A Little Lesson on Heaven

On Saturday, I had the amazing blessing of taking some of our students and leadership at Hope to the Stewart Home in Frankfort. From their website the Stewart Home is, "a beautiful loving environment for intellectually disabled people of all ages. We offer education, vocational training and placement, an incredible variety of recreational activities and a wide choice of friends from all across the country and the world."

If you would like to know more about them visit their website.

If you have never worked with special needs individuals, then you absolutely should! It is such an amazing blessing and actually teaches you quite a lot. It can be a little uncomfortable at times, but if you push through it you can really see the sincerity and love shining very brightly. As soon as I got there I was introduced to a man named Jeff, and wow, did he ever teach me a thing or two.

Jeff is a very friendly individual. He is oozing with personality and is very extroverted. As soon as we met he asked me if I worked there. Then he asked me if I was going to be here for "parent's weekend".

Remember when you were little and you counted down from December 26th to the next Christmas. I swear, toy companies need to make kid calendars that start on December 26th...just so Christmas is always on the horizon. That is exactly how Jeff was, except not for Christmas, but for "parent's weekend".

He was so excited about "parent's weekend" that he could not stop talking about it. Literally. His reason for the excitement was not what you would expect; that he was going to get to see his family - rather - it was that his family was coming up and then taking him home for a little visit! He was absolutely jazzed about this. In the 3+ hours we were there I probably had 15 different conversations with Jeff, and every single one had to do with going home. He was looking so forward to just being home.

Here was a normal conversation...

Jeff: "How many days til parent's weekend?"
Me: "when is parent's weekend"
Jeff: "may 15th"
Me: "well it's only 19 days away. Are you excited!?!?"
Jeff: "yes!!!!! is it too early to pack?"
Me: "are you ready to go"
Jeff: "I already have my clothes packed. Is it too early? Only 19 days til parent's weekend!"
Me: "where are you from"
Jeff: "only 19 days til parent's weekend and I get to go to Nashville! I want to be home!"
Me: "you should start getting ready"
Jeff: "I am ready! I am packed! I need to have Miss Amy (his correspondent) get my list (his list of necessities from Wal Mart)
Jeff: "how long til parent's weekend? I get to go to Nashville! I am packed!"

And this happened about 15 times.

You would think that would get old, hearing and participating in the same old conversation...but in reality it did not. What I could not re-enact in this blog was the passion and desire Jeff had when talking about home. It was the absolute fuel to his life. When he brought up going home and preparing for parent's weekend it looked like he was about to explode! His eyes would fill with wonderment, he would begin to physically shake, and his face would light up and he would laugh...oh would he laugh. He was so overjoyed at the thought of going home he could hardly stand it.

And then it hit me....

Is that not how we should view heaven?

woah. think about that.

Should Heaven not completely fill our thoughts and be our absolute fuel to living? That one day...very soon...God will reunite us with Himself and take us away from this painful, crippling, disabled body and earth and bring us wholly and completely home...FOREVER!

When I saw Jeff's excitement for his home I longed for my home. Even though he had no idea how much he was teaching me or that I was on the verge of tears literally all morning, Jeff showed me how to live with an excitement and awareness for Heaven. And he did it absolutely right. So many times people long so much for Heaven that they miss living here...and Jeff did not do that. He loves his home at the Stewart Home. He loves the people and his friends. And he lets them share in his excitement. Numerous peers of his at Stewart Home actually congratulated him on being able to go home. And it's still almost a month away!

Jeff thanks for showing me how to let my home fill my thoughts. How to fully embrace Heaven, and while doing so impact earth. Have a good trip friend....I hope to see you again soon!

"Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God."
- Colossians 3:1-3

and the trumpet sounds....

Because believe it or not, my graduation is nearing. I never thought that phrase would be a reality. haha.

Yesterday was my last day of class as an undergraduate. To be honest, it was a little bittersweet. I have given five years now to the University of Kentucky, and could not have loved it more, but now...what do I do?

I was just thinking about my new and improved flexibility....what now shall I do. One thing I would like to spend time doing more of is blogging...but what about. I want to read more...but what shall I read. And naturally....I want to play golf more.

So, my question to you all is this....

Is there any topic I should think about/blog about?

Is there any book that I need to read?

Please....flood me with advice! Thanks.

The Knee Saga (Part 2)

I guess it is time to catch up on the ongoing knee saga...

I had an MRI last Friday and today went back to the orthopedic surgeon to have it evaluated. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous. Thanks to wikipedia, google, and other valuable internet sources, I was convinced I had torn a knee ligament. Did you know there are even message boards set up for discussion on knee injuries....crazy.

I had read many a testimonial on how easy it is to tear a ligament, and was certain I had done so.

However, the MRI showed no conclusive tears in any of my four ligaments, and only a partial tear (if at all) in my meniscus. What the Doc concluded was that my kneecap (patella) had dislocated and relocated as my knee twisted. This accounts for the audible "pop pop" that was heard....it was the sounds of the dislocation, relocation.

When it did said dislocation, it bruised my patella, and my tibia and fibula on the edges. I was actually very lucky that I did not chip any of those bones. Also, as it dislocated it tore tissue (I assume skin and muscle tissue) that surrounds the knee.

The good news is none of this requires surgery. So, that makes it great news. It sounds like it is just going to be a slow catch-up process but hopefully softball, basketball, and most importantly GOLF here I come! My left quadricep is very weak....I was told that I have already lost 30% of its muscle mass...so objective one is to build it back up. Doc told me that could take up to a couple months. Interesting fact...if you isolate and rest a knee for 24-72 hours you could lose up to 40% of your quad strength in that time frame...crazy that it happens so fast.

So...I guess it's off to some physical therapy for me, and hope I am back in action soon.

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, concerns, supports, laughs and such. Much appreciated. Now we can all just celebrate that I am a wuss. haha. Praise God for that!

Sign of the Apocalypse?

The following video is a true speech delivered on the house floor. (I received this from Kentucky Sports Radio)

You can be assured that I would have applauded as well! ; )

check it out...

The Knee Saga (part 1)

I know many of you have heard about my weekend knee saga. To those of you that encouraged, prayed for, and thought of me...thanks a ton. I hardly deserve it. And to those that thought I was a big baby (which I am) thanks as well. haha. And for those that have no earthly idea what I am talking about...well, here's for you...

Thursday night I was playing basketball with my boys. I went up hard for a rebound over some guys and came down and pivoted to shoot the ball back up. However, when I pivoted, my knee buckled and I heard the 'pop, pop, pop' sound. One of the scariest sounds you will ever hear is the 'pop pop' of a knee. It was so audibly loud that the players guarding me heard it as well. I hobbled off the court sure I had ruptured my Anterior Cruciate Ligament or other knee ligament.

I have spent the last three days doing literally nothing. Taking maybe 30 steps in that time period. While boring as it has been, it was best of me to keep off the knee and let the swelling go down. If I had a picture of it I would post it...but just imagine placing a grapefruit inside your leg and you have my left knee.

This morning at 7:00am I went in to the orthopedic surgeon. As many of you know, I was nervous about this. I didn't want to look forward to a knee surgery that could put me out for months. The OS did all the tests but said he couldn't completely tell due to the swelling. X-rays were negative. He said that he assumed I dislocated my patella (kneecap) and it sliding in and out of place was the 'pop pop'. It is also very likely and probable that I tore my meniscus. That is very good news...at least for now. Do those injuries have pain, sure...but they are not as severe as a torn ligament. However, I am not completely out of the dark. I go in for an MRI this weekend and have it evaluated next Wednesday...so there will be a part two to the saga. Could the MRI show up with a partially torn or fully torn ligament...sure. But hopefully not. I guess we'll see.

I know a lot of people have called, emailed, and asked about my knee...so this is the story thus far. Thanks again for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers...it is much appreciated. Hopefully by next Wednesday I will be fully out of the dark and in the know on where to go from here. Later........