One good thing about the common cold — you feel so much better when you recover

I have often thought about writing another post sooner, but I went and caught a common cold. I thoroughly checked to make sure the symptoms were that of a cold and not of covid, the flu, or some other dread disease. Although it has been a battle and took a lot out of me. I mentioned to a friend about the cold and he sympathized with me about the tough breaks I was having. I was able to honestly respond ‘thanks but I have the biggest break of all in knowing God and being able to trust in His purposes’.  In our reading this morning we came to Job 2:10 ‘Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?’. I was challenged because it is so easy to accept all of the really nice things that God has done and sometimes in the face of difficulties, I get concerned about the hardship of maybe being deprived of some of them and I do not think about all the horrible things He has delivered me from.

After Karen read my last blog post we talked about death. Not morbidly but realistically and supportively. Having wills and final plans takes on a whole new perspective now. I need to be ready to live and ready to die. That is so true when you are 70 and have cancer. But you know it is also true if you are 70 and you are healthy or 60 or 30.

It is nice to have these little physical reminders about why it is good to remember memories, be thankful, express appreciation to the wonderful woman who stood by my side through so many things, and even to give freedom for her to remarry if I am not around any longer. Also, there are a lot of other practical steps that now become important. Karen had often wanted to be brought into the bill paying details. That was difficult because everything is done on computer and she is not known for her compatibility with computers. But she now has her own checking account and list of bills that she is paying. In addition, I have listed all the bills paid by direct debit, important websites, passwords, and made a video catalog of rugs, paintings, and other collectables with advice on what to do with them. I also assured her there was nothing on my computer I was ashamed for her to see. If that is something you could not say to your spouse right now, I urge you to make it so. It will spare them pain from discovering it, it is not profitable for your walk with God, and it is an impediment to closeness and openness with your spouse.

I am feeling much recovered from the cold. But I still am very weak, and I am afraid that the cancer fog shows up a little bit. So, I apologize for any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes etc. Typing skills are not the best right now, so I have dictated it and tried to proofread to make some sense.