Uplifting

::: the past five days have been difficult...

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...i have been dealing with acute tonsilitis, high fever, and lower back pain...today, however, i sense an Uplifting, a movement toward recovery...thank you for all your concern and your prayers...God has heard and answered them...being covered in icepacks and confined to one's back may not seem like an ideal arrangement to memorize scripture, but claire and i were blessed with close proximity to God's word during my illness...

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...staying on the subject, some of our readers have observed the surprising number of times that i've been sick since we arrived in japan (on one occasion, our church friends affectionately nicknamed me "odaijini-san"...odaijini is a polite japanese expression addressed to sick people, meaning "get well soon")...already my health has been compromised more times in japan (eight months) compared to our time in boston (four years), where the seasonal patterns are relatively similar...but it's not only frequency, but the forms of my illnesses...

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...the past few days remind us of the link between our body and our spirit...that taking good care of your body is an act of spiritual worship and part of our call to stewardship...

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