Getting up yesterday morning, after the previous afternoon's work, my knees were a mess. Lumps and bumps, looking much like a late summer melon. Hopefully an appointment with the orthopaedic specialist later this week will bring relief and a solution. Right now I can barely walk, stairs are almost impossible. So no painting. No playing with a grandbaby today. Not much of anything except a date with an ice pack.

On top of that, I was hit yesterday with a hurt so deep I couldn't tell which was worse, my heart or my knees. At the end of the day, it was a relief to climb into bed. Call it a day. Some days are just like that.

Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business......Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. James 4:13-15

I certainly didn't have any of that planned! Who would? I have to ask, do I believe that He's an intimate God, who cares about the day to day stuff of my lilfe? If so, do I believe nothing will touch me today that has not passed through his hand? Including the hurts, the injuries, the limitations?

Today, right now, looking only ahead about an hour or two, I'm going to ice these knees, finish the bills, and then leave this house. You can drive with braces on both knees, right? And I'm going to climb into a booth somewhere with my Bible, devotional and a long cup of coffee, and nurse both my knees and my heart. Yesterday was one of those days, where I felt like I was hit from all sides. I'm hoping today won't be. I'm not sure if I'll get the lessons my well-intending friend thought I should, I hope to long remember what it feels like to hurt, to feel waves of sadness washing over you, to face limitations daily. Whatever the cause, this world is a hard place to live in sometimes. I don't want today to be like yesterday, but I do want to remember what it feels like to be overwhelmed with the things of life. Empathy - walking in someone else's shoes, or knee braces, or hurting heart - I believe that's holy stuff. Thank you Lord, for continuing to send the lessons. I need them. We all need them.