"Wanna play with me Pawpaw?"
I don't get to amaze my wife of 38 years that often anymore but last night was one of those occasions. My daughter Sarah was visiting with her daughter Olivia (grandchild #2). While Sarah was working on a project Livie was playing with a large bottle of pop beads and accessories. I had connected several pieces for her and she was on the living room floor when she made her request; wanna play with me, Pawpaw? It was the first time she had ever made that request.
When she was born I was recuperating from hip replacement surgery having already had a knee replaced the year before. Not quite a year later I suffered kidney failure and all the physical degradation the goes along with that. So, my granddaughters have never known me to be "normal" but that doesn't matter to them. They will take what they can get.
Once I understood her request I got out of my chair, crossed the floor and very gingerly got down on the floor beside her. I snapped beads together with her and made a necklace which I snapped around her neck. She had made some bracelets so she was "bejeweled". She showed her mommy and Grammy her prizes while I started cleaning up. Needless to say it was a special time.
There were times during her early years when I wondered if I would live to see her playing on a floor like that. But all along the way I knew that the Lord was at work perfecting my physical as well as my spiritual. I had polio when I was 4 and "walked away from it" so I've always believed in God's ability to keep me physically. This morning as I was reading I was reminded of that exact fact.
Psalm 86 in the Message version says "Bend an ear, God; answer me. I'm one miserable wretch! Keep me safe—... Help your servant—I'm depending on you! You're my God; have mercy on me. I count on you from morning to night. Give your servant a happy life; I put myself in your hands! You're well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. Pay attention, God, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help. Every time I'm in trouble I call on you, confident that you'll answer...
From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord;... You've always been great toward me—what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster!... you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much you love me... As you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet."
When she was born I was recuperating from hip replacement surgery having already had a knee replaced the year before. Not quite a year later I suffered kidney failure and all the physical degradation the goes along with that. So, my granddaughters have never known me to be "normal" but that doesn't matter to them. They will take what they can get.
Once I understood her request I got out of my chair, crossed the floor and very gingerly got down on the floor beside her. I snapped beads together with her and made a necklace which I snapped around her neck. She had made some bracelets so she was "bejeweled". She showed her mommy and Grammy her prizes while I started cleaning up. Needless to say it was a special time.
There were times during her early years when I wondered if I would live to see her playing on a floor like that. But all along the way I knew that the Lord was at work perfecting my physical as well as my spiritual. I had polio when I was 4 and "walked away from it" so I've always believed in God's ability to keep me physically. This morning as I was reading I was reminded of that exact fact.
Psalm 86 in the Message version says "Bend an ear, God; answer me. I'm one miserable wretch! Keep me safe—... Help your servant—I'm depending on you! You're my God; have mercy on me. I count on you from morning to night. Give your servant a happy life; I put myself in your hands! You're well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. Pay attention, God, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help. Every time I'm in trouble I call on you, confident that you'll answer...
From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord;... You've always been great toward me—what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster!... you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much you love me... As you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet."
posted by Dad at
10:35 AM
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