So Much to Thank Him For

The title for this blog entry is also the name of a very popular song here on Radio HRGS. It’s sung by a southern gospel group that, in my humble opinion, can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Don’t get me wrong – I like southern gospel, but these folks are not even close to my favorite. But almost all of our listeners love this song and, indeed, we all do have a great deal for which to be thankful. The words really resonate with our believing listeners, most of whom are incredibly poor. They always seem to be aware of and grateful for God’s mercy. Let me tell you how He has shown me His mercy, wisdom, and power just this week.

There is a scene in the Pixar animated movie, The Incredibles, where Bob (Mr. Incredible’s secret identity) comes home and notices the neighbor boy sitting on his tricycle staring at him for the second day in a row. Bob says, “What are you waiting for?” The boy pauses for a moment and says, “I don’t know. Something amazing, I guess.” I’m just like that little boy and I’ve been waiting for God to do something amazing – again. Here’s the story.

Back in November, I did something abusive to my right shoulder and it just never seemed to get any better. Most of the time it felt fine other than a nagging minor ache. But if I moved it the wrong way it just exploded in excruciating pain that went away in a minute or two. This Tuesday, I finally went to a clinic and a doctor checked me out and concluded that I’d torn the rotator cuff. That’s what I was afraid of! He said it would probably need surgery, but I’d want to start with an MRI and to consult an orthopedic doctor. If it needed surgery, I’d lose the use of that arm for six weeks and then start rehabilitation. I figured that I would need to do that when we were in the States on furlough, but didn’t like that idea a whole lot. The doctor said the MRI would be about $2,000 and the surgery would cost around $20,000. That’s a big ouch when your insurance doesn’t cover U.S. medical costs unless it’s something that happens in the States.

It was a pretty grim picture. In fact, the doctor, who was serving at a Christian clinic, suggested that I not say anything to the insurance company until I get to the U.S. and then claim that I hurt it while up there. I’m not sure if he was saved or not, but I’m sure he meant well. Either way, I was not the least bit tempted to go along with that idea. First of all, how can I expect God to bless me when I’m willfully disobeying Him? I’ve seen Him reward honesty that can be costly too many times to go that route. And, more importantly, how does God get glory if I dishonestly finagle my way around this situation without letting Him show His stuff? Even if I came up with an honest way to accomplish my goal without depending on Him, I would be robbing Him of the glory that He is due. So I told God that I was in His hands and asked Him to guide my steps.

That’s why I felt like the little boy in The Incredibles, waiting expectantly once again for God to do something amazing. I had no idea how He was going to solve my dilemma, but I knew He had a plan already. He was not making emergency plans – He knew from before creation that this would happen and how it would turn out.

So on Wednesday I went to see a doctor friend, Dr. Raymond Cherrington, to see what he thought about me getting an MRI over on the coast. I was also hoping he would give me a second opinion. He suggested that I see an orthopedic doctor before I go through all of the expense of an MRI. I said I would love to, but where would I find one? Doctor Raymond said, “Right here if you can wait a few minutes.” Wow!! An orthopedic specialist had an appointment to see one of Dr. Raymond’s patients in about 10 minutes right there in Dr. Raymond’s office and I just had to wait for him to finish with her. Coincidence? Sorry, I don’t believe in them.

Dr. Roger Domingez was absolutely certain that I had NOT damaged the rotator cuff. But he said I did tear a muscle and, because I was babying the arm, my shoulder muscles had already started to atrophy. He asked me to go to the Anthony’s Key Clinic the next morning (yesterday) and get an x-ray and then come back in the afternoon to Dr. Raymond’s office for another consult and some kind of treatment that he didn’t clearly explain. The x-ray was to make sure I had not pinched the muscle in the shoulder joint.

So I got the x-ray yesterday morning and took it to show to Dr. Roger in the afternoon. He said the joint looked fine and proceeded to pump my shoulder full of steroids. Then he worked it around a little bit and told me that I’m supposed to toss a ball gently at a wall three times a day for five minutes each for a week and then go back for another treatment. The total cost so far is about $80 and I think I’ll need to pay about another $55 when I go back next Thursday. If this treatment is successful, it sure will be a lot cheaper than surgery!

If I had followed the first doctor’s advice, I’d still be dreading a nasty operation, and my shoulder would continue to pain me and lose more and more strength and flexibility. Once in the U.S. I’d have visited an orthopedic doctor, who would probably have ordered a $2,000 MRI to protect himself. Even without the surgery and even with lying to get insurance coverage, the deductible would have been far, far more than what it is costing this way. So, please do not try to tell me that integrity does not pay. This is just one of many times where I’ve seen God do amazing things for those who trust Him no matter what the risk – even in my own life.

That’s the big news for this week. On a slightly less dramatic front, but still a little exciting, we had a bit of an ant scare on Wednesday. Mildred told me that she saw a big column of ants marching along the side of our house. When I went to investigate, I found something apparently out of a science fiction movie. A 2-3 inch wide column of big, black ants started from somewhere off the radio station property to the east, came across the lane, through the lawn, across our driveway, hugged the side of our house, went up behind the gable end of our roof into the attic, came back down, went behind the house and down a land crab hole next to the propane tanks. There were several big balls of ants along the way like the one in the picture below. The biggest one was just visible up behind the gable in our attic.

I grabbed two big, fresh cans of bug spray and declared war. I emptied one can and nearly emptied the other. I decided to keep a little in reserve, just in case. The next day, the ants were still marching. There must have been trillions of them. But they had decided to march toward a different destination and now they are finally gone to wherever they were headed. I followed them for about 30 yards before losing them in the undergrowth. I must have killed several million of them and, as far as I could tell, I didn’t even make a dent in their numbers.

For contrast, I’m also uploading a Roatán beauty picture. The first time I went to see Dr. Cherrington, I walked. It’s a little over a mile each way, so not bad at all. As I arrived back at home, the sun was setting behind the hills and the Celebrity Triumph cruise ship was headed for it’s next destination. So I grabbed the camera and captured this image from the porch of the radio station. Our house is just on the other side of the basketball court.

Well, this has gotten long, but I wanted to give you the full story on the shoulder so you could praise the Lord right along with me. Many of you have been praying about this shoulder and I’m grateful. I suspect that there have been lots of prayers for wisdom too. Have a great weekend, and God bless.

[Show as slideshow]