Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Good Afternoon,

 

   Wow, it's already 2:30. Where has this Tuesday gone to? Hospitals and doctor's offices is all I can say. Joyce Raines is in Christus hospital in Clear Lake with some potassium problems and she fell while in the hospital, too. She says she feels like she was in a fight and lost. She in in room 422. J.C. Bryant, an old friend, had his knee replaced yesterday and all was well until about 3am today when a blood clot got loose and went to his lung. He is now in ICU at St. Luke's Patient's Hospital in Pasadena. My dad had to go back to the doctor today to have his 24 hour heart monitor removed. We should know something in a week on that. Betty Smith is still in rehab at Legend Oaks and looks really good and strong. She may go home in the next few days. Fran Miller is there, also, and she is looking very good, too, and may go home as early as today. Patty Walger will have her back surgery tomorrow, but we are still waiting on a time. Natalie Lombrana is having test procedures done on her thyroid over the next few days. Please pray for these.

 

   The emperor penguins of Antarctica know the importance of community, teamwork and togetherness. Their lives depend on it. They huddle together by the hundreds, leaning on their friends and relatives to share the warmth that allows them to survive the brutal, freezing weather of their environment. Temperatures dip to 70 degrees below zero and the winds gust to 100 miles per hour. In a few hours of this a large steel screwdriver can be snapped like a pretzel. The penguins take turns monitoring the outside of their giant huddle, on the lookout for danger or food. After one of the birds has finished his "perimeter duty"  it waddles to the inside of the group so it can get warm and get some sleep. The baby penguins stand on their moms' and dads' feet to protect themselves from the icy surface. If a penguin tried to survive alone, it would not make it through one winter night. But because they stick together, the emperor penguins enjoy a survival rate of over 95 percent.

 

   Community can equal survival. The proof is in the penguins. And the tougher the conditions, the more important it is for community to band together. You may not ever need to huddle together to stay warm but there are other types of warmth that we can gain from community: encouragement, empathy, ideas, spirituality and many more.

 

   Do you now what Baptists cal their penguin huddle? Sunday School. Yep. You need it. It's quality time in a small group that can yield some great dividends and lessons. Try it every Sunday.

 

See you later, love, Ken