Boring

          To bore - make (someone) feel weary and uninterested by tedious talk or dullness.
          I must admit that it used to upset me when our boys were growing up and they would complain that they were bored or that something they had to do was boring.  I used to tell them that boring was a state of mind and that they should get over it and get on with the excitement of life.
          Now I know that at times we have all faced things that were boring.  We can probably recall teachers that we had or lectures that we had to sit through that were very boring.  And we learned to adjust and take them in stride and try to make the best of the situation.
          I can't say that I have ever really been bored for any period of time.  At least, not until now.  Now I really am not complaining, just getting it off my chest, but I am bored.  I am recovering from extensive back surgery and have numerous limitations and am dependent on the help of others.  I must wear a brace - helpful but limiting.  I can't lift more than five pounds - it seems almost everything weighs more than five pounds.  I can't bend, twist or lift - what more is there to do when you must move?  I must use a walker for the most part.  I can't drive which limits where I can be and makes me dependent upon my wife.  And I can't even take care of many of my personal hygiene needs.  But I know many folks who are in worse shape, and, Lord willing, my restrictions will be off in a few months.
          In the meantime my days are generally limited to my recliner, my bed, the kitchen table and the bathroom.  There is no convenient place with walks near our house so if I want to walk or get any exercise, my wife must drive me somewhere. And too much movement results in pain.  At least I can get to some areas of my house, but I do feel like I have cabin fever already.
          I am learning that television is almost worthless unless there are interesting football games on.  Of course, twice good old Xfinity (Comcast) has suddenly cut off my sports package in the middle of my weekend viewing.  You have choices of reruns, soap operas, news shows, female talk shows, crazy judges or several dozen other worthless things.  At night you have the crime and action shows with violence and sex and of course you have the biased news reports.  Thankfully, my one son brought me a stack of movies that might be worth watching in the weeks ahead.
          Now normally I would love the free time to get caught up on reading and I have done some of that.  I have a huge stack of books to get caught up with, but being confined to the recliner I can only read so long until my eyes tire and I must quit.  I'm also not into computer games and we haven't been able to start any jigsaw puzzles because the table would block my path from my recliner to the rest of the house.I can't do any of the work around the house - such as check the water softener, change light bulbs, pick up leaves and too soon clear the snow. I do not like to talk on the telephone, I don't text and few correspond with me via e-mail. And I can't say that I really want visitors because even the best intentioned ones often stay too long.  10 - 15 minutes is fine.  60 is not!   So while my boys would cringe to hear me admit it, I must say that I am generally bored.
          But not all is lost.  I have found one valuable thing that I can do no matter how I feel.  I can pray.  And I have enjoyed having the extra time to pray in detail for family, friends, missionaries, Christian organizations, our country, and many needy situations.  As I said, there are so many who are in a much worse situation than I am and the Lord has given me this down time to be an intercessor for them. And I am also reminded, in everything give thanks, despite the current circumstances. I have already seen the Lord answer some of my recent prayers.  As I've said so often, God is good ... all the time.