Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Levi is not broken!

Well, Levi called yesterday afternnon to let his old mom know that he was sore, but OKAY.

Monday he had a friend take him up to the big city of Rapid City, South Dakota where he was X-rayed at a very interesting place.

He said it was really, really dirty. He said they had needed a copy of his health insurance card instead of just the numbers and so, instead of having me fax that, they just put him in this "wierd welfare program thing for full-time students who live along way from home and don't have a job and no money" (his words).

O_o

They only charged him $20.00 for the office visit and the X-ray. :)

Anyway, no fracture, just soft tissue damage and pain. Yeah!

They sent him packing back to the school with a pediatric-sized (Levi is 6'3") sling that was, in his words, "really, really dirty and it had been used before. I'll bring it home when I come so you can see it."
Oh goody!

He promptly removed it when he got to the car. :)

Yes, folks, that kind of sums up the state of South Dakota.

I AM thankful that it was that cheap, though... and that it wasn't broken.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

In Front of My Eyes

This was taken from my REVEAL journal, from earlier this summer. I wrote it, still in the car, after witnessing this scene.
6-25-08
I just stood in line, 2 people behind a lady at Walgreen's. The total amount of her purchases was $48.87. The items that she purchased were:
* 2 small cans of Spanish peanuts
* 2 bottles of fingernail polish
* a pile of assorted types of Dove chocolate
While the girl was scanning her items, she asked the woman how she was doing today.
It was only then that I really looked at her and noticed that the woman was having difficutly breathing, was using a walker and was morbidly obese.
She had a pained, almost panicked expression on her face as she gasped, "Oh, I'm having trouble walking today, Honey."
A pitiful nod from the cashier as she filled her bags with chocolate.
As I walked out to my car, I noticed that the woman was just then putting her folded walker in the rear seat of her oversized vehicle that was parked in the first handicapped spot. Sweat was rolling down her face as she heaved the door closed. As I passed her, I heard what I can only describe as something between wheezing and a soft crying sound coming from deep inside her.
I can't help but immediately write this in my journal. I cannot forget it. I MUST NOT forget!
The woman is a slave. She is a SLAVE, and she serves a cruel master. A master that could care LESS that she is DYING!
It makes me think about those people I have seen, when visiting at hopsitals... those people that have been asked to be wheeled out by volunteers, who stand shivering next to their wheelchairs... waiting patiently while they smoke... in spite of the oxygen tubes in their noses.
What are we DOING to ourselves? and how can we be so BLIND to it?

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Big Boys and the fun that comes with them.

Levi called early this morning, which was wierd because a few minutes earlier he had clearly come to my mind while I was lying in bed and I had said
"I LOVE my Weevuh" (Levi).

So a few minutes later the phone rings and I was immediatley like "Oh, no."

Eric talked to him, sounded worried, then hung up and came in and asked me where the insurance card was. "Levi thinks he's broken his clavicle. I don't KNOW how he did it, we need to call him back with the insurance card numbers."





















So I get up and find the card. I know, from previous experience, that the tiny hospital in Hot Springs SD does not work for us, meaning that if my kids go there, we pay for the whole thing. I know that they supposedly *will* cover a hospital in Rapid City, almost an hour north. (Levi has no car) I forgot the name of that hospital, so I called the number on the back of our insurance card to get the name of the right hospital.





"Our office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to......"



So I hang up and call the number for emergency locations.



"If this is an emergency, please go to the nearest hospital and seek assistance. If this is NOT a life-threatening emergency, our offices are open at 9:00 am Monday to ...."



Okay, apparently you cannot break a bone over the weekend.



That is not life threatening enough.




So I call him back with the information.



After the *ooohs* and *awwwws*, I ask him how he hurt his shoulder.



Here it comes.



"Well last night we were playing this game. You go out in the dark (the freezing dark, apparently) and you look straight up at the stars and then you spin around as fast as you can go, then a person shines a flashlight in your eyes and you fall down. pause... I landed on my head and shoulder."



sigh....



"Levi, please tell me you will never play that game again."

























So later, I was telling Jenna about it and she said "A bunch of kids were playing that game at the hayride. They said it does something to your brain - it stops sending the right signals and you lose control. About five of us were standing around them telling them that it looked dangerous."

(At least there is hope for Jenna)


How much you want to bet me most of them were boys?





I hope they have insurance...




and don't break something on a weekend.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

This will not be pretty.

The folly of men.

Isaiah 44:14b – 20

14b He (a man) plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.
15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it.
16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire."
17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god."
18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
19 No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals I roast meat and eat it then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!"
20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside and he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

____________________


I have loved this story. It has been one of my favorites. I have laughed and said to myself and others, “Doesn’t God have a sense of humor?” I have thought, “the FOOLS!
How can they be so stupid?"

___________________

I have sat for YEARS under the preaching of a gifted man, I have heard the true, convicting WORD of GOD expounded upon countless times. I have sincerely BELIEVED that I loved God and hated sin while I sat in my pew in my 325 lb body and took communion and smugly prayed, mostly for OTHERS.

__________________


Sadly, this Old Testament passage is no longer funny to me. I don’t shake my head, roll my eyes and say, “Idiots! Can you not SEE?”

I WEEP as I write these words and I plead, “God! FORGIVE ME for being SO BLIND to my own sin for so long!” and I beg Him to finish what He has begun in me. I beg Him to continue breaking me, and I THANK Him for his mercy, His loving-kindness, His gentleness and most of all for His LONG-SUFFERING patience with me, His most wretched child!
_