“We don’t stop loving a person when they are hurt or sick.
No, we grow stronger so they can lean on us.”*
The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah

My brother had hip replacement surgery this week.
A few years ago he had both knees replaced—at the same time.
Then a hip.
Then a shoulder.
And now, the other hip.
All those new joints should keep him pain-free for a long time.

I spent a couple days with him this week.
I filled his water bottle.
I replenished his bird feeders.
I ran his errands.
I waited on him.
Just like old times.

It’s amazing what modern medicine can do.
The doctor removed a diseased bone structure
and swapped it out for an artificial one.

It’s amazing what modern medicine can’t do.
The doctor couldn’t create a new, living joint
just like the one my brother traded in.

It’s astounding what God can do.
He can take a hard, sick heart
and replace it
with a soft, healthy heart
and throw in a new spirit, too.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; 
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26

*Quote from Grandpa Dan’s daily emails “Think Great Thoughts—Live Great Lives”