Reminders

Been so busy this week taking care of myself that I haven't had time for much blogging. A monster cold came on like a lamb, but soon showed itself as a lion, and set me reeling again with two episodes of coughing that ended up as choking, near-911 calls. (Praise the Lord, this is the first cold I've had since last February though!)

Most of you know about my pulmonary restrictive disease, causing me to be on oxygen part of the time. My deformed chest cavity from scoliosis doesn't give me the room I need to breathe. When asked by the nurse if I was short of breath, it was tempting to report that all my breaths were short. I haven't had a deep breath in years, maybe never really. Wouldn't know one if it hit me!

But this blog isn't about me. It's about my caregiving life with my hubby dear. After returning home after a six-hour emergency room visit, my daughter (MY caregiver for the day) gave her dad the low-down on not overworking her momma while she's sick. Her lecture really seemed to influence his behavior these past few days. He has been much less needy himself and more observant of my needs, constantly asking what he can do to help.

One thing I've discovered with my illnesses though is that I need reminders for my care. Not taking my medicine or breathing treatments at regular intervals gets me in trouble every time. Seeing my medical arsenal on the washing machine may have reminded Dean of the seriousness of my condition too. It looked like this:

Living in a household with someone who has memory deficits keeps me looking for memory aids for both of us. I have to be doubly cognizant of remembering appointments, medicine times, getting bills paid on time, etc., etc.

How nice that God placed one reminder for us that happens at regular intervals, making it even easier to remember. How important to remember our "weekly date" with Him! He actually blessed a certain day and placed it in the Ten Commandments, so we would never lose it. What could be easier?

Time Confusion

Today we gained an hour in our day by turning the clocks back an hour. Some people actually got to sleep an hour longer, or at least it felt that way. But people with dementia already have enough trouble keeping track of time. It's a shame we do this to confuse them even more, let alone the rest of us who are willing to admit that it just doesn't make any sense to go through the ritual of changing all our clocks twice a year.

So many people are disgruntled with the system of daylight savings time. When man fools with time reckonings it often leads to confusion though, doesn't it? For instance, for decades and even centuries, man has been confused about the Sabbath and Sunday, which has come to be called the Lord's Day. It hasn't been that long ago when people actually referred to Sunday as the Sabbath. Now people are openly aware that they are not keeping the seventh-day Sabbath by worshiping on Sunday, but they feel that church tradition has sanctified the practice.

Whatever day you choose to worship on, keep in mind that when man, through tradition or legislation, intervenes with God-ordained time systems, it results in confusion. Just like the way we confuse ourselves twice a year with daylight savings time.

The Pill Organizer

Having just retrieved Dean's new pill organizer that his nurse filled earlier in the week, and replaced it with the empty one I am reminded that today, Sunday, is truly the start of a new week. When you look at most calenders I also find that Sunday does not come at the end, but at the beginning. It's even referred to as the first day of the week in dictionaries.

When I read the Ten Commandments, it's like having a pill organizer. In the very center of it, we are told with great detail to remember something that involves a weekly reminder. The Sabbath reminds us of our Creator. The world was created in six days, and we are invited to share a time of rest with the Creator of the universe. We are able to rest on that day, because it was the day God blessed.

Daniel 7:25 speaks about a world power that will change times and laws. Don't underestimate the power of the master Deceiver. I believe he has been at work on this for a very long time, with much success.

Organized Clutter

Yesterday I cleaned out my clothes closet and drawers. I had a big bag of clothes for the trash, one for donations, and one to try to sell on consignment. And today it was the bookcases in the living room. When I was through, I had one bag of trash, one pile to give away, and another pile of things to relocate.

Now here's the kicker after all that work. My closet looks just as full. And my bookcases don't look any emptier. I thought I was going through them with a fine tooth comb, but evidently it must have been one of those wide tooth shower combs for getting out tangles. All I can say is that my clutter is more attractive now. The librarian in me mandates if you have to have clutter, it must at least be organized.

Something tells me that God doesn't see our lives that way though. Clutter (sin) is clutter with Him, regardless of how it's packaged. I pray that I can clean out my ugly habits and character traits with that fine tooth comb called the Ten Commandments. I'll be glad then when I move into my heavenly mansion. It'll be a nice, clean move. No work involved. Piece of cake.

We know where the clothes disappeared TO, but where did they come FROM?

A Complete Makeover

Last night my son-in-law came over to give his father-in-law a haircut. Dean had been requesting one a few times and finally got his wish. We were hoping he'd consent to some hair loss in the mustache area, but once again it was a no-go for that one. He also refused an eyebrow trim. We can only dream for a complete "makeover" someday.

Aren't we like that with God though? We're willing to give Him some of our sins, but there are others that we consistently hang onto. There's no rhyme or reason to our letting go. Some things are harder to part with than others. Usually because we just love them more.

We should be willing to go along with God, no matter what He requests from us. And that's all He can do. God isn't in the demanding business. His commandments are actually requests. Even though they aren't optional, if we truly love Him and want to be presentable before the universe.

Help me go along with God in ALL the areas of my life. He wants to give me a "makeover" that will astound the universe. All I have to do is consent.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Another day with my brother-in-law, who's visiting this weekend. He and my nephew straightened up the garage for us...again. I was concerned that I couldn't pull my car all the way in last night when they were predicting hailstorms, so they worked hard to condense things and throw away some more items. There must be something in all that "stuff" in the garage that's reproducing, because it seems to grow every time we turn our backs.

Rees suggested a clever item that would prevent me from driving in too far and hitting some of that precious "stuff" we're talking about. He's seen people hang a ball on a string from the garage ceiling so when the ball touches the front window of your car, you know to stop. We couldn't find a ball that would work, so we made a ball out of Playdoh. I can't wait to go somewhere and try it out.

Isn't that the way the Ten Commandments work? They tell us when to stop our behavior, before we crash and make a mess of our lives. As I've been instructed to keep my eye on the ball, the Playdoh ball, we need to keep our eye on the Ten Commandments. That ball isn't strong enough to make me stop the car though. I still have to apply the brakes. And that's how it is with the Ten Commandments. They won't make me stop; they'll just tell me when to.

All the commandments but two begin with "Thou shalt not". A definite indicator to stop doing something. The fourth and fifth commandments, on the other hand, begin with something to do--first to remember to honor God on His Sabbath and also to honor our parents all our lives. They are the heart of God's law. They are the "ball" we are to keep our eye on, in order to have the strength, the brakes, to keep the rest of the commandments.

God knows how to keep us from crashing.

Viruses, Worms, and Bombs--Oh, no!

My son-in-law used his computer expertise this evening to wipe out several viruses, worms, bombs, and other disgusting things from one of my computers. My anti-virus program had expired and it seems it had dumped all the viruses it detected and contained back into my system! I can't help but feel a bit distrustful of my software now. Even though we have the problem well under control with another anti-virus protection covering any future mishaps.

God offers us an anti-sin program that will detect sin when it shows up in our life. It's called The Ten Commandments. We have to download it into our minds and when temptation comes around, it will alert us to the danger.

Unlike my computer anti-virus, The Ten Commandments will never expire. We are protected by them throughout eternity, because they reflect the character of God. If we install this program and register it in our name, it is ours to keep, with a lifetime guarantee. Now that's something I can trust.

The Day We Forgot

Today I happened to be out shopping and noticed the flurry of people out doing the same. I realize it's getting close to Christmas, but I've noticed over the years that Saturday AND Sunday seem to be ordinary business days for most people. Special maybe in the sense that it is the weekend, but also days for doing whatever needs to be done that you didn't have time for on the weekdays.

Nobody has time for a "day of rest" any more! Sunday-keeping Christians for years have used what they call the Lord's Day as a day set aside for God. And I believe initially that included resting from ordinary work that can be done on the other six days. Ask your grandparents, or great-grandparents.

God designed the world and even our human bodies to appreciate one day of rest every week, just as God himself rested the seventh day from His work of creation. So, how has the Christian world fallen so far away from seeking God on His special day?

Upon investigation years ago, I came up with an answer that satisfied me. But you have to go back to the eternal, unchangeable Ten Commandment Law written with the very finger of God. God specified not only A day, but WHICH day we are to reserve as holy. And He even told why...because HE BLESSED THAT DAY, a day that would point to the Creator, the Author and Finisher of our faith. It's the only Commandment that describes who we are to worship. In a sense it is like His autograph and placed right in the heart of the Law itself.

Man is trying to make a day holy that God has never blessed--and it hasn't worked. It was the only Commandment prefaced with "remember", but somewhere along the way we "forgot".