Been sitting around, tying up the phone line.

Yep, I am still on a dial-up connection at the house. You might ask, "Why would a technically savvy guy like me still obtain his internet connection via an outdated method such as a phone cord and 56.6 modem?".

Two reasons:
     1. It's a lot cheaper!
     2. If I need speed, I am only a few minutes from the office, which has a T-1 line

Today has been a fun day of tickle-wars with the girls, reading a few books to Hope and getting caught up on numerous emails from my boss. I don't think my boss ever sleeps. I thought I spent a long time on the computer when at home, but I don't even hold a candle to the amount of time he spends behind a keyboard.

On to more important things .... I sent out an update email message to many of my friends this last week about my upcoming surgery. Since then, I have had a trickle of replies on a daily basis, all of which are very supportive in nature, and reminding me I am being remembered in many of their prayers. Some have even mentioned the fact they have marked that date on their calendar for additional prayers that day. It goes without saying, but the Lord has blessed me with tremendous friends!

I have spent several hours (either prior to going to sleep or just after waking up) wondering what it will be like the first few days after the surgery. I'm not talking about the pain. I have dealt with enough pain (so far) that the additional pain isn't worrying me. It will initially be dealt with by a nerve block procedure, then I will move to a narcotic additive to my IV (most likely morphine), then I will move to an oral medication, prior to being released. After what I have been through, this isn't surprising or new. What I have been thinking about is the idea of not having anything other than a residual limb (the new politically correct term for a stump) below my right knee. Renee has asked me about my thoughts, and I really couldn't answer her very well.

At times, the thought is very over-whelming, but I realize that change is needed for me to proceed through this period in my life. Change is what brought me to this point and change is what is going to see me through it.

The last two weeks at Life Church (Stillwater campus) have been on the idea of Joy. Week One was Joy: Joyful No Matter "What". The main thought of the day was that when bad things come our way, instead of asking "Why?", we need to be asking "What?". The first question would be "Now What?". Examples:
     Now what is God doing?
     Now what is God's purpose?
     Now what does God want to show me?
     Now what does God what to do through this?
     Point: God can change obstacles into opportunities
     Point: God can change our setbacks into setups

The other questions is "So What?". Is this a situation that is really going to be important in 100 years? What does it matter? In the original language, the phrase Tis gar plen is used, and it roughly translates to "so what?". Generally, the things that tend to freak us out the most are the things that don't matter in the long run. We need to address the things that are very important, and they need to be addressed with intensity,integrity and passion.

Week two contained additional useful information, but the above stuff has really helped me (mentally).
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