Medicated

I had an interesting interaction today as a result of visiting my family doctor and attempting to get the followup prescription filled. The pharmacy where I usually get prescriptions filled informed me that they did not have the requested medicine and would not for some time. Helpfully, they indicated that the next pharmacy down the road (it's a hike to get such stuff out here, but I like the trade off) would be able to fill the script. What happened next was an eye opener, at least for these bleary old eyes of mime.

The prescription, of course, had the doctor's name on it. I was asked for my birth date and told the script would be filled in about 20 minutes. As I wandered across the street to confirm that the few items I needed were less expensive where I usually shop, I thought, "How will I ask for my meds at the pickup counter? They never asked for my name." Sure enough, "What is the name?" was the question when I asked if my order was ready. The order was ready and it came labeled with my name which is pretty spooky since I had never been in that store before or even one of the stores in that chain of drug stores. I suppose the 20 minutes involved a call to the doctor to confirm that the script was legitimate. Spooky still.

It occurred to me that lots of folks know lots about us and we may as well get used to it. Then I remembered that we have One who knows everything about us. Most importantly, He uses that knowledge only in ways to confirm His great love for us. I can't get too concerned about what "Big Brother" knows about me. My loving Father knows all there is to know about him too and will work even that out for those who love Him. Gotta go take some pills now. Hope you enjoyed the story.

Plane and Fancy

One of the first things that happens when boards come into the shop destined to become the project at hand is to plane those boards down to the desired thickness. So it was with some disappointment a few days ago that turning on the planer resulted in an uncomfortable silence in what is usually a very noisy machine. How could this be? That machine is only 25 years old or so. Truth is, we've been operating on borrowed time for a while now. After checking out the incoming voltage and connections, my son Jonathan and I figured the old motor had just given up. It began to look like the 200 board feet or so of lumber we hoped to have ready for next weekend would not get even the first step on their way to being the wall paneling we hoped to install.

Removing the motor was pretty straight forward although, weighing in at about 100 pounds, it was challenge enough. In the mean time, a great friend offered us the use of a smaller planer that he had in his shop. Today, Jonathan and I ran the boards through the generously loaned machine noting that though plenty wide enough, the amount the machine could remove in a single pass was considerably less than it's disabled big, motorless brother. After two passes through the borrowed machine, I checked my phone and the message from the motor repair shop was just what I wanted to hear. Just a bit over 48 hours after dropping the motor off, it was repaired and ready to be picked up. You better believe, I'll talk that repair shop up.

The planer is back in business and that loud noise it makes is somehow not nearly as annoying as it seemed to be. If it's possible for a siren-like 90 decibel noise to sound like music, that's what's happening now. Barring any other breakdown, we should be on schedule to have our material ready for the weekend. We will move forward assuming that will be the case. One thing that has been present in the whole situation is an attitude, on my part, of understanding that all our circumstances are under God's control. He wanted us to experience a slowdown and acceptance that all our plans must somehow fit into His grand plan. I'm grateful to be able to use the planer again and just as with His presence, I appreciate it a bit more.