Three more days with the catheter! When I was about to be discharged from the US Army, I had a short-timer’s calendar on my locker door and I checked off the days I had left in the service. I feel like I could make one of those for this occasion, as well. I’m now doing well enough that I spent a little time at my desk yesterday afternoon. Sitting up is still difficult with the catheter, though.

Today is Veteran’s Day in the US. Later today I plan to finish Stephen Ambrose’s book D-Day. There were two great lessons I gleaned from this epic history of the Normandy Invasion. First, I was struck by the amount of detailed planning that went into that assault, of which I’ve already commented. Secondly, I was impressed with the necessary rethinking that had to take place when all those plans fell apart. They trained for the plan, but not for the failure of the plan. Every man was on his own to not only survive, but to come up with an alternate plan to accomplish the ultimate goal.

That reminds me of the church. We put plans in place, but they often don’t go as we planned. Churches often play the blame game or split when those failures happen, rather than remembering the goal, regrouping, and trying a new angle. I’m praying the Lord helps me to be creative and innovative in this changing world.