“Doctor, he’s gone into convulsions!”
That’s what any nurse worth her stethoscope would have said if she’d taken one look at me spasming on my bed this last Friday evening. Chalk it up to a fever and chills so bad I thought I’d dislocate a joint or two in places I didn’t even know I had joints. I haven’t been sick in almost two years, so I guess I had it coming.
My wife (who got the crud a day before I did) and I both agree that the sore throat that accompanied this mess was about as bad as we’d ever had in our lives, like trying to swallow a cocktail of acid, pins, razor wire, and shards of glass. And no, it wasn’t strep, either. Strep is like gargling with mineral oil compared to the nightmare this thing was.
The fever passed fast, though. By Saturday morning I was back to normal temps. Tired, but I’d live. Wasn’t sure I would make my commitment to playing drums at church, but I did. I must say though, by the time we got to the end of the set (a slightly more drummer-intensive one than usual), I was totally spent. When they passed me the communion plate, my hand shook so much I thought I’d spill the cup contents all over myself. (Thank heavens I’m not Catholic! That would’ve meant a hundred years in purgatory if I had.)
Today meant doing all the things I was supposed to do over the weekend. Yeah, right. I spent most of the day updating my Web sites, tracking down official village papers to get to the heart of this Wal-Mart fiasco soon to descend on my quiet life, weedwhacking (don’t ask), praying over all the things I don’t want to see happen but are happening just the same, and watching a cold front steamroll into town with whatever the complete opposite of steam is. Hello, winter.
If you had to color today, it would’ve been blue. Not cerulean, all bright and cheery, but Prussian blue, Prussian sounding ominously like a clipped version of depression.
Not that there aren’t good things going on! A couple weeks ago I mentioned a teen at our church who was staring into the face of a probable lymphoma diagnosis. Thank God, the young man’s tests came back negative for cancer. Docs don’t know exactly what he has, but I had a weird “mononucleosis that wasn’t mononucleosis, so what is it?” affliction when I was about his age that sounds a lot like what he has. Took me months to get over it.
But hey, that’s REALLY GOOD NEWS.
In an age when the news always seems to be bad (on top of the horrid news of Wal-Mart and a possible casino coming to our area, the empty shop down the road from us just unveiled its new occupant: a tattoo parlor), I think the Church more than ever needs to start having people stand up and share their good news. We need to hear more good news of God working good things in the lives of His people. What we need is a good witness to the faithfulness of God.
Can I get a witness?!
Of course, I can!
And that’s where y’all come in. I’m not in the mood to feel like the title of a classic Miles Davis album. I want to hear some good news.
So have at it readers! Share us some of your good news of what God is doing in your lives and the lives of people you know.
And hey, if spontaneous dancing and shouts of “Hallelujah!” break out, it’s okay. This here’s one of them Holy Ghost-filled blogs! 😉