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| Repainted many times. Not finished yet. |
One night I muscled my 10-lb medical textbook out of my book case and turned to the heart section. I read that if a smoker quits smoking, they can reverse the damage of 10 years of smoking in 1 year.
Most people think that smoking effects your lungs, and it does, but it is also devastating to the heart.
I always knew that it would be good for smokers to quit smoking, but would it really help? After all those years of damage, what's the use of stopping now?
Like a smoker, many people have wasted hours, days, and years on mental cigarettes of fear, covetousness, pride, or anger. I think I tended to fear sometimes that following God would be boring and drab. Certainly if God had given me what I deserved, he would have abandoned me long ago. But somehow whenever I drop my cigarette of fear (or pride....or anger), there's God, ready to start the restoring process. Sometimes I can almost physically feel his restoration pouring through my soul.
If 40 years of smoking damage can be reversed in just 4 years, just because of the healing properties of the human heart, then I'm sure God's ability to restore our damaged immortal hearts must be even greater.
All we have to do is stop smoking.
Very cool.
ReplyDeletewow. something to think about. good job, Kat!
ReplyDeleteWow... did you really have to put me at the "level" of... smoking??? And, just recently, our pastor preached a sermon on the heresy of accepting homosexuality... and I ended up on the same "level" of a person who has homosexual temptations. Thank you for opening my eyes... once again.
ReplyDeleteIn other news... I JUST realized where you are painting this heart... all along, I thought you must be painting it in some creepy, forsaken basement room of the hospital... and now I see that it's in a "beautiful" little God-filled block building in a very special part of Elkhart... makes me miss it... and all the people who grace it with their presence! Just a couple weeks, and I plan to touch that very carpet and hug those wonderful children and hang out with those incredible people who are working to make a difference in the lives of children and their families!!! :)
Luv and miss ya!
Ang