Spring Break 2020. We returned home from a week in the mountains in North Georgia to chaos. In our cozy cabin, we had been somewhat isolated from the turmoil spreading as rapidly as COVID 19 in our Southern region of the US. My husband spent the last day of our vacation checking emails and responding to a flurry of text messages from his partners, so we packed up a day early and headed for home. The week we had left town, Costco had opened nearby, and word in the ‘hood was that it had been emptied, toilet paper stacks completely decimated by the masses on its opening day!
I prepared for the worst by trading in my Amex points for tons of Home Depot gift cards and got to work on my list of distractions projects:
- Transform our garage into a garage (something that Daniel never wanted to happen);
- Turn our workshop into a home gym (who wanted to go to the real gym with COVID in the air and all over the sweaty equipment?);
- Re-plant the berm in the backyard (I despised seeing a mound of boring decaying pinestraw turning more to the gray color of the boring decaying fence behind it every day);
- Re-plant the front bed (ridding it of the grass-infested lyriope that I tended to spend DAYS pulling out every few weeks);
- Cover the porch swing chains with beachy looking rope; and
- Organize, organize, organize… anything that caught my eye in the house.
As you can imagine, I began to feel in my body the exertions of so many projects! I also began a campaign to return my dog’s figure to a healthier looking version. She began to recover her waistline as we took several walks a day in the neighborhood, each lap making a mile.
Now, realize that I have lived with a bum ankle for many years. My Achilles heel is just that. I encourage anyone who has foot surgery to actually do the recovery exercises if you ever want to recover. My daily routine in quarantine began to include different methods of stabilizing my poor right foot as the ankle became weaker and weaker and the pain in it intensified, shooting daggers from my heel to my hip with any pressure applied. By June, not only my ankle was causing me great agony, but pain had taken over my whole leg and both hips, probably because I was trying to compensate for the bum ankle. I tried the daily yoga app and sought advice from online health services, as well as my sister, who knows most everything. Then, I realized that I would not get better unless I signed up with a physical therapist, and I was NOT going anywhere anytime soon, COVID 19!
One day, I had finally had enough. I had spent the day mourning my mobility and thinking, “I’m too young for a wheelchair or a cane!” I stopped at some point in the day and got desperate with the Lord. I reminded Him of His promises, of the stripes He took on His back for my healing. I reminded Him that I am His. I even reminded Him that the dead cannot praise Him (we were memorizing Psalms for Bible Quizzing this year). And then I asked Him, “Won’t You just heal me? The pain is sooooo bad!”
I decided after my prayer to leave it with Him. I decided not to worry about the pain and just endure it until He took care of it. The next morning, I got up out of bed and put my weight on that right foot, expecting to feel the familiar jolt of sharp nerve pain shooting up and down the leg… and I felt nothing. That’s right. Nothing. It was a Thursday morning. It was the first time in about (1993-2020=27 years) 27 YEARS. That was June. It is now July 7, 2020. I glory in the healing of that ankle every day. What a wonderful God I serve!
The scar is still there, and I have all the bandages, supports, and a leg brace my husband bought me to sleep in (only happened one time) to remind me of His goodness.
My prayer is that you may also experience a healing in your life today.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, KJV)
Lord, you made me. You know my frame. I’m nothing without you. You took a beating for me so that I could be healed. I’ve given myself to you whole-heartedly, and I pray that you would heal this broken vessel today. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
