Equipped by Him

I write to you a tired, weary mother tonight. My sweet little Jack and I (accompanied by his baby sister) spent the day in and out of numerous doctors offices and finished our day at the orthopedic clinic at Children's Hospital where he was fitted for his full leg cast and given a walker to assist him for the next 4 weeks.

Broken bones stink. But they heal- and this time of recovery for us is only temporary. All day I was reminded of this. I am dealing with this for such a short time - be patient.

I will spare you the details and just share what I've learned. After being to the pediatricians office this morning, promptly sent to Urgent Care for an X Ray, then on to Orthopedics at CHW and finally over to Physical Therapy I can honestly say that I'm grateful. God equipped me with such patience today and for that I am grateful. My poor sweet boy cried and whined all morning of his "owies", I slept about 3 winks last night, woke early to tend to his injury and have spent all day in and out of various clinics and offices. I am grateful that my sweet child is healthy and well and that this broken bone will mend itself (beneath a pile of itchy, sweaty bandages) and that he will walk and run and play once again. I'm thankful.

God is so good to remind me of these things in the times I would imagine myself being a complete basket case. I am proud to say that I conducted myself as a quiet, patient, composed mother-of-two - but for this I cannot take the credit. When I overheard a mom lose it with her children in the parking lot of the urgent care I was reminded that I need to be patient. God did this - not me. He has equipped me.

When I approached the Valet at CHW today I saw a mother, father and son going for a "walk". The father pushed the boy in a wheelchair and the mother, who resembled that of a sleep-walking zombie, followed behind pulling with her the tubes and IVs that were attached to their young son. This immediately gave me a sense of relief. Relief that my child would only be here temporarily - a few hours at most - and that he would recover from this little injury and return to his life as a normal functioning 4 year old boy.

At the orthopedic office there was a girl who had both her legs casted and a bar between them - she was screaming as they cut the casts off. I was again grateful that my sweet child only has to endure 1 cast. All these little things added up to a lot of thankful moments in what should have been a frustrating and sorrowful day.

Not to worry - I had my share of sadness today. My Jack is going to miss all the fun that he's literally been counting down to - Bay Beach with all his cousins this weekend. The tears and sadness that poured over his face when I told him we'd have to skip was just heart breaking. He won't be able to swim in his pool or play outside for the next 4 weeks. His temporary disability has brought me much sadness - but the sweet relief of knowing that he will once again play and run and jump and swim is where I find my rest. Bay Beach will come again next year - and the memories we can laugh about remembering his stint in a cast will be so sweet. He'll get to bring his little sis along for all the fun and rides next year - which will make it even sweeter to witness.

My prayer tonight is for all the mothers of children who do not have the fortune of my little Jack. Those who's lives are built around appointments and specialists and clinics and surgeries and medicine and the list goes on...and on...and on. My prayer for them is peace, understanding why God has you in this place and for rest. Be strong and carry on - it's what mom's do every day. But you don't have to be strong in front of God - He will bring you peace and understanding and rest. His strength is shown through our weakness.

I just wanted to remember this day and how grateful I am to serve a loving God, a God that in such trying times would equip me with patience and gratitude. This is surely a day for Jack's memory book. Here's to hoping the next 4 weeks are handled with as much grace as this day...

From the Farm,
A Sad & Tired "Farmers Wife"