I'm Back!

Happy Sunday. I am so happy to once again be back with you today. I've missed the last 3 weeks because of health issues. Genie and I were headed to Mississippi for vacation and on the way there we stopped at her brother's lake house at Smith Lake in Alabama.

We left home on July the 1st and knowing that we would be gone and out of town, we filmed the sermons for July the 2nd and July the 9th ahead of time. On Sunday, July the 2nd, I was walking down to the lake and the dock is connected to a solid rock outcropping at the water's edge. I was barefoot and off the main path and I stepped on the rock and when I stepped, I stepped on black moss and it was wet and down I went. I don't remember falling.

It happened so fast. I fell on my right side breaking some ribs and I hit my head hard on rock the rock and suffering a concussion. Fortunately, there was a doctor at the next lake house and he was there within just a couple of minutes after my fall. That was 5 weeks ago today.

I've been sleeping in a chair. I've used a walker to get up and down out of chairs. Um hurt has turned into aching now. My bride of 40 years has taken great care of me.

And I thank you for your prayers. Many of you have emailed and called and I truly appreciate it. My wife asked me the other day, "What have you learned through this?" And today I thought I would share the answer to that question with you.

And forgive me if I'm a little foggy. That's a um byproduct of the concussion, I suppose. Next week we will resume our study on the Sermon on the Mount. One thing I learned is that life can change in a flash.

One minute I was healthy and one fraction of a second later I was hurting. Life is a series of ups and downs, isn't it? I must be honest that it meant that mine has mostly been ups. July may have been the toughest month I've had, physically anyway.

Through it all God has been with me. If you know me, you know that I am not a follower of the prosperity gospel. I know that bad things happen to good people and I hope that I'm in the good people category. You know, I never questioned why me.

Uh I spent as much time as I could when I was down praying and praising God and thanking him as I prayed. Um And I had a lot of time to do that. For the first week we stayed at Smith Lake and I wasn't and I was taken great care of by my wife and her family. And I thank them.

When we came home, I was thankful for a comfortable chair to sleep in and a wife who's a great caregiver. I also became sensitive to the needs of people that once were referred to as shut-ins. Do you remember that term? Remember as a kid hearing that description at prayer meeting.

Shut-ins were the old people who couldn't get out and about anymore. Well, I was in the category. I was a shut-in. Uh thankfully, I am out and about now a little bit, but my heart goes out to those who are truly shut-in or in recovery for a long period of time.

My kids and grandkids and siblings were all so good to check on me. Um my sister received a message from a friend who asked about me and she said this. She said, "I miss being part of David's congregation." Lisa, if you are watching, thank you for that.

I appreciate your description. I've never really thought of our entire group or our online group as a congregation. We can't see each other. We don't know who's here and who's not here.

Jeff in Indiana doesn't know that in Mississippi Ray and Crystal are drinking coffee and watching me on a Sunday morning and they don't know Cindy in Florida or other friends I have all over. But here we are each week growing together and learning more about God. Maybe the biggest lesson that I learned when I was down is that all of us need God. All of us need encouragement.

That's why I try to do this each week and I promise in the days ahead I'll do my very best and try not to miss another week. I haven't used a scripture today, so I thought that I would close with one of my favorites. It's found in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5. There we are told, "Every word of God proves true.

He is a shield to those who take refuge in him." I have been forced to take refuge for the past month and God has been my shield and he has sent me to wonderful people to care for me. He's been faithful and his word has sustained me. One more quick lesson.

I've tried to learn to be thankful for every little thing and to stop taking things for granted. Happy Sunday. I look forward to next week as we look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 6. God bless you.

Thanks for being with me today.