Anyone who reads the news knows that Mississippi had devastating tornadoes that left a path of destruction 100 miles long on Friday. One tornado left a one-mile-wide path and was designated and F4 (out of F5). I was told by a neighbor that the huge tornado that destroyed so many cities initially passed 11 miles north of my home in Yazoo County . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/tornado-alley/

Reading from one of the phrases above, (I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me), made me think it is inappropriate to ask that I be spared the pain of this surgery and recovery . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/the-antithesis-of-pain/

A reader sent me the following: Rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina often caused residents to be challenged to prove home titles back hundreds of years. That is because of community history stretching back over two centuries during which houses were passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish a paper trail of ownership . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/believe-it-or-not/

I recently held a conversation with someone I have known all my life. The subject of compassion came up and he expressed to me that he wished that he could have had compassion for others in his life. His lifetime is nearly gone, and now he is a sickly old man. On the one hand, he states that he laments the fact that he is completely devoid of compassion for others, and yet to listen to him it doesn’t sound like he has changed one iota and thus seems devoid of remorse and repentance . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/compassion-is-not-a-freckle/

My beloved brother Jim tragically took his own life several years ago, but it seems like only yesterday to me and it still grieves me and leaves me with a broken heart even today. I was going through his Bible this morning and reading his hand-written notes and saw one that read: “When on the edge, what would Jesus do?” Below it he had written: “Forgive – Don’t talk about others – Jesus wouldn’t.” . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/windshield-or-rear-view-mirror/

Ahhh . . . To be young again. Us old guys don’t recover so fast. My shoulder specialist said over the weekend that I need surgery immediately to repair my rotator cuff. He states that the muscle has separated entirely from the bone, and I have let it go for so long, opting to try and fight through the pain myself, that the muscle has atrophied . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/god-throws-me-a-bone/

I was traveling in India several years ago and saw for the first time people with leprosy. I shall never forget looking into the haunted eyes of a beggar who had lost his ears, fingers, and had other open wounds where the disease was ravaging his body. I stopped our taxi and gave the man some money as he stared blankly into my eyes, almost as though he was looking through me with his haunting expression . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/commonsense-the-lost-national-treasure/

I read an interesting article today about a lady who had her feet and hands amputated due to a surgery on her neck to allow her some relief from migraine headaches. She ended up with quadruple amputations! Twelve days after the procedure, Mrs. Adkins was airlifted to Dallas and put into a medically induced coma after she suffered sepsis due to strep on her incision. She was in a coma for 14 days before waking up and seeing that her hands and feet had turned black . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/dog-of-the-year/

Thanks for the many prayers for Jon, (my youngest son), and his surgery yesterday. It went great and it looks like he might even go home from the hospital later this afternoon. I asked his wife this morning to please tell him that I was praying for him night and day and lo and behold in about five minutes he called me. He sounded great! Now we must wait for the pathology report to see if the cancer has spread. I am prayerfully assuming that it has not, and I’m trusting that his next step will be dealing with recovery, without experiencing the side effects common to this surgery which can be numerous and can last for six weeks or God forbid even longer. I told him just to take it one step at a time and to know that God would be with him through it all . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/why-do-bad-things-happen/

My youngest son Jon is undergoing surgery at this very moment. He has prostate cancer, and they are removing it. I’m told the operation will take 3-4 hours. I’ve been praying for him for some time this morning and trust God will be with him every step of the way. I pray that the Lord will be with him and keep him safe and that He will guide the surgeons’ hands. I also pray that the cancer will not have spread and that he will recover quickly with no side effects . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/faith-to-the-end/