My wife had back surgery, Tuesday.  She came through, good…and we are grateful!

Illness…changes your life…and illness is an integral component of life.

I passed two at the Herrin Hospital, women of the housekeeping staff, this morning, on my way to retrieve Mary Jane’s charger cord for her I Phone.  I could not help but here one of the ladies speaking to the other about her difficulty in purchasing toys for her autistic son.

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In our, good times, when we, as far as we know, do not have a major health situation that we are dealing with…we tend to be rather blasé regarding our…temporary reprieve!

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We are mortals…we are all made out of the same, corporal, substance.

So much of life is Ordinary Time.  It is not dramatic nor stressful nor, extremely, joyous.  During this Ordinary Time…we tend to become disconsolate or bored…or unappreciative of our…peaceful and regular lives.

I know that I want to pay more attention to people who are suffering.  Many members of our congregation, at First Presbyterian, have brought us food and checked on Mary Jane on a daily basis…and I have never felt more a member of this wonderful church!

When you have health concerns or life stressors…you feel alone and, often, unloved. There is nothing, more special, than an email or a call or an offer of assistance…to let you know that people care about you…and their, demonstrated concern, sticks with you…long after the challenge that you faced…has passed.

Aaron, Jonathon, and I, purchased a, little lantern filled with water and silver snow flakes and a cardinal sitting on a tree branch, that can be lit up and the silver snow flakes fly, and it created peace and assurance and love…for Mary Jane and our family.

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Ron and Ira Kaye came to sit with us and brought a, little, Christmas Tree.  Their visit was so welcome.

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‘Time passes all to quickly, my dear. ‘

Former President, George H. W. Bush, passed away at the age of 94…and if you were afforded the opportunity to ask him…he would have told you that his life went by quickly.

We become immeshed in the cares of life and the struggle to exist, financially, and the challenges of raising a family.  We want to climb the corporate ladder…and we desire to leave our mark in the world.

It is possible to be so engrossed in making a life…that we neglect the life that we are making.

Someone is facing a health challenge and perhaps a health crisis.

Someone has an autistic child…an they are trying to give that child a good Christmas.

Someone is lonely…and a simple call or visit…would mean the world to them.

Someone is a caregiver…and a word of encouragement or, just a little assistance, would bring tears of joy to their tired eyes.

Life is a book that has multiple chapters.  Many of the chapters require, of the participant, a, dramatic, change in lifestyle and goals and a re-discovery of one’s place in the world.

The happiest humans are those that adapt to the changes that life brings and hold on tight to the, rollercoaster of life, and they enjoy the hills and valleys and curves and the, breathtaking, hodgepodge of the human condition!

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