Another day, another knee, and super cold weather. This too shall pass

Negative 8. That is 8 degrees below zero. That is cold. Really cold. That is what temperature it has been today, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. It was zero around midnight. Then it just decided to get colder. I watched as it dropped from -4 when I got up to -6 and then to -8. It has remained at that temp for the most of the day. There has been snow in the air. The wind has blown. It is a polar vortex at its best or worst or whatever you want to call it. Then I looked at next weekend, and it will be in the 30s! That will feel like a heat wave after all this cold weather.

So what did I do today? Stayed inside. But wait, aren't I a preacher? Isn't this Sunday? Wasn't I supposed to do a worship service. Well...kinda. I did preach today. But I had recorded it 2 weeks ago in preparation for this weekend. No, I am not a prophet who can foretell what is coming. I had the knee replacement surgery on Thursday and I knew that I would not be able to preach last night or this morning. And I was right. My mind is not clear enough for that. The pain meds and the pain itself would have made it impossible to lead worship. I thank God that I have a strong Board of Eldes who led the worship services. Then I recorded the sermons and Casey Brown was able to play them ont he screen. I watched it on YouTube this afternoon. Not a bad Transfiguration/Valentine's sermon. God's love really shown through. He loves us so much He sent His Son to be our Savior. That is the great news He shares with us each day.

Knee replacement. Some of you have gone through it before. I had the right one replaced last October 8th. It is going well now. Boy was it sore. You begin to forget the pain that you had with it. Then I had this one done last Thursday. It seemed ok while at the hospital on Thursday. Walk. Easy peasy. Get in and out of bed. No trouble. This is cake work. 

Then it begins to wake up. The nerves begin to fire again. And suddenly, "Ouch!" that doesn't feel so good. It hurts to move the leg. It hurts to try to lift it to the stool. Elevate it, you are told. OK. But that isn't quite as easy as you think. Wozzer. That let is mighty heavy. I thought the right one was heavy because it was so swollen. But the left one isn't nearly as swollen, and it is just as heavy. Close to impossible to lift without help. Turn the wrong way? You realize it immediately. I have cried out more than I ever thought possible. I am so glad I only have 2 knees to be replaced so that I don't have to go through this again. 

Is it worth it? Yes it is. The right leg does not have the pain. And the left leg doesn't have the same pain it did when I went in Thursday morning. There is surgery pain. Pain from playing golf with the bones in my leg. Pain from moving things around. Pain from stapling it up. Pain, pain, pain, but it is different. This pain will get better. It will go away. The pain I had before didn't go away. It just got worse. So I thank God for the doctors and medical teams who are able to do such things as total knee replacements. Soon (not soon enough for my thinking) I will be able to walk without pain. 

Physical Therapy starts tomorrow. Heel slides. Leg lifts. And a whole host of other things. Challenging? Oh yes. But soon it will be all right.

My point? I have no point. Just an afternoon of rambling about anything. I thank the Lord for Penny as she takes care of me. I am thankful that I have such an understanding congregation to work with me, so they can see me on the big screen, bigger than life size. I will be back to leading the worship in a few weeks. We will see how quickly this heals. I have 4 sermon recorded. 1 has been used, leaving 3 more. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. The Senses of Lent begins. 

Bundle up. Stay warm. Be at peace and love one another. Till visit again.