Friday coffee with PJ

 It's Friday so pour yourself a cup of coffee and join me for a few random thoughts…

1.  Monday evening of this past week, my son, Tim, invited me over to his house to watch our favorite NFL team play (which is the Pittsburgh Steelers of course!).  Since our granddaughter, Ella, was attending art club at our church facility (which is only a couple of minutes from our home), I offered to pick her up and bring her with me to save my son a trip. When we arrived in the house my son informed Ella  that she needed to do some reading. The conversation went something like this:

T -  OK Ella, before you do anything else you need to do some reading.
E -  How long do I need to read? Ten minutes?
T - No, you need to read longer than that.
E - So  how long?
T - Well why don't we negotiate? How about 40 minutes?
E - Well (with a sigh) ... OK

With that Ella proceeded up the stairs to retrieve her book. After she went upstairs, I looked at my son and said, "I guess she needs to learn what the word negotiate means!" Negotiate. I wonder how often we do this with God. We try to negotiate with him when it comes to the demands he makes upon us. Yet when it comes down to it… Who are we to to negotiate with God?  I think we often forget that he is God and we are not. If you need reminded of this take some time and read the  Old Testament book of Job.  Job tried to negotiate with God. And when God finally showed up, any thoughts of negotiations were over! God reminded Job of this truth: "I am God and you are not."  If we pause to remind ourselves of this truth AND the truth that God's commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3) and are for our good (Deuteronomy 10:13), this should dampen any desire we have to negotiate with God. And that, my friends, is a good thing!

2. Here's a quick update on my health. Yesterday I went back for another post op follow-up appointment with my surgeon (surgery was four weeks ago). When I went two weeks ago for my first post op, the surgeon was concerned with a  hematoma which had formed.  I am very thankful to say that the hematoma has almost totally dissipated on its own (otherwise a surgical procedure would've been required to remove it).  I'm also grateful that the x-rays taken yesterday showed everything was looking good. I will continue with physical therapy twice a week. I will continue to wear the brace. And I will continue with the weight restriction of 4 to 5 pounds (lifting  with my left arm). Thanks for all of your ongoing prayers! Very much appreciated! To God be the glory!!!

Thanks for stopping by…
PJ