"A new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel 36:26
 

Like A Newborn Babe
 

     In 1994, Jim Gleason underwent a life-saving heart transplant at age 51. After one of the most extreme surgeries imaginable, many asked how it felt to live with a new heart. His analogy was " . . . like being born again, but with 50 years of memories and experiences built in . . ."

     He tells of coming home just ten days after his transplant. He wanted to go for a short walk around the yard. Accompanied by his daughter, he gazed in wonder at the green grass after weeks of hospital-room walls.

     I stopped walking. "Look at that!" I exclaimed to Mary. I was pointing to our small maple tree, so vibrant with the colors of that crisp, clear fall day. Then I spied a grasshopper and, like a young child, exclaimed in glee, "Look at that! A grasshopper!!"

     Her response, in disbelief to my reaction, was almost sarcastic, "Well, if that's exciting, look here ~ a lady bug!"

     After four years with his new heart, Jim still cherishes life's simple pleasures. And when is the danger of losing that gift greatest? "As friends and family wish you would return to being normal," he reflects. "I struggle to never become 'normal' in that sense again."

     With God's help, we too can walk in newness of life ~ no surgery required. May we always give thanks that we don't have to be "normal."

Serving in Love,
Sandy
jesus4me4evr@ctc.net
Giving God the Glory in Every Thing!