A Detour on the Road Home

February 26, 2014

Written 29 minutes ago by Ken Summers

Today was actually a good day. My sister-in-law Sue spent the morning with me, I had visits from Ted Grizzle, Pastor John Engle, flowers from Pastor Mark Orphan and the Timberline Missions Team and even a visit from Kelly Schilling (my at-home physical therapist).

I even had timely visits from the doctors that are evaluating my progress and making recommendations on treatment and coordinating for discharge planning. I did have stress test on my heart this morning. The test basically confirmed the EKG results which showed some diminished heart function. This is probably a result of the severity of my infection and the drastic drop in my blood pressure. The plan will be to treat with some medication and then redo an EKG at a later date.

I have been surprised by the weakness that I am experiencing even though I am feeling better. As a result of the PT and OT evaluation, here at the hospital, they are recommending at least a week of in-patient physical and occupational rehabilitation. This is something that came to my mind and is probably a good strategy for the long term. My situation is greatly different than my last hospitalization.

So…the road home is going to take a little detour or at least a little longer route. This kind of reminds me of my propensity to seek different routes between points. Many years ago when attending a church conference my youth pastor looked at me one morning (as we traveled from the hotel to the conference site) and said, “Do you realize that we have made this same trip the last three days and you have not taken the same route twice?”

 I usually get to where I need to be sometimes sooner, sometimes later, and sometimes longer. So this journey is not new territory for me, because I know I will eventually get home to where I belong and want to be.

When I think of that, it reminds me of our sojourn hereon earth to heaven. We never know the path that we may find ourselves on, but we can be confident of safely arriving at our final destination. The road may be more frustrating than we expect or filled with unusual turns and detours, but as we keep in mind that there is a Heavenly Father who is above who can see what we can’t see, we can rest assured in His loving care and sovereign direction.

So, I am looking forward to seeing my friends at Northern Colorado Rehab Hospital. A little sooner and a under different circumstances, but I am looking forward to their excellent care as I prepare to return home in a few more days.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isa. 58:8,9