Day 39 - Smell Fast

I had the willies all yesterday afternoon and most of this morning.  Early yesterday afternoon I had some folks from church helping me do some things at my house.  I was trying to grab one of those big manuel tree loppers.  They are the ones that have an extending pole, a saw on one side and a cutting mechanism for smaller branches on the other side.  This mechanism is attached to the end of a rope so you can cut limbs at a great distance.  Since I do so much in my yard I had purchased one of the nicer versions of this tool.  Mine had a chain/pulley system to get the maximum strength when pulling on the rope.

Whoever had previously borrowed it had put it up in the rafters of my shed.  It was wedged pretty good so I was twisting, pulling, and rotating anyway I could to get the thing out.  What I didn't notice in this process was my hand had wandered placing two of my fingers inside the cutting swath of the lopper.  What I also failed to notice was the rope had gotten tangled in the rafters, thus engaging the cutter as I pulled.

I had a brief moment, and it is very vivid to me because I debated it in my head, in which I thought about yanking it forcefully.  If I had, I would be either two fingers short or going through the healing process after having them surgically reattached.  Instead, I went with short and slow maneuvering.  This is when I discovered both my hand position and the rope situation as the blade pinned my fingers.  Another inch and they would have been gone..........Its still kind of freaking me out.

Anyways, it got me thinking about how permanent and long lasting that accident could have been.  It would not have been "fasting" from my right pointer and middle finger............it would have been the simple sad state of things......I started thinking how much easier it is to give something up for a time than to lose the ability or gift all together without any hope of getting it back again.  I have learned much from these fasting experiences the last 5 and a half months but I don't think I was any more thankful than I was yesterday afternoon choosing one course of action over another.  Was it luck?  Was it coincidence?  Could God have led me to the ......not necessarily wiser....but infinitely more beneficial course of action?  I believe He did.  Oh there was a three year old in the doorway bye the way.  Maybe God didn't spare me for my sake but for his.  If I'm a three year old I can't imagine anything much more traumatizing than bloody dismemberment.

Well, some near misses in life definitely bring perspective.  I am so thankful that I can give things up for a time if only to rejoice that it is only for a time.  My bodily imperfections, character flaws, and emotional injuries will all ultimately be made well.  They will be healed.

I will be at camp all next week.  I don't know if I will have much time to blog.  Starting the media fast bye the way.

No more TV.
No more movies.
No more radio.
No more facebook, fantasy baseball (I have complete faith in you Steven), tigerillustrated, foxnews, cnn, slickdeals.com, addictinggames or espn.

I am sooooooooo in love with these things so I am slightly dreading it while simultaneously getting excited.

How much more time will I have?  I can't imagine.

I am going to limit my computer time to email, my blog, and Rosetta stone.

We will see how it goes.

Hope you are all doing great!  Love you all.