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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
Surviving cancer is one of those things you enjoy being around to talk about. However, it's not without its frustrations. During the months of chemo, radiation and the inability to swallow well and then the surgery and twelve days in the hospital, I lost eighty pounds. Due to the type of surgery I had, it is not likely that I will add much more than another ten to fifteen pounds. That means that the size 50L suits I wore in December of 2006, and even the size 46L suits I wore this past summer, are all too big.
I returned to the pulpit this past Sunday and bought a new suit to wear for the occasion. The size? 42L with 34 inch waist slacks. The last time I wore that size suit was as a junior in high school when I went to the prom. One of my prize possessions, a University of Kentucky athletic jacket, wraps around me like a sarong now. It's an XXL. Right now I have one suit that fits and three pairs of jeans and slacks that fit. Most of my shirts are XL and are a tad baggy on me.
So here's my problem; when I dress in my old clothes I look like a refugee from the Salvation Army. My wife is consistently asking me, "Where did the rest of my husband go?" All of my doctors have pretty much assured me that I will not ever be as big as I once was. In December, 2006, I weighed a robust 260 pounds. Yesterday, at my doctor's appointment, I weighed 182. I have no old clothes that truly fit. That's an important word..."fit."
A man once told Jesus, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house." But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:61,62 Interesting concept. Once you become a child of God through the blood of Christ, if you return to the cares of the world, you are no longer a fit for God's kingdom. Is there a perfect fit for those who belong to Christ? Yes.
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Galatians 3:26,27 Once we have, in faith, washed the world away through baptism, all that lost excess weight (Hebrews 12:1) makes us not able to wear the world's cares any more. We are fitted with new clothes. We have "put on Christ." He is the only thing that fits those who are redeemed by His blood under the grace of God. If the Christ fits, wear Him...proudly.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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