D Minus 5… and holding
Posted By Russ Emerson on November 14, 2007 at 1:18 pm
While talking this morning with the Duke hospital finance people (when you pay out of pocket, it needs to be arranged in advance, apparently) I found, much to my displeasure, that my surgery date had been cancelled because of the dental issue.
It would have been nice if they had told me about it.
The fact that the dentistry problem — an abscess, you may recall — gets resolved tomorrow apparently has no bearing on the matter. They just up and cancelled me.
It would have been nice if they had let me know.
So now I have to reschedule the surgery — no telling how long that’s going to take — AND I have to reschedule my outage from work, and so on.
It would have been nice if they had said something about it.
Dammit.
Dammit dammit dammit.
Russ, I’m getting pretty handy with tools. I could fly up there and put in a brass ball valve.
Only if welding is involved, Steve.
It seems as if the real meaning of life is coming to the surface. (No it’s not ‘A Wonderful Life’ with Jimmy Stewart, et. al.) Life is not made up of stuff. The adage of ‘He who dies with the most toys, wins’ really isn’t true. It should be, ‘He who dies with Christ in his heart, he wins’. It’s not about the money that we make or have. It’s not about the accomplishments or awards we have garnered over the years. It is about the relationship we have with Christ!
Life is a journey, with its ups and downs. It is not a smooth, or straight road. It is a life of adversity. (Your brother should know this as well!) We are not in control. We are mere riders on, shall we say, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Really, we are here, in this life, to serve our Lord and Savior – through everything that we do, whether is be at work, during adversity, during good times, family relationships, everything. There is nothing that we have that is not a gift from Him. He is why we are here!
While it looks as if adversity is in your sights, keep in mind you, Russ, are still one of His. I know your mom & dad taught you this. I pray that you believe this for yourself. Remain focused on Him. If, and this is a big if, God decides that He needs you in heaven, then we left behind will be sad & will mourn our loss, while your are experiencing the glory of being in His presence, were there is no pain, suffering, ailments, in short, everything is perfect.
Besides, brain surgery isn’t so bad. Been there, done that! Move on, and don’t dwell on what could happen. Who knows, I could get struck down today by the next car that drives by.
Rest assured, you are in my prayers. You are in my family’s prayers. I know you in your family’s prayers. Your mom ranks right up there (next to mine) (Sorry Mrs. E. I could give you top billing because my mom reads the blog.) Thanks for helping Russ – it really is true, once a parent, always a parent no matter how old the kids.
I am starting to sound like a preacher – sorry, I am not. So I better stop.
You got friends in your corner, Russ. And I don’t mean just the cats.
A sincere offer for you. Get past the surgery, get back on your game. Then, come down to Texas, and we’ll burn ammo all day, then after the guns are cased, we’ll eat like pigs, drink like bloggers and burn cigars to bring a two alarm fire response.
Might even make room for a certain misguided parrot-tender who cooks with an arc welder.
Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX