Getting back up



Glacier flying on the Super Squirrel

Last Sunday was my personal deadline for posting our blog entry. Throughout the previous week, I had debated topics until I settled on “spiritual growth during a busy season of life.” It seemed fitting since our calendar has been extremely full with meetings, appointments, traveling, and just keeping up with everyday tasks. Though I was stretched to the max, I gave myself credit for keeping my head above water. Little did I know that those waters were about to rise.

Chris and the boys were out swinging on the Super Squirrel after church. If you haven’t seen it, the Super Squirrel is an extremely long rope on our biggest tree with different attachments we hook onto the bottom. Chris’ latest attachment was a ski handle. For maximum fun, you run full speed down the hill and launch yourself into the air for a high-flying experience. I was inside when I saw the boys run toward the house at top speed (which is not unusual). I heard a frantic pounding on the door followed by a “Mom, come quick!” (Still I thought nothing of it as the boys often have an “important” and “urgent” discovery to show me). “Daddy’s not getting up,” Glacier yelled. My heart stopped as I gave him my full attention. I took in the information in a fraction of a second and was out the door in an instant with slippers on my feet and  a baby on my hip. I found Chris lying on his back in a jungle of weeds and just slightly responsive. Though he was talking, he was obviously struggling to piece things together. “Why… am I on the grass?" he mumbled. My questions came too fast for him to take in, and I couldn’t get a coherent answer to what I wanted to know the most. Are you ok? 


Even in the uncertainty of the moment, God provided care and encouragement to us in immediate and visible ways.  A family member who was planning on visiting that afternoon arrived at the same moment my boys had raced toward the house. Having extensive medical background, she was able to assess the situation and arrange for the help we needed. Additional family members arrived within minutes to give needed support followed by paramedics and an ambulance who came on scene shortly thereafter.  Chris received great care and was taken in without wait at a local hospital. While Chris sustained a significant concussion and painful shoulder sprain, the x-rays and head scan revealed no broken bones or any lasting injuries. I allowed myself to breathe again. God is good and he is in control. I was so thankful.

Super Squirrel with ski handle (now broken)

My thankful attitude didn’t stay with me for long, however. With Chris in recovery mode this past week, I did my best to add “nurse” to my already full schedule. Because the muscle tissue in his arm/shoulder was crushed, Chris couldn’t lift his arm. If I thought I was busy before, I had now reached a new level. I almost broke down when I had to give up running (my valued outlet) for the third day because Coral refused to nap, and Chris’ arm was still too weak to be able to hold her.  I wasn’t just ungrateful, I was angry.

As I pushed a wailing baby in the stroller around the house I felt like crying myself. I should have been so thankful my husband wasn’t more seriously injured, yet I was only thinking about how I would never catch up with the chores, paperwork, exercise, dinner, shopping and all the other tasks that seemed like an insurmountable mountain. I knew something had to change or I would only go deeper in my pit of self-misery. Though I didn’t feel like it, I made a conscious choice during that stroll to change my attitude. I knew God does not desire us to rely on our own efforts, but on Him. God, take my grumpiness, my weakness, my mountain of tasks that are too big for me to overcome.

Andes Mountains of Bolivia

It didn’t all change in an instant, but change did come. One step at a time, the mountain wasn’t so big to climb. Within ten minutes, Coral had fallen asleep, and I took the chance to run even though I knew Chris wouldn’t be able to pick her up if she awoke. Amazingly, she didn’t open her eyes until I walked back in the door - a definite answer to prayer and just the first of many to come.

We may be on a journey toward Bolivia, but there’s a much bigger journey going on in my heart. It’s a hard lesson for me to learn, but my attitude and my desire to have control are areas that God wants me to surrender. I know that the only good in me is what comes from Him. I can keep on climbing these mountains on my own and fail, or I can allow Jesus to lead me up and over them.