Friday, August 22, 2014

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

My wife and I have welcomed some annual visitors this summer, although not quite as many as usual.  Nevertheless, my wife especially loves visits from hummingbirds.  She has placed numerous feeders on our property to try to entice visits from these terrific birds.  My mother-in-law has had much better luck, having tons of hummingbirds at her feeders lately.  So many hummingbirds (we call them "hummers") can be seen under her carport that they look like bees swarming around her feeders.  It is fun just to sit under the carport and hear their hum as they approach for food.  They are incredible birds.

As a matter of fact, I read where their wings flap around 50 times per minute (even up to 200 times per minute).  In addition, their diet is unusual in that they eat about 50% of their weight in sugar each day (kind of like me).

God has a special interest in birds.  In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to look at birds in order to not be anxious.  Verse 26 reads, "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?"  Also, Matthew 10:29 proclaims how "not one (sparrow) will fall to the ground" without the Father being aware.

I heard someone say years ago, "Where do the birds go when it rains?"  I really don't know the answer to this.  Yet, God takes care of them in miraculous ways.

It's comforting to know that God has loving watchful eye on His children at all times.  In good times and bad, He's looking at us.  Meeting needs.  Comforting.  Encouraging.  Perhaps the old song says it all, "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAmSTWcja0M



Saturday, August 2, 2014

Overcoming Attitude

This past week I had some labwork drawn at the hospital.  I'm part of a study which tests the effects of taking Vitamin D in patients with chronic kidney disease (which I developed after chemotherapy).  I have to have blood drawn several times during the next six weeks.

As I was getting labwork the other day, I sat beside a pleasant gray headed woman who also was getting blood drawn.  She may have even been part of the same study.  Nevertheless, the nurse was having difficulty obtaining her lab.  She described how the dear lady's veins were "rolling", making the venipuncture challenging.  The nurse eventually gave up and said she would have to get another nurse to try to get the blood, calling the other nurse one of the "big guns".  Yet, what impressed me was the patient's attitude.  After she was stuck a couple of times, she seemed to endure the lab attempts with a smile.  When told another nurse would be coming to try to get the blood, she said, "That gives me a chance to meet more people."  I thought, "Wow!! What a great attitude!".  Instead of complaining about the multiple lab sticks, she saw this as an opportunity to meet more folks.

Come to think of it, a hidden benefit of having cancer or major illness is getting to meet more people.  As a result of cancer, I've met several urologists, oncologists, nephrologists and numerous other health care professionals.  I have met Brenda Ladun, a local news anchor who is a breast cancer survivor, at a special dinner where we both spoke of our experiences. There is also those whom I have met through my books.  One lady even called me one night from Palm Springs, California after reading one of my books.  I remember another woman calling me from Idaho or South Dakota (long way from where I live). 

It is said that "no man is an island."  Even though I would not wish my cancer experience upon anyone, I am certainly grateful for the many people I continue to meet because of it. 

By the way, have we met before?