![]() It could have been worse. I mean, it really could have been worse. When I fell, I didn’t break my glasses. Or my hip. Or my face. Or my phone. It was my happiness that shattered for a precious few minutes. As I lay looking up at the beautiful blue sky - from the ground- behind my car- two very kind men raced to my rescue. I tried to catch my breath, inventory the pain, and remember the exact words I had screamed out as I catapulted to the ground. I believe in putting a 100% effort behind all my endeavors. This moment was not an exception. I sat up as gracefully as I could and looked at my hands. What a bloody mess. Ok-not that much blood, but my left hand took the brunt of this fall. In an effort to save my glasses, my hip, face, and phone that I dropped so I wouldn’t crack the glass, I sacrificed my hands. I tripped, hopped, and scrambled, but I still couldn’t stick that landing. For nearly a week, my friends have tried to think up a better story than…. JoAnna fell pumping gas. Friday, February 19, 2021, marks the last and absolute final time that this wanna-be gymnast will jump over the hose while pumping gas. It’s a skill the left leg can no longer handle. Besides, isn’t it easier (and some would argue smarter) to just walk around the pump? Why yes, yes, it is. The last time this happened I SWORE I would never do it again. Why yes, this has happened before. Last time, I was just able to stick the landing, recover my balance, and look around real fast to see if anyone had witnessed my craziness. As I lay on the ground last Friday- mortified and a bit dazed- I heard a man yell into his phone, Oh no! I gotta go. A lady just fell. Another kind man refused to let me stand on my own. I asked him if I had yelled out anything inappropriate as it happened. He told me I earned the right to say whatever I wanted if I was going to take a fall like that. He finished with, You better get that hand looked after real soon. It don’t look so good. These men- to whom I’m totally grateful- helped me up, made sure I was going to make it, and left me alone with my mortification. My left hand isn’t broken- just swollen and bruised, and a couple of fingers pull to the left. It needs to be wrapped up for a while. I keep saying, it will be ok. I know this because I’ve hurt before, and from experience, I know it will be ok. Just like the time I fractured my foot running in the rain wearing Steve Madden platform sandals. Just like the time I tore up my shoulder getting thrown from a tube behind a really fast boat on the lake. It was eventually ok. Just like the time I hurt my other shoulder opening a door as someone else was pushing it open from the other side. Just like the time I tore my ACL opening a closet door. To be fair, the door was really stuck and my knee was torqued in the wrong direction. It will be ok. Eventually. If I face facts, I’m going to continue to trip over and over again. Some accidents will hurt worse than others and some will require more attention. Sometimes it is my heart that breaks. Sometimes it is my pride. And sometimes it is my joy. What I realized last week was that there were blessings in this experience. My hand won’t agree, but my glasses, my face, hip, and right hand will. As a child of God, I can trust in His love, his peace, power and wisdom. I may go through another crisis- big or small. I will fall short again or I may fall hard. I could fall from grace. Who knows what I will hurt next or perhaps my spirit will suffer. Obviously, I am not always the most graceful of girls. When I can’t stick the landing, I can still hold firmly to my faith, to the hope He gives me. God will be with me as I move or tumble through it all. God will provide me with the strength I need to trust Him. He will remind me of His command to rest, call on Him, and hold on to Him with whatever bit of dignity I have left. Thank you, Lord, that your grace is greater than any of my mistakes or miscalculations. Hebrews 23-24: Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have. The God who promised is faithful. Let us consider how we can stir up one another to love. Let us help one another to do good works.
4 Comments
Debbie
2/25/2021 05:39:36 pm
Just glad you are okay, except for the hand. Thankful we have a LORD that holds us up, even when we fall!❤️.
Reply
Ashley
2/26/2021 08:22:58 am
Goodness gracious! I’m glad it wasn’t any worse. But those falls really hurt! I once fell walking the dog and scratched my hands up and it reminded me to be a lot more considerate and gentle when my kids fall. Instead of just demanding that they hop up and brush it off, I try to remember the pain. The same goes for falling from grace, I try to remember how painful it is when I do so, and try to be a bit more gentle when others do.
Reply
Carol Bowen
2/27/2021 03:19:22 pm
Been there done that. Not fun. Now I know why doctors are always asking us senior citizens if we have fallen! I'm glad you are OK and willing to share so we seniors don't feel so bad!😊
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Details
JoAnna Arnold
|