Today it is time for A Word For Wednesday. Our word for today? One Step At A Time. I posted it on our YouTube Channel a few minutes ago.
First of all, thank you all for praying for us and specifically praying for my health to improve enough so we might get back out on the road. I do not even know how to say thank you strong enough and loud enough. We appreciate all of the concern and prayer more than we can express. I still have a ways to go, but I am still climbing by God's grace.
With all of the prayer being offered and the texts, calls, emails, cards, letters and comments, there comes a measure of responsibility on our part, to keep you informed on how things are going and if I am improving.
Let me begin, by saying I am definitely 1000 times better than I was in mid March and even many, many times better than I was three weeks ago in the first part of June.
We are thankful for every ounce of improvement that we can sense or see. Praise God for His help!
From the very beginning of this ordeal, I have tried to stay active, even if it was only marching in place in the BoggsMobile for a few minutes at a time. On May 20, KJo and I began riding our stationary bike, hoping to build up my wind and endurance. This is how I KNOW that I am making some progress.
That first day, I rode one minute and had to quit. On May 21 I rode one minute and rested one minute. I repeated that five times for a total of five minutes riding in ten minutes time and 1.1 miles. We have kept building on that six days a week.
On June 1, I rode three minutes took a one minute break and rode two more minutes. The next day I rode eight minutes and the next day nine minutes. On June 10 I rode twelve minutes. Like I said, one step at a time.
Since June 12, I have been riding twenty to twenty three minutes and five miles, plus or minus a tenth or two, six days a week. This effort has undoubtedly helped my lung capacity and endurance.
During this time, I have sung and preached once or twice each week and sang some during services at our home church. I have done all of this while using the portable oxygen machine and my levels stay up pretty good.
Here is where the rub comes in and where I would like for you to focus your prayers unto God. I still need the supplemental oxygen to do anything at all. I have taken it off several times when I am near the bus exhaust or adding gas to the mower or using anything that makes a spark. If I do much at all without the oxygen, my levels drop.
I am doing my best to be patient with this and I do see improvement at times. I have been told repeatedly that this can take a good amount of time and I understand that with my head. However, my heart is raring to go and to get back to doing what we love to do, what we are equipped to do.
I know that God is able to repair all of this and allow my lungs to absorb oxygen like they are supposed to this very instant. I have complete faith the God can complete the work. God is a miracle working God!
Until that miracle comes, we are determined to move forward one step at a time as we are able.
Last week, our Pastor, Bro. Bennie Sutherland, ask us to sing for the altar service at our home church during revival. It may not seem like much of a start, but this is the first time I have been to church more than two nights in a row in months.
We were able to sing each night, enjoy the services and still do a few things during the day that needed to be done. I was more tired than usual, but I was able to exhort and sing each night without extreme trouble.
We ended the week of revival with a very busy weekend and I handled it pretty well. Praise God!
This week, we are taking another test step.
Bro. Chambers in Charlotte, North Carolina has asked us to help with the singing and for KJo to play the piano. Bro. Chambers knows that I and not 100% and that I may not even be able to attend all of the services. I hope to be able to go as much as possible and to sing.
My tendency is to push as hard as I can go and find the limit. That is exactly what I did about three or four weeks after COVID and the result nearly killed me. I really want to avoid that if at all possible. I can not do that.
There is a temptation to swing the pendulum back the other way and never try to do anything. I can not do that either.
The compromise between the two extremes is to keep taking baby steps, making all the progress I can without going over the edge again.
That is the plan. We will pray and step forward. We ask you to continue to pray for us. We believe that God will provide answers and stay faithful.
Thank you for reading today.
Davy
