"Ouch!" I cried out as the hard, cold leg of the iron chair in my kitchen crushed my toe. Like all busy moms, I was hurrying to answer the phone, thinking whoever was calling me couldn't wait one more second. Apparently, my "fourth from the big toe" toe wasn't in as big of a hurry as the rest of my body because "she" decided to hang on to the leg of the iron chair in my kitchen. Iron, as you know, does not bend; it does not break. Toes, on the other hand, do. It has been a number of years since this incident occurred, but I can look at that particular toe, which continues to be as crooked as a country road, and go back to that pain at any given moment. It truly was that bad. In fact, I had a houseful of company at the time and everyone agreed that I was very brave. As we examined it, each declared they would have screamed and probably cried. We all stared in horror and watched the toe swell and turn an unflattering shade of purple. I've never been much of a crier, so I thought my loud "ouch" was sufficient for one broken toe. After all, it was just one toe. The other toes seemed unaffected.
One broken toe, I thought wouldn't be too bad. I would have nine healthy toes to get me through carpooling and tennis playing and house cleaning and errand running. But, later that night as I hobbled around the house, I noticed something very strange. Two of my other toes, namely toe two and three, were also turning a nasty shade of purple, as well as the top of my foot. Odd, I thought, one toe was battered but those close enough to touch it also showed signs of distress. I did a few household chores and then decided maybe I should stay off my foot for the rest of the night. Later that night, when I got into bed I noticed that the sheer weight of the covers hurt my entire foot and I slept that night with my foot cold rather than in agony. I went to sleep hopeful that all would be better in the morning.
The next morning my foot did feel better when I first woke up and I had great hopes for the day. But, my expectations were short lived as I placed my foot on the floor and discovered that any weight placed on it resulted in a small whimpering sound made by me. So I did what most people do in this situation, I started limping. Limping is never attractive, it's just necessary to keep from making those awful whimpering sounds. By the time I left for work, I had the limp thing down and I continued through the day, up and down stairs, going to the copy machine, attending kid's ballgames, driving, running errands, etc.
That night when I went to bed, I not only had a very sore, broken fourth toe, two other very sore purple toe's, a swollen left foot, I also had developed pain in my right hip and left calf from the excessive limping. My poor right hip and left calf had now been pulled into the drama as I had been called to redistribute my body weight in an effort to relieve the weight on ONE toe.
Three days into my ordeal, my entire body hurt as it strained to help the one little part of my body that was truly damaged. I was reminded of this: "If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it." That is a passage found in I Corinthians 11 where Paul was called to teach a lesson about working together and understanding the importance of each person. Paul uses the analogy of our bodies because he knew we could understand and relate to it. From our earliest memories we learn our body parts, don't we? "Where's your eyes?" "Where's your nose?" are phrases someone said to us and then we did the same thing to our children. After we got that concept down, we quickly figured out that we don't want to give any of our body parts up. All of our body parts have a job and are important. We warn our children not to jump from the top of the slide because they might break their legs. We buckle our kids up in the car and when questioned why, we answer "So you don't get hurt." Paul knew we could easily grasp this analogy as we are wired to take care of our bodies—every single part of them. As I limped my way around my little world for several weeks, I was painfully reminded of the truth in Paul's powerful lesson. Even one small toe is vitally important. When that small toe was damaged, the rest of my body quickly regrouped like an army ready to fight and worked to protect the part that was injured, even to the detriment of itself. When I thought of how "giving" my body was, it made me proud (sore, but proud).
Each of you has talents and gifts unique to only YOU! God has blessed you and you are a blessing to others because of those gifts. What you do for your family, your church family, your work place, your neighborhood is unique to YOU. You are valuable! When you hurt, others hurt with you. When you rejoice, others rejoice with you. If you find that you are not functioning like you want to be, please know that those who love you are ready to help you. Don't be afraid to reach out for help. On the other hand, stand ready to help others. We are all busy. Each day brings a new "to do" list so we have to listen for the small whimpering "ouch" that may be coming from a mom in need. Being able to empathize with others when they hurt is truly a trait of a mature Christian. Billy Graham once said that real happiness comes from learning the value of sharing in other's sorrow, distress, and misfortune.
Have a blessed week, knowing you do not stand alone and are valued and loved by God.
Hugs, Chrys
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