2009 is already a Blessed Year

Wow, it's been two months since I posted. Obviously my plan to post late in chronological order isn't working. Too much happening to keep up.

So - it's 2009, the start of a New Year. A perfect time to get introspective AND bring y'all up to date on the last few months.

Another reason for the looking inward - on Christmas morning I went to the emergency room with a bout of diverticulitis. Not a bad one, but the infection got into my blood. After 5 days on IV antibiotics I came home feeling weak and tired. I'm fine now, back to normal except for watching my diet for a couple more weeks until my intestine heals.

So here's what must be the biggest inbetween in my life. Without knowing that the infection had spread, the ER was going to send me home with a bottle of Augmentin antibiotic. I told the Dr., "I can't ask you to do anything, but I would like to give you some information. I'm retired, no income and broke. I've got a great insurance plan BUT it only kicks in AFTER I spend a night in the hospital."

She said, "So you'd like me to check you in? I think I can make a case for that. Let me talk to the head Dr." She came back and said, "I put my reputation on the line for you - he's coming in to talk to you in a few minutes - look sick." Not to sound too dramatic, but if I'd gone home, there is a very good chance I would have died.

The infection was really bad and the angel of a nurse on the floor called in a surgeon - on Christmas morning - because she thought I'd need emergency surgery and a colostomy. She didn't know about the blood either, but she just knew I wasn't doing well. As she told Carol, "I don't know what it is, but something is very wrong." The surgeon agreed and added a second IV antibiotic. The next day when the blood culture came back, we knew what was happening. The Infectious Disease specialist said that if he had known about the blood, he would have prescribed exactly the same antibiotics that the surgeon ordered.

My entire life has been full of times when I did exactly the right thing, at precisely the right time. I used to get smug about it. But I've learned that if I look back from a few years - or in this case a few days - in the future I see that I made the decision for totally "wrong" reasons. It wasn't my wisdom or insight. It was God leading me for reasons that I wouldn't understand until some time later. Those "inbetweens" that I learned about in "Tinkerbell Jerusalem". I've now found another series of books, "When God Winks" that have many more examples.

"In betweens" or "Winks" - they're all the same. Everybody has these unexplained things - big and little - happening every day.

We just need to

1. Be aware, so we see them.

2. Be grateful, and

3. EXPECT more of them.

Every day.

EVERY day !

'cause Life is so good.