Mwen malad

(Creole for "I'm sick.")

In bed with a fever all day. Please pray!

Meditating on this Spurgeon quote in Eric Ludy's message "Beautified by a Scar:"

Suppose that your record should be:

From birth a sufferer, 

through life a struggler, 

at home a wrestler, 

and abroad a soldier and a cross-bearer – 

and notwithstanding all this you proved to be full of joy and peace, 

through strong believing in God; 

tried to the uttermost, 

yet found faithful. 

In such a chronicle there is something worth remembering.

There is no glory in being a featherbed soldier, 

a man bedecked with gorgeous medals, 

but never beautified by a scar, 

or ennobled by a wound. 

All that you ever hear of such a soldier is that his spurs jingle on the pavement as he walks. 

There is no history for this carpet knight. 

He is just a dandy.

He never smelled gunpowder in battle in his life. 

If he did, he fetched out his cologne to kill the offensive odor. 

Oh, if we could be wise enough to choose, 

even were as wise as the Lord Himself,

we would choose the troubles which He has appointed to us, 

and we would not spare ourselves a single pang. 

--Charles Spurgeon