One body many parts

My right shoulder is currently in agony.  I've just finished typing up a testimony about God's Divine Intervention so that's the important sharing done and this is just a wee bonus blogpost to update y'all with what's happening in my life.  I know people have been reading my blog.  Beats me why my life is interesting to others, but I do appreciate the support.

Retreat

The venue for the weekend retreat changed very last minute but we thank God for providing for us and He truly showed us that we should fully rely on Him.  Only He can provide for us, even when the future seems bleak and we might find ourselves running out of time or coming to the end of a train track.  For many people it was their first retreat.  This was also my first retreat - my first retreat commuting back home for the two nights.  The bedding capacity decreased to around 60% of the original numbers, so I volunteered to drive home since the campsite was only 20mins drive from city centre.  Left very late on Friday night and a bit early on the Saturday night.  It was not easy though.  Leaving time to drive to and fro meant less time for sleeping and less time for socialising.  I cannot say that I spent much quality time chatting to people at this retreat and getting to know anybody better.  A real shame really, even my small group members I would have wanted to sit with them at dinner times and for us to chill out.  Anyway, we had fun doing the skit stuff and overall we all had a blessed time.  One of the greatest blessings at this retreat was the news that Gary Chan accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.  Whoo-hoo!  Praise God!!  =D

Compliments

I received two compliments at this retreat as well for my guitar playing.  Two brothers said I've been playing very well and improved a lot from last time.  I was very surprised to hear that but I have to give all glory and honour to God.  They also advised me to change my guitar strings which I will do so real soon.  These strings have served me very well indeed.  They were the original strings on the guitar when I first bought it around 2001!  =P  I also received a note in my encouragement sock and this person mentioned on the end of the note that they will continue reading my blog.  Was surprised they read it too, but I'll give you a wee shout out now!  Hiya!!  Haha!!  God bless you!  =)

Shoulder

I returned to the gym on Wednesday morning.  Had hoped to go on Tuesday morning after giving myself Monday to catch up on some sleep, but ended up having a really sore throat Monday and Tuesday.  That was a sign of me falling ill.  It always starts like that.  Symptoms of sore throat followed with groggy-ness around the nasal area and feeling of ears getting blocked up which I clear with yawning.  But I really thank God for sustaining me through those two days as I returned to work and now my throat is totally fine.  However, it appears that Wednesday's training session did some harm to my right shoulder.  There could only be two things that might have caused this.  The incline bench press or the power clean exercises.  Come to think of it, it must have been the power clean and press exercises because I can remember feeling really tired at one point and pushed on to finish my six reps.  So there was a slight tingle of my right shoulder yesterday morning and there'd a slight funny feeling whenever I raised my hand up above shoulder height.  Today I went to the gym with Vince and only did light workouts hoping to loosen up any tense muscles and when to chill at the jacuzzi and sauna steam room.  The muscle felt great during the relaxation time but after I left the gym the shoulder started freezing up and now any movement causes pain.

It's times like these when you realise how important every part of your body is.  Here's what shoulder pain can affect: putting hand in pocket to get car key, opening and closing car door, steering, opening and closing car boot, putting key into keyhole on door, carrying gym bag, pouring water into kettle to make tea, sometimes holding a knife to cut dinner on a plate, washing of dishes, turning lights on and off and changing clothes.  How many times a day do we do these things without any thought to it.  How many times do we take our health for granted and not appreciate every body part functioning together to make things work?  There's a verse in the Bible that reads:

1 Corinthians 12:21-22 "The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable..."

So my right hand cannot say to my shoulder "I don't need you!" cos right now even if my hand wants to reach for something, like say my computer mouse, it cannot do it quick as quick as it usually can because the shoulder is weak and sore.  So there!  Every part of your body is important.  Learn to appreciate your body and look after it well dudes!  I'm gonna rest here.  Will watch Hustle on BBC iPlayer now.  Haha!

p.s. before I go, just to update, that's me gone one month and four days without drinking any fizzy drinks and without eating any sweets.  I had a risotto from Dino's today though.  Was totally unplanned and I blame the cinema for making last minute changes which meant I had no time to make/bring food for post-workout!!  Grrr!  Well at least I went a month without any eating out.  =)  The risotto tasted quite salty!