admin – Page 31 – Andrea Arthur Owan

Your Body is a Temple

The last couple of months we’ve been doing a lot of meditating on whether or not we are more spiritual than physical, or if both are equally important to us. Today we’ll look at some additional supporting evidence for a blended combination.

Jesus indicated there are times when, although the spirit may be willing, the flesh fails to comply because it is weak. But does having weak flesh make it less important than our spirit? Even if our spirit/soul continues to exist immediately after physical death and simply moves on to be present with the Lord in a “new house?”

These three critical body and spirit Bible passages indicate that isn’t the case.

“[The body] is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (First Corinthians 15:44).

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (First Corinthians 6:19-20).

“…according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

Take-away—

Temples are important structures. They’re built for a physical and spiritual purpose and are to be a source of respite, of rejuvenation and hope, joy and promise. If God considers our bodies to be temples, how can we regard them as anything less important? And treat them as such?

God says there are both a natural body and a physical one. And both are equally important to us down here on Earth. (For more support, look up the passages having to do with eating and drinking unto the Lord.)

Jesus bought us with His life. He has chosen to take up residence in the hearts of believers. He lives in us. Body and spirit. Because of this, we are to glorify Him in both body and spirit. Our focus should be to glorify Him. The spirit can drive the glorification; but the body does the glorifying.

Every chance you get you must try to magnify Christ—in what you do with your body. What you see with it, experience with it, say with it. How you approach death with it.

Meditation—

In the weeks to come, remind yourself daily that your precious body is a special place to God. A hallowed place, a place set apart for Him.

To God be the glory, great things He has done—in body and spirit!

NEXT WEEK: One more proof that we are a lovely integration of body and spirit.

Until then, take care of your temple! It belongs to the King of the Universe.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Kirill Zakharov

Basic Blister Care Part 3: Treating a Blister

If you’re the type of athlete that uses shoes for your sport—like tennis, running, hiking, or walking—you’re bound to end up with blisters. New shoes or too tight or loose shoes are often culprits, but there are a variety of factors that play into whether or not you’re more-or less likely to end up hobbling through your event with blisters or curtailing your workout.

I wasn’t a shoe-wearing athlete, but I had plenty of blisters on my hands from heat and shear forces generated from swinging bars day after day after day. Yes, our hands got hot just like a runner’s feet. I had to learn how to take care of them, and managing them meant attending to my hands on a daily basis.

When I became an athletic trainer, I cared for other people’s feet (and hands) and their blisters. Humbling thing, taking care of other people’s feet. And having someone take care of yours. Feet aren’t always the prettiest body parts, but they tend to bear the brunt of athletic activity.

How to Treat a Blister

Look online or in a book for guidelines on blister care, and you’re liable to find a host of suggestions. While the materials available to pad and treat blisters has changed somewhat and improved a little, the goals for blister treatment are still the same.

Goals—

Decide whether or not the blister is causing pain and needs to be broken or just padded with protective padding.
Always work with the goal in mind to NOT make the blister bigger, worse or allow infection to infiltrate it.
Treat it in a way that promotes the fastest healing.
Figure out what caused the blister in the first place and work to avoid further irritation or future blistering.

Immediate care for the basic blister—

There was a general routine we followed when taking care of foot blisters, which often occurred on the back of the heal.

We would assess whether or not we could let the fluid stay in the blister and simply use padding material and tape to create a donut hole around the blister and tape the donut hole (usually of moleskin with sticky backing or a thicker material that was built up just a little higher than the blister).

The problem with this procedure is that if you make the donut hole too large, larger then the blister, you will usually end up with a larger blister! So beware when trying this method.

If the blister was simply too large or too painful for basic padding, then we’d do the following—

Using an alcohol wipe or betadine pad, we’d wipe the blister and surrounding area in order to disinfect it.
Then, using a small scalpel or curved scissors, we made a tiny slice (about the size of a cotton swab) along one edge of the blister, as close to the perimeter of the blister as possible.
Using a gauze pad or sterile swab, we would gently push the fluid out of the blister through the hole. If the blister was on the heal, the hole would be toward the foot. We would continue this process until the blister was emptied and just the blister “pocket” remained.
Sometimes we would then soak another sterile swab with hydrogen peroxide and clean the open hole edge to kill any remaining bacteria that might sneak into the pocket.
Following this, we’d smear zinc oxide onto the swab and pack the blister pocket with the zinc. The zinc has drying properties that absorb any excess fluid and keeps the new skin dry and aids healing.
Then donut hole padding would be designed to fit over the lanced and drained blister and taped on so the athlete could return to activity.
The process usually allowed the blister to heal quickly, the outer dead skin to dry rapidly so it could be cut off.
The blister was care for with antiseptic, zinc and padding until it was completely healed.
We did NOT cut the outer skin off immediately as this skin acts as a protective covering for the new skin forming underneath.
Always make sure the skin is dry before treating it. We usually had the athlete come to us after they had their post-workout shower, or prior to putting on their socks and shoes for practice. If the skin around the blister was dirty, we’d clean it properly prior to treating and padding.

Alternative care—

If you don’t use a scalpel and just use a sterilized needle to poke a hole in the blister, which often occurs is a re-sealing of the outer skin and a re-filling of the fluid. Hence, another puffed up blister. If you don’t have a scalpel and want to use a needle, make sure it is properly sterilized and you poke several holes in the top and bottom of the blister and then gently drain toward one direction.

But always make sure you keep the wound (because a blister is a wound) clean, disinfected and properly covered.

Fancy padding and materials—

When Spenco’s Second Skin came along we thought we’d died and gone to athletic trainer heaven! Just cut out the desired size for the blister (we got the stuff in rolls and sheets), lay it gently over the hot spot or blister, tape it on, and leave it there for several days, even through the shower, if the taping didn’t come off.

Now any searching in your neighborhood pharmacy yields a plethora of blister care material, like Spenco, Dr. Scholl, pharmacy brand name material and others. Little donut hole pads for toes and bigger pads for heals and balls of the feet can be purchased.

Keep it clean, Clean, CLEAN!!

Whatever treatment you opt for, you must make sure you keep the blister clean. If you’re a runner, hiker, or walk, it’s easy to get dirt or grime in the wound. Make sure it’s properly bandaged and always tended to following your exercise.

And I wouldn’t recommend washing your blister with regular hand soap that’s been sitting on your bathroom basin. You would be stunned to find out how many germs congregate and thrive on that soap!

What about blood blisters?

Personally, I would always opt for draining a blood blister. They’re painful. Blood is an irritant, and just draining the blister of that pressure and irritation goes a long way toward regaining some comfort.

But you always need to be on the lookout for an infection with this type of blister, so pay extra careful attention to its healing. Look for signs of pus, discolored fluid, redness and heat around the wound.

What about for blisters that really don’t need to be drained?

For smaller, or tiny blisters that don’t need to be drained, it wasn’t uncommon for us to just tape them down with adhesive tape, directly over the blister. This obviously pulls the skin off when you pull the tape off, but I often us kinesiotape directly over my small toe blisters. The tape stays on several days through showers and moisture and provides a protective, sticky coating.

And keeping it clean is one of the reasons I don’t like plain old Band-Aids. They don’t seal well around the blister and allow dirt and grime to enter the area. And because they don’t seal, they can end up rubbing on the blister, which further irritates it.

One product I love is medical-grade Manuka honey pads. They also provide a great covering that stays on in moisture, protects the wound with padding and promotes healing. But be careful. If you’re allergic to bees or any bee product, you shouldn’t use them.

What about blood blisters under toenails?

Blisters under toenails are especially painful. They need to be drilled and drained. A special tool (or VERY clean nail) is required for this, so don’t head out to your tool chest to get just any old sharp implement.

But what about how to avoid getting these pesky irritants in the first place?

That’s what we’re going to cover NEXT WEEK—steps you can take to avoid having to deal with blisters, so many of them, or such severe ones.

Until then, make sure you have a blister care kit available at home, and whenever you go out walking, hiking or running. You never know when you’re going to have to get off the trail, peel off those socks and shoes and treat a hot spot. If you don’t do it then, prepare to suffer longer than you should have!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Andrea A Owan

Is the True Meaning of Labor Day Lost?

Today we’re celebrating Labor Day here in the United States, a day to recognize the contribution of workers across the country. Historically, it specifically highlighted Labor (Union) workers—blue-collar union members and their contributions to companies and shareholders who enjoy the profits and wealth of the “common man’s” work. Parades and picnics were prevalent in big industrial cities. You’ll still find a slew of them in the East and Midwest where manufacturing labor is, or was, king.

Not so much in my hometown, where Labor Day sales at the mall and general activity-laden park picnics seem to take top billing.

What is going on?

A quick Google scan took me to an activity that encouraged people to include their dogs in the celebrating by entering them in a diving competition (at our famous Old Tucson Studios, where scads of old western movies were filmed). They’re calling it DockDogs. This celebration focus was bidding adios to the “dog days of summer.” (I asked my Shetland sheepdog, Dolly, if she wanted to drive 45 minutes west of our home just to show me her belly flop. She didn’t seem interested.)

Another listing encouraged Tucsonans to visit the Arizona History Museum for a first Friday of the month discount. The event blurb highlighted the display “Tucson’s Early Brewers.” That might draw a lot of people since microbreweries and specialty beers are all the rage now; and the originator of “Mr. Beer” (home beer making kit) resides in our fine city, just a couple miles north of my home.

Another event is happening at a local hotel, where they encourage you to drop in to enjoy music by local musicians. And, by the way, don’t forget to stop by the bar for an alcoholic concoction, evidently to help you celebrate better.

A nearby resort is hosting a Labor Day All-Star Jazz Celebration of Motown. And they’re having a big showdown and costume wearing in Tombstone (the town Wyatt Earp made famous). A big Tucson park is hosting their 21^stAnnual Labor Day Picnic and Classic Motorcycle Show.

But will those activities tell us anything important about the day?

But I’m left wondering what any of those events has to say about our gratitude to the laborers who have toiled to build this country and keep it going. Although they sound like wonderful, fun and relaxing things to do with the family, they seem to be missing the emphasis of the day.

More than 100 years after its founding, though, I’m going to guess I’d be hard pressed to find anyone out and about on Labor Day able to give you the meaning of the day. That’s probably because it’s now pretty much dedicated to hard-core consumerism, and much of the work force isn’t relaxing or celebrating the fruits of their labor at all—with picnics and rest and neighborhood football games—but laboring to sell or buy goods at a shopping mall, working on completing home projects, buying materials for said projects at the home building stores, or trying to catch up on unfinished work business so they can start the week with their heads above water rather than below.

Last year—

In my Labor Day post last year, on my other blog site “Broken Hearts, Redeemed,”I was complaining about the focus being on blue-collar rather than white-collar labor. And it really isn’t just nitpicking. It’s Labor Day’s history.

And taking nothing away from these hardworking people, who often had to (and still have to) work in miserable, dangerous conditions, sometimes in polluted air or with dangerous moving machinery parts, I’m going to take a moment to honor white-collar guys like my husband, along with the blue-collar workers.

Guys like him, (and, yes, gals), who’ve been working since their early teens to scrape together enough money to attend college, and then spend four or five years surviving on little to no sleep, inadequate nourishment, and getting their brains hammered with the toughest curricula offered in college.

Engineering.

The engineers who stay engineers. The ones who do the work of designing what others end up putting together. Not the managers trying (or wanting) to herd them all around, but the ones who get the throughout-the-day and evening and weekend calls that a product has broken and needs immediate attention because the customer has to have or needs to use it now. Like a doctor-on-call gets notice about a patient that needs their attention. Not after the weekend’s over, but within the hour.

The engineers who have to endure management meetings all day and then meet their job title requirements by designing after the work day’s over—at night. The ones who get paid for 40 hours of work but are really expected to work double time. For free. (My husband once had a manager—seriously—tell him that he didn’t care when he put in his 80 hours; he just had to put in that many. And get paid for 40.)

Then there are the doctors who have little to no family life, even though they dreamed of it.

My younger son has a friend whose father is in charge of emergency medicine at a prestigious hospital. This physician said he went into ER work after watching his father, a premier neurosurgeon, fall asleep from sheer exhaustion at a restaurant table too many times while the family was out to dinner. Or not be around at all because he was being called to the hospital to perform surgery or see unexpected patients. It’s a life they dedicate themselves to, but it’s tough. Who can blame them for buying themselves a 100K car so they can at least enjoy driving to the hospital to cut someone open to save their life?

Interesting enough, ER doctors have a shorter life expectancy than the general population, and engineers are dying at younger ages. Stress makes them more likely to experience heart disease and diabetes. An article in International Business Times (online) quoted Indian physician KK Aggarwal as saying, “Being a doctor in India is injurious to one’s health now.” Evidently they’re dying at incredibly young ages.

At least a dozen engineers where my husband is employed have died of heart attacks or cancer within the last 18 months. And they were all in their late forties to early sixties. Others have said, “Enough,” and walked out the door to other jobs or early retirement.

Sometimes I think we’ve all gone nuts with our “Protestant work ethic” mentality.

Many Millenials don’t want to put up with that stress any longer. They’re quitting their stressful jobs with the ridiculous schedules and unrelenting demands and opting for downsizing, simpler living, and freelancing. Clearly their definition of labor, as a group, is shifting the work paradigm. Maybe they’re smarter than us older people give them credit for. And maybe we should take some cues from them.

But my points are this:

Why can’t Labor Day go back to being Labor Day? A day to recognize the blessings of hard work, being grateful for having a job and being able to work; for giving credit to the Creator who gives us the talent and opportunity to labor?

Why can’t we show respect for one another’s work, instead of calling it professional, white collar or laboring blue collar? Why don’t we rejoice at what each of us contributes to the bounty put on our tables? Why do we have to continue comparing our work to someone else’s?

Why is it that when politicians talk about “hard working Americans,” they seem to imply that those making over 200K a year aren’t working as hard as those who aren’t. I’m going to put my neck on the chopping block here and guess that many are working harder.

And why do so many of us—through our behaviors and words—give the impression that we think someone’s value comes from the kind of work they do? (I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the question at a banquet: “What kind of work do you do?” And the “uneducated,” or any educated-but-stay-at-home-mom types cringe at what they know the response to their answer is likely to be.)

We need to do all we can to stop pitting ourselves against one another—through our actions, our attitudes and our words.

We need to lift one another up, encourage one another.

Thank one another for contributions to the gross national product in this country, or keeping the wheels of progress turning. Thank someone for exercising the gifts and talents God has given them.

Thanking everyone for their labors and sacrifices on this All-American Labor Day!

Until NEXT WEEK (when we’ll uncover three more worldviews that have affected our beliefs and behaviors), celebrate and enjoy your labor and the fruits of it, and thank the One who provides the increase!

(And thanks for letting let me get on my soapbox! I’m off now.)

Blessings,

Andrea

Will Your Resurrection be more Spiritual or Physical?

What does your future resurrection mean to you? Do you look forward to it with longing and joy, or questions, fears, and misunderstandings?

Do you believe your spirit will go on eternally but your decrepit, physical body will remain eternally entombed someplace in the Earth?

Today we’re going to explore some Scripture that may impart new meaning, new joy, and new purpose to you for your resurrection, and for your present life on Earth.

Getting it straight—

Throughout the pages of Scripture—Old Testament and New—you can read a promise of, and belief in a future resurrection—spiritual andphysical. There is both a physicality and soul/spiritual component. The physicality of a resurrection actually defines and solidifies the definition of resurrection.

Word pictures of resurrection—

Scripture gives us word pictures of people “coming forth” out of their tombs after hearing God’s voice calling them to come forth, like Jesus called out to Lazarus when He raised that dead man from the grave.

This resurrection will be grand and unspeakable, an awesome display of God’s creative and re-creative and restorative powers. It will be a day unlike any other since Jesus’ Resurrection.

There are Old Testament resurrection passages echoed in the New Testament.

Even Job believed in a bodily resurrection.

Supporting Scripture—

Meditate on the following verses to expand, solidify and encourage your resurrection view and hope.

“But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Jesus speaking in Matthew 22:31-32).

“And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed” (First Corinthians 15:51-52).

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (First Thessalonians 4:16).

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39).

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are I the graves will hear His voice and com forth—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:51 – 53).

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2)

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;

And after my skin is destroyed, this I

know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not

another,

How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27).

May your heart yearn within you, dear reader and child of God, for the bodily resurrection you will enjoy, the eternal spirit that already resides within you, and the promise of seeing our precious Savior—in our renewed, restored, and revitalized bodies—face-to-face!

Until NEXT WEEK (when we’ll explore more about the importance of our bodies), may you revel in these truths and meditate on them in supreme joy!

For more reading on this subject see this article on the “desiring God” website.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Hand and Sea photo by Ian Espinoza

Bible photo by Colin Carey

Blister Basics Part 2

One of the first shocking things I learned as a beginning gymnast was that:

I was going to get a lot of blisters on my hands;
They were going to HURT; and
I needed to learn how to take care of them so they wouldn’t be a problem—for my health or my gymnastics participation.

At the beginning—

My eight-year-old hands were tender, unused to the friction and shear forces I was going to expect them to handle for the next fourteen years of my life. Like it or not, they would come with my sport.

So after the first two or three episodes of having areas on the palms of my hands heat up, get fiery red, hot and swollen, before having the skin peeled off, I had to learn to care for my hands.

Coach would laugh when we told him we “had a rip.” As an ex-military guy, it was all in line with toughening up, and he thought it was funny. “Just chalk up and get back up on those bars!” A palm-full of thick calluses was to be my fate, and the fate of every other gymnast I knew.

That was back in the days when female gymnasts didn’t wear the grips they do now. Guys did; girls suffered. They were cumbersome and difficult to use on our oval-shaped bars; and they were also difficult to use if you had stubby fingers like I do—not enough finger sticking out beyond the grips to grad hold. And they didn’t really make them in girls’ sizes. Surprise.

What is a blister, really?

And what causes it?

I learned more than I wanted to know about the physics of blisters. I learned a lot more when I studied and practiced athletic training. Here are some blister-forming facts:

Blisters can be caused by friction, when a tissue encounters friction when it’s rubbed over or against another surface. Like the up-down motion of your heel against the back of your shoe when you’re wearing thin socks, or no socks at all. Rub, rub, rub. Blister.
Deeper blisters are most often the result of shear forces, when the layers of skin are rubbing back and forth on one another.
When the epidermal layer of skin is irritated or damaged by these forces, fluid collects between the epidermis—top layer—and the deeper dermal layer. The fluid usually comes from plasma escaped from the surrounding damaged cells.
The fluid seeps into the pocket and puffs up the top layer of skin.
The fluid is there to bathe the damaged skin layers, protect it, and start the healing process.
Shear force blisters can cause tremendous pain because it causes damage or irritation to surrounding nerves.
Blisters can form under calluses. (These types of blisters can be hard to manage and require careful treatment.)
Having thickened calluses that aren’t managed (like carefully shaving down or kept soft or pliable) can increase your risk of deep blisters, and a lot of pain!
Sweat and warmth—as what happens when your sweaty feet are stuck in a shoe—increase blister formation likelihood.
Blisters can be filled with a variety of fluids, like serum, plasma, blood or pus (indicating a probable infection).
The crushing or pinching of tissue (like I experienced a lot of as a gymnast, when I was swinging around on the bars) can rupture a blood vessel in the dermal layer, which in turn allows blood to seep into the pocket between the layers. There were times we’d leave blood streaks (or skin sections) on the bars when we had a rip.
The body quickly springs into action when a blister forms.

At six hours post-blister formation, the blister fluid is usually re-absorbed, and the top layer flattens back down onto the underlying tissue and begins to die. But it serves as a protective cover for the wound beneath it.
At 24 hours, new skin layers are already beginning to form.
And at 48 hours, new “soft” baby skin can be seen developing over the wound. If the blister is not properly cared for, this new skin can crack and another wound (now exposed) can appear. Then you can have a blister forming underneath a blister, a very painful condition.

Blisters improperly cared for can lead to infections and slowed healing.
How hydrated you are affects blister formation, and how well it heals. Really.

*On the photo above, you can see the cracked, peeling skin of the blisters that ran along my middle toe. I didn’t do anything to treat those. The body took care of everything, and the old skin is now peeling away. While noticeable, these blisters (which occur in the same spot on both my feet), were not noticeable enough to slow me down, or warrant padding or bandaging. But if I were to go on longer hikes during the day, day-after-day, I would make sure I taped the toes to reduce friction and shear forces. Clearly I am prone to irritation in these areas, probably due to the biomechanics of how my foot hits the ground and pushes off.

NEXT WEEK: Learn how to provide immediate care for your blisters.

Until then, keep those feet dry and as cool as possible! (I know. Difficult on a long walk or hike.) And don’t peel the skin from those blisters!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Andrea A Owan