Iron Woman versus the $26-dollar man

 

 

well my dear ones,

 

It’s now been one week since a surgical team

went in and wrenched my spine back into place.

Once they decompressed the spinal nerves

by re-setting the L4 and L5 lumbar vertebrae,

they then performed a “fusion,”

which is a fancy way of saying

they used four screws and two rods

to lock those two bones together

until they fuse to each other.

 

The amazing thing is,

I was able to get up and walk the next day,

as well as every day since,

although I’m still on major pain meds

(due to surgery-site pain; all other pain gone;

Praise God! You’d have to feel it to believe it)

which is why I haven’t been able to

sit down and write until today.

 

So, while I was thinking about what to write,

my wife had The Weather Channel on

and they pulled up some old footage of

“the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 2005, finishing in 15 hours and five minutes.”

 

I was able to back it up and get her name,

Sarah Reinerstsen.

 

I like her motto: fear less, live more.

 

She’s a tough and determined person.

Sarah first tried to finish the

Ironman World Championships in 2004,

but was disqualified

when she reached the end of the bike course

15 minutes after cut-off time.

Yet she returned a year later and

crossed the finish line in just over 15 hours

...way cool of her.

 

Perhaps you’ve already seen her,

like in The Amazing Race 10 (2006),

in which she finished seventh place.

 

But, in case not, you can learn more

about this amazing young woman here:

 

http://www.alwaystri.com/

 

 

The more I watched her triathlon footage,

the more I thought,

“The ‘$26-dollar man’* is whining like a wuss

about some minor pain,

while this childhood-amputee,

turned Iron Woman,

is out kicking serious bootie

on an international level!”

 

*Some quick calculations showed me that,

despite the astronomical installation cost,

if I was to have the Titanium parts removed

and then sold them as scrap metal,

they would have a street value of about $26;

hence, “the $26-dollar man.” *lol* =)~

 

If you’d like a little inspiration for the week,

I’d recommend that you draw some from Sarah,

the Iron Woman.

(although, personally, I draw mine from my wife,

who is a whole different kind of Iron Woman,

but that’s a-whole-nother story for another day)

 

 

Have a great week! =)

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

Overcomer

 

well my dear ones,

 

 

While I find more and more things

over which I have no control,

I am also discovering

the joy of simple things,

things I mentioned before,

things like spending some time

with an old friend,

or catching a good song

at just the right moment.

 

There’s a singer I really like, Mandisa,

a young woman who got “discovered”

on the fifth season of “American Idol.”

 

Actually, she got severely disrespected

by one of the judges on the show

who made some really awful comments

about her being overweight.

 

Much to her credit,

Mandisa offered him unasked forgiveness,

which elicited a much-deserved apology.

 

Anyway, while I like her

“Good Morning Song”

she recorded with her hiphop bud, tobyMac,

I really enjoy her latest song,

which I happened to catch one day,

and have listened to numerous times since,

called “Overcomer.”

 

In her own case,

the thing she worked to overcome

was an addiction to overeating,

but the cool thing about her song

is that it appeals to any of us

and whatever it is

we are wanting to overcome.

 

You can see the lyrics here:

 

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/mandisa/overcomer.html

 

Or you can listen to the mp3 here:

 

http://49mp3.com/mp3/Mandisa+Overcomer

 

If you have anything in your life

that you’d like to get beyond,

I hope this song will inspire you

to be an Overcomer.

 

Have a great week! =)

 


grace, peace, and love to you,

dave