Year 3 Day 225 Grant had a good day yesterday in Physical Therapy. He was again walking on the tread mill, but this time at 1 mph. He is still being supported by the system as he can’t stand on his own. He is healthy. He seems to have more times of alertness and sometimes when I speak with him it looks like he’s trying to talk. It’s hard for me to tell. Maybe its just hopeful ears but then again maybe its progress. Recently on outings Grant has been to the Irvine Great Park, a couple of times down the Huntington Beach Pier. During the Patriots, Kansas City game last Monday night by halftime he was staring at the wall instead of the TV, Pats being his favorite team. Yesterday it was Gone With the Wind on the big screen. I asked him what he thought of the movie—I was hoping for a Clarke Gable answer, but instead I think I got a sigh. I am so thankful for the nursing crew, caregivers, volunteers, and therapists that have made it possible for me to find a new equilibrium. We have recently added Sean to our team. I still dance between the reality of Grant’s condition I see every day and the hope that God will restore him, but I am proceeding in putting things back together again with the help of God’s grace and the support of my friends. Two weeks ago Wednesday night I was privileged to be part of a debate. The topic was—Does God Have Free Will? Can God Choose Evil? And Does Man Have Free Will? At first glance they seem simple enough questions. But they are actually trap questions with some well thought out responses by various atheists and skeptics. For instance Christians say God is omniscient (knows all there is to know), therefore God knows the future. If God knows the future then He must act in accordance to what He knows and therefore cannot choose otherwise, i.e., no free will. The argument behind “Can God Choose Evil” is since the Bible reveals that God is good, it is impossible for Him to choose evil and therefore has no free will. Finally the question about humanity’s free moral agency, the argument would be no, people do not have free will, everything is predestined by the foreknowledge of God. So from a skeptic’s point of view the answers would be NO, No and no. The simple answers I presented to those questions were YES, NO, and YES. The support for those statements got rather complicated but all in all I felt I did well. I was downright happy. Yeah I call this fun. Thanks to “Focus on the Family” October is Pastor Appreciation Month. The church family is sending me to our District Pastor’s Retreat this year to be held at a wonderful resort in Carlsbad CA. Looking forward to a change of venue. Its been a while since I have had an overnight away. This week Brittany starts a new semester at the Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program in the thriving metropolis of Monesson PA. She will graduate with an AA in business. She will graduate May 2015. If you are wondering what she is learning watch the SyFy show FACE OFF. 18 of the schools graduates have appeared on the show. HBCC is doing its best to break the 50 in attendance growth barrier. As with most congregations if everybody showed up on the same day we would need to set out extra chairs. We’ve broken the 50 + a few times over the years. The first time we did it in less than six months. The last time was more difficult and this time it seems like its taking forever. But incremental progress is being made. Sometimes I think I should have bailed when we broke the 150 the first time. Regardless here I am and here we go. God’s going to do this and I feel fortunate to be a part of another comeback effort.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 23:40:27 +0000