Coming Soon

Ken’s talk from Thailand coming soon…didn’t end up having time to write it all with family in town but check back soon!

Thanks.

The Scales Fall Off

Do know that moment when your ears finally pop and you can hear clearly again? Or that moment your hazy contacts are wiped clean and you can see again? It is a beautiful moment, like all is restored and things are made right again. 

I had one of those moments a few days ago after three days of being as sick as I can remember in a long time. I just got back from Thailand and apparently something came with me because I wore quite a trail from my bed to the bathroom over those 72 hours. I was not quite in constant pain or violently ill but experienced a lot of discomfort those few days. And if you’re like me, when you are sick you just don’t feel like yourself.

For example, my love language (if you believe in such things) is physical touch. I’m a hugger. I like just having Jenny near me even when we’re not talking. It is reassuring. I’m also an extrovert…and a severe one. I don’t like to be alone for very long. As I think about it those two things make a lot of sense together, wanting people around and physical contact. I long for those things…except when I’m sick.

Jenny was shocked when I would say, “Can you move over, you’re too warm” or “I don’t feel like being touched right now”. She would say that is how she knew I wasn’t feeling right. I kept wanting to spend time by myself in bed, too, without commotion or other people being around. I didn’t want activity and I didn’t want to be bothered. The interesting thing is that I didn’t really make this connection until I felt better.

As my stomach started feeling better and my appetite returned, so did my energy. I woke up on day 4 and felt great. I was up and about, wanted to wrap Jenny up and kiss her, wanted to talk. I was even up for wrestling with Brinks, our black lab. And I had a moment in our hallway as I was following Jenny around the house (making up for lost time not being with people!)…it hit me like a ton of bricks after those few days of fog…I felt like myself again . It was almost like experiencing my personality again after feeling numb and hazy for so long.

But it wasn’t just that I felt like myself. It was a connection God made in my heart. I realized that this was exactly what we experience in our earthly bodies, riddled with the sickness of sin. We don’t know what it really means to be well, whole, and “ourselves” in this life because we are in the fog of our sinful flesh. And it will be a glorious day to finally step into our real bodies, real selves.

This is similar to what I wrote about in December…I guess God keeps bringing that back in front of me. But this was such a powerful picture for me. We rarely get that glimpse or what life untainted by sin must be like, but maybe it is like having your ears pop, or no longer feeling sick but like yourself. Or like scales falling from your eyes, seeing for the first time. I don’t know. But if feeling like myself after a few days of sickness felt so exhilarating and joyful, how incredible will it be to live without the stain of sin!

Come, Lord Jesus, come!