Luke’s Notebook

Well, I have just realized that it was four months ago today (Friday) that I had my knee surgery. November 7th of 2007 was the date I underwent the arthroscopy for my right knee, where the surgeon removed a small piece of torn cartilage (the medial meniscus). I had hurt it initially way back in the summer of 2006, and then over a year later is when I had finally gotten around to having it taken care of surgically.

So after going through most of 2007 with a sensitive knee that would hurt a lot if I twisted it or flexed it, how am I doing now? In a word: Tremendous.

My knee feels great! I can’t really even get it to hurt anymore, even if I try. I can jump, squat, kneel, bend, twist, and do all that fun stuff again! When I jump up (say in playing volleyball or basketball), I no longer find myself intentionally trying to land on my left foot, in an effort to lessen the blow to the right knee.

I am running again! And, really, I’m now just limited by my own stamina, not by my knee pain. In fact, just the other day, I ran a mile in right around seven minutes. My all-time record was 5:38, I believe (in fact, it’s mentioned somewhere in these archives), but I’m really happy to just be in the ballpark of seven minutes.

While my knee is not 100% yet, I wouldn’t say, it has got to be close. Every now and then, I’ll have a slight soreness or a mild ache, but those are getting to be rarer and rarer. And the most important thing is I don’t injure it anymore! In the past, I would always be afraid that I was just one wrong move away from reinjuring it, bringing the pain back. This, I’m thrilled to say, is a thing of the past.

It’s funny how it works, but I have thought so little about my knee and this surgery ever since it was taken care of. I guess that’s human nature, though, isn’t it? We worry and worry about a problem until it’s taken care of, and then we just… forget about it, move on to the next worry.

Well, I am just so grateful to be healthy again! I never want to take this for granted, the simple fact that I have two strong legs and two healthy arms. I need to just thank God for how blessed I am. There’s no guarantee that I’ll continue to be healthy or that I won’t get in an accident, lose a limb, become paralyzed. If that happened, I am positive that I’ll look back on these days and wonder why I wasn’t happier, more grateful, so thankful that I was so healthy.

So I’m going to work more and more on being grateful for what I have while I have it. I’m talking about family, friends, life in general, and, of course, physical health.

A friend of mine had broken her foot last year. I would see her all the time, hobbling around on her crutches, wearing a big cast. I remember her commenting once to me how she’ll be so grateful once she just gets to walk again on her own two feet. That’s something that most of us fully expect to do whenever we want, with no difficulties whatsoever.

Honestly, I really haven’t thought much about this all, and I guess I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t. The truth is I ought to just be so tremendously grateful to God for this health. Whenever I stop to really think about all of the different ways I am blessed, I really am overwhelmed by God’s goodness. It’s really humbling, and it just makes me love God more and more.

Over the past 16 months or so, I have been working out very consistently, much more so than I have ever done before. In November of 2006, since returning from the family’s fall trip, I started really going to the YMCA often and really working out hard. I started to really push myself. I started to run, started to bench-press, started to do the more unpleasant exercises.

Now we’re in March of 2008, and I’m kind of amazed to realize that I really haven’t stopped. Aside from trips and the brief break I took last November, pursuant to my knee surgery, I have been going several times a week, practically every week.

Anyway, I’m just looking back on this. I have made quite a bit of progress, and in one sense I am very encouraged by the results, by how much stronger I have gotten and how much more I’m lifting now than I was back in 2006.

On the other hand, it can be kind of discouraging to be here, 16 months later, after maybe 275 workouts, and I’m still struggling. Still fighting to not gain weight, still trying to make even more progress.

Sometimes, it seems like despite all of the hard work, all of the weight-lifting, all of the calorie-burning, I’m still just about breaking even. In fact, weight-wise, I’m actually a little heavier than I was a year ago. I’ve put on about 10 pounds since the start of 2007. Now, I know that most of that is muscle, and also I know that muscle weighs more than fat, so it’s not like I have just put on 10 pounds of fat.

So while I’ve definitely seen a lot of progress — plenty of objective results — still, it can be discouraging at times, frustrating at times. It’s like, it seems like I’m just barely paying off enough in order to not lose progress. Maybe it’s just coming from eating too much, but even then I try to be really careful about what I eat. I’m really calorie-conscious!

But I guess what I’m realizing is that this may just be a neverending battle, in a sense. At times, I’ll think, “Aw, heck, I’ve done enough work! This isn’t fair!” But if I stop working out, stop burning calories and building muscle, I’m going to decline. Fair or not, I can’t change what would happen.

I guess I’m learning more to just embrace this, to realize that I’ll probably like food as long as I live, and I’ll probably always have the urge to eat more than I should. At the same time, my body will probably always turn extra food into fat, into extra weight.

So really, it’s good to know that there’s no secret to staying in shape. Honestly, I don’t always like the solution, but at least I know that, when it comes down to it, it’s a matter of what I want more. It’s certainly not easy! Good grief, if I had to count the number of times I just kind of went through the motions of working out.

But, you know, it’s good to suffer a little, to deny ourselves, to say “No, not right now.” Certainly not limited to being in shape physically, but in countless areas, it’s so crucial to be the master of our bodies and not be subject to whatever the desire of the day happens to be. I guess that’s what dying to ourself is all about, huh?

I constantly think of Paul writing to the Corinthians: No, I beat my body and make it my slave… It’s good to have our “self” know who’s in charge.

I guess I’ll wrap this up. This might be a little different than most posts, but I’m kind of still feeling this out and trying to get back into the groove of writing. Be patient with me while I brush up on my technique. Not that I want to have a gimmick or anything — on the contrary, I’ve always just tried to be very real in what I write, and not rely on artsy writing skills (largely because I don’t really have any… ;)). So bear with me!

Recently, I bought the latest Passion release, “God Of This City.” It was released about a month ago, in early February. I was so excited to see a new Passion album out that I bought it and downloaded the MP3 version within minutes of even finding out the CD existed!

This is my 10th Passion CD, and I have loved every single one of them. My first introduction to Passion was back in September of 1999, when I bought the “Better Is One Day” album. I remember it very well, because that was when the four oldest guys (Paul, John, Mark, and I) drove down to Florida to spend a few days in Destin with our Aunt Jane and Aunt Ann. And while down in Florida, I bought this CD from a bookstore. Honestly, I’m not sure what draw me to it, as I don’t remember being familiar with Passion or any of the artists back then.

But, I bought it, liked it enough, and then a few years later I decided to buy a few more Passion releases. After I had three or four CDs, I was hooked. And since that time, I’ve been keeping an eye on anything new being put out by those guys.

One reason I have fallen in love with these CDs is that the worship is so genuine. You really feel like you’re just part of a big group of people who are just totally in love with God. I guess what I’ve loved is, really, the passion for God that’s evident through these songs.

Anyway, back to this latest CD. I’m not one to review CDs, but I just absolutely love this one and feel like I ought to share it. Like I said, I’ve had it for about a month, and I just can’t stop playing it or singing it. The artists on “God Of This City” are mostly Passion regulars — Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, David Crowder, Christy Nockels (formerly from Watermark), Matt Redman, and then there are the newer guys, Kristian Stanfill and Steve Fee.

I’ve been trying to pick out a favorite song on this CD, but I just can’t choose. I narrowed it down to a favorite four, though, so I’ll share those. In no particular order, they are Chris Tomlin’s “God Of This City,” Kristian Stanfill’s “Beautiful Jesus,” Christy Nockels’ “Hosanna,” and David Crowder’s “The Glory Of It All.”

Honestly, I find myself singing each one of these songs all the time (as well as many of the other tracks on the CD, really). They’re just really powerful, very heartfelt songs. My favorite line from the CD has to be from “Hosanna”:

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause

Since hearing that, I’m just constantly praying that very line. I want to be bothered by what bothers God. I want to be broken for what grieves Him.

Anyway, I could go on and on about this CD. It’s hard for me to compare it to the previous Passion releases, but I am certainly not disappointed with this one! I love this CD, and I am very glad that I bought it. As far as which of them is the best, I think it’s impossible for me to say. Each CD seems to bring some unique flavor and seems to strike a different chord in me.

Needless to say, I would not hesitate to recommend this CD. It’s, in a word, fabulous. I’m listening to it right now.

Check it out at: https://www.268store.com/268store.html

Entire track list:

Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin

You Are God - Charlie Hall

God Of This City - Chris Tomlin

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing - David Crowder Band

Hosanna - Christy Nockels

Sing Sing Sing - Chris Tomlin

Beautiful Jesus - Kristian Stanfill

Walk This World - Charlie Hall

We Shine - Steve Fee

God Of Our Yesterdays - Matt Redman

Glory Of It All - David Crowder Band

Shine - Matt Redman

Dancing Generation - Matt Redman

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - Chris Tomlin

A new and improved blog, notebook, diary, journal, or whatever you want to call it! I have some plans for this blog, although I’m not entirely sure yet what the extent of them will be. I’ll probably tweak the layout a bit, as I already have to some extent.

But what excites me is that I plan to dust this area off and continue to add content! Posting has been rather slow the past few months, but I’m thinking that this may all change soon. So… stay tuned.