It's All Good (Reflections on my wife's injury)

The last week of my life went incredibly different than I had imagined and planned.

One week ago today, My Mom and her husband were in town and the whole family was going to spend the day in Newport, RI celebrating my 40th birthday. Instead, I spent the entire day in the ER with my wife in extreme pain. But, I should back up a day. Last Monday, we were supposed to do a thorough home inspection on the house we're buying and maybe do a little dreaming about our future. Instead my wife Rebecca slipped and slid on her back down 5-6 steps on the back deck of the new place. She got up and walked around, but the pain grew increasingly more severe. It worsened to the point that my wife, who has a very high pain tolerance (she delivered our three children naturally), had to be taken by ambulence to the ER last Tuesday morning.

The X-Ray at the ER gave us good new because it revealed that she did not have any breaks or fractures. However, Rebecca was told to wait a week, stay in bed, take some medicine to manage the pain, and if the pain continues come back in a week for an MRI to detect herniated discs (yikes). Rebecca spent a week in bed on some very potent pain medication in a painful fog.

The pain was obviously hard for Rebecca, but so was just laying around. This is not her speed! It was also hard on the kids (7, 5 & 3) who are used to seeing Mommy up and at 'em, full of energy and drive. It was also hard on me as my schedule was in disarray as I tried to manage my responsibilities, but also take on many of hers and keep everything under control (basically I played whack-a-mole for a week). One of the hardest things for the entire family was the uncertainty. Was this indeed a herniated disc that would take surgery, therapy and possibly involve chronic pain, or was it simply a bad back strain as we hoped? It was a long, hazy, challenging week.

Yesterday, we got some great news. A family friend got us in to see one of the best orthopedic specialists in our state. No hernia! It is indeed a back strain! My wife was ordered out of bed, given new meds (making her less loopy), and today she begins physical therapy. Bottom line: In a few weeks, she should be fully recovered. This was incredibly good news that obviously delighted us and made us extremely grateful to God. But as I look back, it wasn't the only good that happened.

In the Spirit of Romans 8:28, I'd like to share with you some other good things that came out of this stressful, disappointing, challenging and painful week for our family:

• We were reminded of how blessed we are. -Last week was a whirlwind, but a blip on the radar for us. Many families live long-term with severe calamaties. It is just as easy for me as anyone else to take what I have been given for granted. This week I have inventoried how blessed I am and I can tell you I have become a lot more grateful than I already was.
• We got to see our church family be a family to us. -One of the hardest things about starting Calvary Fellowship was leaving behind our families and some great friends. It is very hard raising a young family without the support of your extended family. However, this week our church family blew us away with their love, encouragement, prayer and support. People watched our kids, brought us meals (they're still coming) and went above and beyond to help us manage. We are blown away!
• We became closer to God. -Our family prayed more, reflected more and were dependant on God more than ever last week. It reminded me that that we are always dependent upon God, but situations like this strip away our facade of control and confront us with how much we truly need God every minute of every single day.
• God spoke in unexpected ways. I was supposed to teach this past Sunday, but on the way home from the ER I knew that wouldn't be possible. So I called Dave Swanson, our worship leader, and told him he was up on Sunday. He was originally going to deliver a short presentation on the Haiti trip before my message. Instead the whole service was now his (he had never preached before). It was a very powerful presentation, and if you watch it, I know you will be as blessed as I was on Sunday watching from the crowd.

There is more of course, but I've gone on too much already. Thank you for persisting this far, and may God help you to see the good in whatever dificult situation you might be going through even now. Remember, Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible, so it's all good my friend!

Comments

[W Brian Leonard]

Yes, Kudos to Dave - he did do a great job! You'd never had known it was his first time preaching.

[Charla Mcguyer]

Your words about living life after the accident are so inspiring. I hope your wife gets well soon. I pray that you and your wife enjoy a blessed New Year.