"Do the Things"

 Good morning, and welcome.

 Every time I sit down to write another Thursday Thought, I think back over the week’s highlights, and try to decide if I’ll write about one of those, or maybe select some other topic for discussion with you.  Most of the highlights of my week aren’t really what one would call highlights…they’re just points in time that for some reason, I recall.

Take this week for example.  Monday morning was occupied first with a visit to my primary care doctor regarding some lower back pain.  Later, at the church office, I began my notes for the Bible class I will be teaching this coming Sunday.

Monday also was the day after.  The day after keeping four of our grand kids for the weekend.  Pat and I were both pretty tired; however, we couldn’t rest because two more of the grands would be dropped off that evening to spend 24 hours with us Monday night and Tuesday.  So, we mustered our strength and welcomed them warmly.

Tuesday, I helped move some furniture for a client of ICT SOS…someone who had just moved into an apartment and needed some donated furniture moved there.  I volunteer for ICT SOS from time to time as I can, and they asked if I could help.  I was happy to do so.  I also pretty much finished my Bible class notes on Tuesday and started to review them.

And, I stopped at Office Depot and bought a new office chair.  The old chair was literally falling apart…having served me here for the past 13 or so years.  I took the new chair home and put it together…nothing comes already assembled anymore…to take to church the next day.  The grands went back to Dad and Mom Tuesday evening, and Pat and I pretty much were done for the night following dinner at home.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was a day of cold and wind…again…  It seems we have had more than our share of that kind of weather this year, but at least now the cold doesn’t last more than a day or so and the snow doesn’t stick to the ground…at least in southern Kansas.  Yesterday was also the day we found mostly expired food piled at our church door sometime overnight or early morning.  The food is so old we can’t use it and we certainly will not give it away to anyone else.  Instead, we will be throwing it away.  I was so irked I wrote a Facebook post about it and put it on my timeline.

I also brought the new office chair to work and exchanged chairs…throwing away the old chair as it wasn’t good for anyone or anything anymore.  The new chair sits higher and has a better lumbar support than the old one.  I am hoping I’ll soon become comfortable in it and my lower back will positively respond to the support.

I picked up some medication at the neighborhood pharmacy for myself and my wife.  We use a locally-owned pharmacy just up the street from the church.  It’s convenient and provides great customer recognition and service.  Public Service Announcement here:  Please use a locally-owned pharmacy if you at all can do so.  The service is better.  They need your business.  And prices are comparable and sometimes less.

Today, because the wind has died down, I was able to put out some bird seed on the upper deck, and also filled the bird water dish.  Yesterday, it was so windy that anything I would have put out would have blown away in a matter of minutes.  I don’t have a lot of bird seed left from the winter months, and would like to make good use of it in what remains of the late winter and early spring days.

I’m also typing this Thursday Thought for you today, and wondering what the rest of the day will be like.  It’s been quiet so far today, as it has been pretty much all week.  It’s bill-paying time for us right now, as we receive our retirement checks this week.  So I’ll be doing that this weekend.  Hopefully, there will be some money left to live on after the bills are paid.

Well, there you have it.  Those were the highlights of the week.  As you can see, there was nothing earth-shattering this week.  No skydiving.  No deep sea fishing.  No exotic vacations to even more exotic Pacific islands.  Just life.  Just living.  Just doing the things.  There’s an enjoyment that I get from being able to “do the things.”  Doing those things that are part of everyday life.

One of these days, I’ll no longer be able to do the things.  Someone else will have to do them.  Either that, or there will be no more things to do.  I suspect that I will eventually enjoy that, too.  Because eventually, I’ll have other things to do…things in the hereafter that God has promised for me to do.  Because I believe that the hereafter will NOT be a floating on a cloud in the great beyond existence…but rather will be in the new heavens and the new earth…that I will inhabit a body that will not break down or wear out…and that I will have meaningful and wonderful things to see and do.  I think I’m looking forward to that day more and more as in the here and now I can…and sometimes want…to do less and less.

 

May God bless you this week as you “do the things” that come your way.

 

Blessings.