturday evening added further changes, but nothing too major.

Sunday morning, I woke up with a dry, slightly sore throat. I tried to stay as quiet as possible to save my voice, but soon sat in the now familiar congregation with a relaxed style of worship. I presented the message, "One Nation Under God," and thought it went pretty well. After lunch, I didn't do much more than watch YouTube and not use my voice.

After a few hours at home, I was again up in my chair and off to my next church. My throat was still sore, but thankfully not bad. As I sat waiting for the pianist to finish the prelude for me to start, I noticed the welcome message I provided wasn't on the screen. As I introduced myself after more than two years away, I still noticed my opening verses were not on the screen. Thankfully, I had written them in my notes, but I didn't have all my text recorded and needed the screen for my message.

I progressed through the first songs while wondering in my head how to manage if my passages didn't appear. Thankfully, as I started the message for the second time that day, the text came up on the screen. I briefly looked at my watch as I began preaching, and when I looked again another 20 minutes had elapsed. I ended up going about 13 minutes longer than the planned hour-long service, but nobody said anything to me.

All week, my throat has been a little sore in the morning, but has thankfully improved. I'm not sure I will agree to do two services in a day again, but it did okay. Currently, I only have one more church scheduled this month and one in late August. I'm thankful to get to be used for God's glory, but need to ease into doing more.

Juggling Week

This blog's tagline is about dealing with the unexpected. While that doesn't happen frequently anymore, this past week was full of unexpected events that needed to be handled in their own way.

Early Tuesday morning, my day nurse Sara called to say that she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to come until later. Therefore, my night nurse got me up at 6:30 before he left. Getting up an hour earlier than usual, I slightly dozed through some YouTube while mom and I waited on Sara. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to come at all and dad stayed with me all day.

The caregiver switch went well though, as I put my legs in the sun while watching dad wash my van. We then ran the errands I had hoped to do that day and had a pleasant afternoon. Around 4:30, the phone rang again with my other day-time caregiver, Leah, on the line. She had an unexpected death in the family and wouldn't be able to work on Wednesday.

For the second day in a row, I got up early and had the day with mom. Dad came home from work as needed to help with my cares, but wasn't able to stay home again. Thankfully, a family friend was able to stay with me in the afternoon so mom could work in the basement. It was interesting spending time with a 15-year-old, but he did well.

Thursday, Sara worked a few hours as normally scheduled, but it still meant I had to get up early. I was thankful to see she was improving and looked forward to a regular day on Friday. Finally, the last day of the work week, I could sleep to my normal time. However, after three days of getting up early, I was still awake early.

As I went to take my first bike ride of the week, the tablet that controls the system needed to do an update. While waiting, I called my doctor about an issue I've been having and then had an early lunch. Two hours later, the bike was still updating, so I started getting setup to record a video for my YouTube channel. Just as we were finishing setup, my doctor called back and wondered if I could come in immediately as he could work me in the schedule. Sara put away my camera and we headed to the doctor.

By the time we returned, my bike had finally completed updates, but it was too late in the day to get on it. What I had hoped to get accomplished didn't happen and it turned into a very busy day of waiting and guessing.

The Bible says to not boast about tomorrow as you don't know what may come. In this week's quad life, the was very true. I'm hopeful that tomorrow's holiday and the remainder of the week goes well. However, I will wait to say plans until after they happen!