God has blessed me with a physical stamina where I rarely get sick. Some pretty severe bouts of dysentery in the early years and then my treatment for Basal cell carcinoma about ten years ago now were the only things of significance. Add in a couple of cases of dengue fever and then a few colds and sore throats and that about wraps it up.
As a result, I have almost never had to miss work or study for illness. That is great because down here I put in an extreme number of hours and each day is packed with a massive about of work. I schedule my time well in advance and make use of as much of the time the Good Lord has given me here on this earth as I possibly can.
For the past five weeks, I have been even busier than normal as we had Dewayne Liebrandt of Deaf Ministries International down to work with the deaf and the Gordon Clifford of Christian Mission Press down to see the work that uses a significant portion of his total output. Making sure their time was well spent added even more activity to my normally hectic schedule.
Last week we returned from a week in Villavicencio and on Wednesday, I saw Gordon off at the airport. I had planned a few days of light activity to rest up a bit and prepare for our next visitor, Paul Odham, who is our specialist in learning disabilities. I had planned on getting some work done on the car and doing some office work, and not much else. It is a good thing, too.
Because sandwiched into that only small slice of free time I had, I came down with a very bad cold. For the first time in my life, I totally lost my voice. I could barely manage a slight whisper, and even that would set off a coughing fit. So from the very evening that I saw Gordon of at the airport, when I came down with the cold, clear up till today, which is Tuesday, I have been forced to disappear into the woodwork and take it easy. Since I could not talk, I could do nothing except a bit of office work. And for a couple of those days, I was not even up to that as the fever kept me in bed most of that time.
I had taken the very unusual step of unplugging the phone and turning off my cell phone. I could not answer them anyway, as I could not talk loud enough to be heard. After a few days, some of the Colombian Christians came by to check up on me. They had become worried when they called and I did not answer. When I explained what had happened, they laughed and found my situation to be quite humorous. “That will teach you†they said, “I think God decided you needed to slow down and bit and so He forced your hand.â€
Maybe they were right. I seldom if ever take any time off. I enjoy my work too much and there is too much to do. But, as my Colombian visitors observed as they headed out the door, “you are not as young as you used to be, remember?†I chuckled again as we said goodbye. Maybe the Good Lord knew that I needed a break and so He insisted upon it. So He made sure that I took some time off, whether I wanted to or not. I seem to be recovering well now and am looking forward to getting back into full swing here in the next day or so. But resting up is not my cup of tea!