Forget Not all His Benefits

No sooner were the boys both on their way home than I was felled by an extraordinarily bad cold. I found myself unable to muster energy even to take the dogs for a walk, a mutually beloved activity. My throat felt like it had been rubbed with pumice, my nose matched Rudolph's, my eyes were watery and achy, and I would erupt in sneezing fits that tossed me like a rag doll. And this litany of complaints was topped by a very disturbing and encroaching malady...both wrists are in pain that seems to be increasing a little each day. I am willing to give up vacuuming and scrubbing toilets to heal my wrists...but how can I give up drawing and writing? I put braces on both wrists and crawled miserably out of bed this morning. It is raining. How does one plummet so precipitously from the heights of rapture over the Savior's birth celebrated with a house filled with family, to this cavernous emptiness echoing with sneezes and ouches as my aching wrists type?  I can only conclude I am fickle.

I returned from dropping Anders at the airport yesterday and crawled into the recliner with my Galaxy Tab. I spent the whole day drawing on it, and sneezing. Every so often I brushed away tears because I am always sad when my boys leave. Praise God for Asherel and her youth. I still get four years with her. Honeybun planted herself near me. She always hovers near, but particularly when she suspects I am about to dissolve into a blithering blob of hopeless grief that might not remember the dog's dinner time.

Arvo took one look at me and suggested he order pizza for dinner so I didn't need to move. I huddled with my Galaxy Tab, drawing and sneezing. Good thing, I thought, that God is a God of renewal, of mercy, and of redemption. Because otherwise, I would not be climbing out of this pit. Thank Goodness it only requires minimal wrist movement to press the Bible button on my Galaxy Tab.

Psalm 103: 1-5

¹ Praise the LORD, my soul;
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the LORD, my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
   and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
   and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.