THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

November 3, 2021

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

Last Thursday Jon had surgery on his back to remove a cyst. It was right below his middle back and ran along his spine.

The cyst started out months ago as being small; and it stayed that way for a long time. But then a few weeks ago, it suddenly began growing and became sore and bruised looking around the outer edges. Jon contacted his doctor who diagnosed it as a cyst, who then referred him to a surgeon.

Before his appointment with the surgeon, because nothing happens quickly and he had to wait 2-3 weeks to get in, the cyst popped and drained quite a bit. Although it became smaller and wasn't sore anymore, it was still noticeable there.

Jon visited the surgeon and was told that this type of cyst would need to be surgically removed, because there was a sac underneath the skin that held the gunk from the cyst. Gunk was not the medical term used, but that's my word for it. The surgeon described it as being like an iceberg where only a small portion is above the surface, but the majority of the mass is underneath the skin where it cannot be seen.

Two days before surgery, the cyst couldn't be seen above the surface of the skin and we were wondering whether or not Jon would still need surgery; or if the surgeon would be able to find it in order to remove it. Jon called, and the nurse checked with the doctor and he said yes, it still needed to be removed.

When we went in to the out-patient surgical center, the surgeon came in prior to Jon going back to surgery in order to mark the spot where the cyst was. Nothing could be seen on the skin surface and there was no longer an obvious spot to show where it was at. Jon had had me take a picture a couple days prior to the surgery of his putting his finger on the spot. He has a small mole right below the spot that helped show the exact location. Jon was able to show that picture to the surgeon, and he was able to feel and know exactly where the cyst was. The doctor had me watch while he marked Jon's back (drawing a smily face on it, as he marked the spot), and explained to me exactly what the procedure would look like.

Afterwards, the surgeon came out and told me that the cyst had some depth to it and there was a lot there. They cleaned it out really well and removed the sac. They had to do stitches internally to pull that "crater" that the cyst had created back together, so that it didn't have room to grow back.

Jon read the report online on MyChart last night and saw where the size of the cyst was about the size of his thumb. That's big!

Had Jon chosen not to have the cyst removed, the surgeon told him that it would grow back and could get bigger, infected, and extremely painful the next time. Ignoring the problem wasn't going to make it go away. For healing to come, it required being cut open and surgically removing the problem.

Matthew 12:34b says, "For whatever is in your heart determines what you say."

None of us can see from looking at someone what is inside their heart. And vise-versa, no one can see what's inside our heart from looking at us. But when you spend time with someone, what's inside will come out through their words and attitude. No one can bury and completely cover what is hidden within us, but in one way or another it will come out.

Like an iceberg, where you can't see how deep it goes below the surface, what's hidden inside a person's heart is often not obvious to others looking at the outward appearance.

In fact, someone may not even realize just how deep the hurt, bad attitude, unforgiveness, anger, guilt, etc lies until someone goes in and starts digging at it. They may be able to keep it hidden for a long, long time and it may remain small and seemingly insignificant. But if not taken care of and gotten rid of, there will come a point where it's going to become painful and become bigger. When that happens, it's going to be harder to get rid of.

Sin and ungodly attitudes aren't going to just go away on their own. Ignoring them isn't going to make them better. But in order to receive healing, we need Jesus to come in and remove those things that are buried within us.

On the other hand, there are many necessary and needful things inside of us that no one will ever see. Those things keep us alive and thriving. They are what give us life.

It's the same spiritually. Psalms 119:11 says, "I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You."

When we hide the Word of God in our heart, then it guards our heart and mind. It guides our steps and keeps us headed in the right direction. It keeps us from sinning against God.

Having God's Word hidden in our heart also will come out in our words and attitude. It will be seen in our actions and how we love and treat others. In fact, we never want it to be removed or gone; but want it to become more and more rooted deeply within our heart.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I have no idea how long I had that cyst, except that it suddenly showed up around 6-8 months ago. It looked relatively small at the time. In fact, I thought it was a bug bite or something temporary like that. After a week or two, I noticed it wasn't going away, but it stayed fairly small, and inoffensive, so I ignored it. It was months later that I noticed it had grown quite a bit. I think it grew in just a few days, but wasn't watching it enough to be sure. Later, it shrank, and I might have started ignoring it again.

But even after it had shrunk enough that the surface didn't show at all, it was still there below the surface. The surgeon said that it had infection around it, too. Even though it seemed to be all better, it was there, it was big, and it was infected. And being next to my spine, it could have created more problems eventually.

We can have garbage in our lives that we ignore. It may only show once in a while. And it may almost disappear from time to time. But it is important to get rid of it completely, so it doesn't create other problems.

ON THE MENEWE:

Brenda's Country Dip

In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat; drain.

Mix sausage, soups, taco sauce, and cheese in skillet and cook until cheese melts. Add onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Make sure not to overcook as these need to be crispy. Add hot sauce, to taste, if desired.

Serve with tortilla chips.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Daylight savings time begins this weekend, so don't forget to set your clocks back one hour (fall back) either before you go to bed on Saturday night or when you get up on Sunday morning.

Many years ago, our pastor and his wife forgot to change their clocks once. For about 20 years, one of the church members still brings that up twice each year. Sometimes our past can never be forgotten.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Enjoy and cherish the season of life that you are in -- toddlers, children, preteen, teen, young adult, adult, middle age, old age -- each season has its own treasures. Enjoy the moments. - Brenda Gantt

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org