OK, fine... Dentist

About a week ago I fainted at the dentist office... OK, fine, there it is. I made the mistake of telling a couple of people and now I'm getting sent pictures of needles & dental work. Thank you for your support.

Last week I took my son to get two wisdom teeth pulled. When the first novicaine (sp?) shots were given to him (with the 80" needle), I felt a little light headed. After they were done with that round, I went to the lobby to sit down and had some water. OK, things were cool... I went back in while he waited for the novicaine to settle in.

When doc came back, he said he would do more shots and then wait a bit until starting the tooth removal. He gave the shots and that part went fine; but then, unexpectedly, he started digging the teeth out. Oh, oh.... trouble in river city. I start sweating big time and let them know I gotta go sit down... so I start walking down the hallway to the lobby and the world starts closing in on me. In my mind I'm saying, "10 more steps.... 9 more steps... 8 more steps" -- and I made it to the chairs! Praise God I didn't faint!

Then the receptionist & the hygenist come out to help me (now I'm really embarassed!). They throw a cold towel on the back of my neck - that's better. Then they say, "you are sweating right through your shirt." OK, now that's lovely! True, but not exactly what I'm looking to hear at that point. I tip my head back to enjoy the towel on the back of my neck... and then I'm out. I think it was just a brief time, but I came to when a cold towel was put on my forehead. Then I was fine. It was like throwing up -- you just do it and then you are fine.

It was a very humbling experience. My 11 year old is getting two teeth "extracated" and dear-old-dad can't even stay on his feet. Well, it's good to be humbled from time to time I guess... and it's fun to have stories. I'm not looking forward to my next visit to the dentist; before I went out the second time the dentist told me only two people had fainted - and both were women. Again, confidence & joy!

Oh well... just a fun story that maybe someday will preach.

White as snow

Prior to today's snowfall, I had been thinking about how the snowpiles around town and our house had become pretty ugly. You know what I mean... snow gets plowed a few times and the piles turn dirty. But then the new snow came today and whitened everything up again.

My thoughts moved to my heart and my need for constant snow to make me clean. As we confess our junk, ask God for forgiveness, and commit to turning from our ways, we are forgiven and our sins become as far as the East is from the West and are sent to the ocean floor. The blood of Christ becomes the snow in our lives, making us white as snow... glorious grace! But our repentance can give way to the pressures of life and the wiles of an enemy that prowls around like a roaring lion. Like Paul, we find two laws at work within us - the law that wants to do good and the law that does evil. Over time, our sinful nature, leads to our snowpiles becoming dirtied once again. Praise God for fresh snow.