Friday, December 30, 2022

A New Start




Today I am 49-years-old.

This past year has been a very good year in many ways. I was able to enjoy trips with my family to Virginia and to Northern Minnesota. I went on trip to Colorado with a group of pastor friends to do hiking and we conquered Mount Elbert, the second tallest peak in the lower 48 states. I have watched Bethlehem begin to rebound from COVID as we put on some wonderful events.

With all the good that has happened I still sit here on my birthday bummed and a little freaked out.

Last Thursday I went into the Emergency Room because I had pain in my left leg that had gotten worse all week long. With my history of blood clots (2013 and 2020) I was a little concerned that I had another, even though I was on a blood thinner (Eliquis). Sure enough I had another clot. Not only one clot, but three, two in my left leg and one in my right.

Next week I have an appointment to see Vascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, so hopefully we can figure out how we can prevent these clots from returning. I am scared about the fact that these clots formed while  I was on a blood thinner and was consistently getting 10,000 or more each day. I would appreciate your prayers, not only for healing and the doctor's wisdom, but also my mental health as I am stressed about another clot forming or one breaking off and going to my lungs or heart.

In the midst of this I have decided that I want to get back to blogging. For many years, (2004-2013), blogging was my main creative outline. I enjoyed writing out my thoughts for other people to read. 

A lot happened that slowed down my blogging. I got married, had kids, shifted time to social media, and became pastor of Bethlehem Church. 

Now that my kids are older and I want to spend less time on Facebook and Twitter, I thought it was the perfect time to get Paul's Ponderings going again. I want to have a place to share my thoughts as I go though this blood clot journey and work on getting healthy, as well as my thoughts on spiritual formation and discipleship.

I hope that you will join me and that I can be an encouragement to you along the way.


2 comments:

  1. Good to hear. You've always been one of my favorite thinkers. And we'll be praying about the clots!

    ReplyDelete

We Have A Voice

I am not sure how I stumbled upon Preston Sprinkle. It could be that I was looking for a podcast to listen to and the title Theology in the ...