August 2013 Articles

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Just Rambling, August 2013

Just Rambling:
Recently my mortality slapped me squarely in the face. Oh, yes, I know I am just a mortal creature, but I guess having experienced relatively good health, the reality of this statement hadn’t dawned on me. A recent trip to the eye doctor got me to thinking more about my mortality. In late July I broke my glasses, which sent me to the eye doctor. I knew I had been having some vision problems in my left eye, but I just kept putting off having my eyes checked. (My youngest daughter, Blair, said God broke my glasses to get me to the eye doctor.) She may be right, because it seems that God works in mysterious ways. After having my eye thoroughly checked for what seemed like an eternity, the doctor told me that he had found nothing wrong with my eyes. He said my loss of sight in my left eye is either from a light stroke or from a growth on my pituitary gland. I was not expecting either of these diagnoses, which really shocked me. This is when my mortality really came home to me. Neither of these diagnoses sounded good, but I had to re-group to determine which was correct. The next day my daughter, Brittany, carried me to see my doctor at Reeves Memorial Hospital in Bernice. Dr. Harris gave me a thorough check-up for the stroke, determining that I had not had one. He then scheduled an MRI for me in Ruston on the following Monday. After the MRI, Dr. Harris called me to come in for a consultation and to begin other tests. He informed me that the MRI had shown a 3cm or walnut-sized growth on my pituitary gland, which is affecting the vision in my left eye. He is in the process of getting me an appointment with a well-known neurosurgeon, Dr. Nanda, located in Shreveport. In the meantime, I am just waiting, not really knowing how my condition will be addressed. I don’t write this out of a desire for sympathy, but instead, as a reminder to everyone of how fragile life really is, and that I have so often (maybe you have to) taken life and the blessings of life for granted. Since my diagnosis, I have received many cards from friends and family which are so comforting - things that I have so often failed to do, that I now know mean so much. My sister, Cindy, gave me a 365-Day Devotional book, Hope for Each Day by Billy Graham, which is really a good devotional book. From this book I would like to share a passage by C.T. Studd:

Only one life, ‘twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Life is a glorious opportunity if it is used to condition us for eternity. If we fail in this, though we succeed in everything else, our life will have been a failure. There is no escape for the man who squanders his opportunity to prepare to meet God.
You will never live this day again; once it is gone, it is gone forever. How will you spend it - for yourself, or for Christ? Remember:
“Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Enjoy your family, the blessings of this life, and the freedoms we enjoy in this nation especially the freedom to worship our God and by doing so we can look forward to that eternal home in heaven. John 14:2—In my Father’s house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you.

Pictured on the Front Cover: My granddaughter, Savanah, and myself.
Recently my granddaughter, Savanah, called to ask me to ride horses with them that afternoon. My daughter, Velvet, had been asking me to ride, but I had always refused, even though Velvet and I used to ride a lot when she was a teenager, and when I was much younger. When Savanah called she said, “Paw we need to ride through the cattle to pick out my show heifer.” I agreed, and as we were saddling the horses, Velvet told me “I knew you wouldn’t refuse Savanah if she asked.” She was correct—I couldn’t refuse my granddaughter. What an enjoyable ride! Van Bennett