We called a nurse in our church, who advised us to go get it treated. So we made our way to the Urgent Care center in Bridgewater. Praise the Lord, no other patients were in the waiting room, so Ruthie got right in. The X-rays showed that she had suffered an evulsion fracture, which occurs when the ligament gets so badly strained, it pulls away from the bone, taking some bone chips with it. This "forcible extraction,"or evulsion, is what causes the fracture.
Ruthie is now at home and in a fair amount of pain. The doctor has instructed her to rest her foot and keep it elevated as much as possible for the next couple of days. My wife is no wimp (her pain threshold is much higher than mine!), yet she is amazed at just how much her little toe hurts! She is severely hampered by this injury! Again, she's trying to rest her toe as much as possible, but when she does need to get up for whatever reason, she hobbles around like crazy! Yesterday she said something to the effect of, "I never knew how much I depended on my little toe!"
This reminds me of what 1 Corinthians 12 says about the body of Christ, using the human body as a word picture:
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
- vv. 20-22 (emphasis mine)
Some church members have ministries that are less prominent and visible than other ministries. Because this is the case, we may be inclined to think that they aren't all that significant or important. But they are! To lose them would have a crippling effect on the church. Our ministry as a whole would be severely hampered were it not for these less-prominent members of our church body! Indeed, the church is blessed and built up only as "every part does its share" (Eph. 4:16). That's why the apostle Paul goes on to say, "And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor" (1 Cor. 12:23). May we be characterized by the same attitude!
How can we do this? How about writing a note of encouragement to someone who ministers "behind the scenes." Or next time you pass such a person, simply say, "Thanks for all you do for the Lord and His church. You're a great blessing to our church body." And certainly we should thank God for all who serve faithfully in whatever capacity. Finally, each of us should ask himself or herself, "What am I doing to build up and bless the body of Christ?" Be thankful for the gift(s) that God has given you, and exercise them faithfully to bring Him glory in His church!
YEEEEOUCH! Poor Ruthie....
ReplyDeleteGood article. Thanks! B-
I'm really sorry to hear that Ruthie got hurt. It made me wince when I first heard this story.
ReplyDeleteThese days, my back gets stiff fairly often. That used to be an ailment that 'old' people got, and now I'm one of them.
Turning on the TV, we see that one minute, somebody as big as David Ortiz was sidelined for a while with a wrist injury. Tom Brady was just starting to work up a sweat the other day, and all it took was a hit on his leg, and then he suffered a severe injury.
It seems that it's not just that we live short lives that are like vapors, but we are also fragile creatures. We tend to elevate in our eyes the strengths of the sports heroes we watch on TV, but it doesn't change the truth.
The real heroes are those who work behind the scenes, using the strengths they have, even if they are little, for the glory of God.
Amen. You know, it's interesting you mentioned the "fragility" of athletes and who the "real heroes" are. One of the books I'm reading presently is entitled "Game Day for the Glory of God." Basically it's about developing and maintaining a scriptural perspective of sports, whether you're a player, fan or "wannabe." Probably once I'm done reading it I'll write a brief review of it for the TruthWalk readership.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for sharing your insights.
When I was a kid, I read everything worth reading about the Celtics. Bob Cousy was a hall of fame guard in the old days, before basketball was really popular all over the world. He wrote that one day he was trying to explain to somebody from a foreign country that he was a basketball player. The conversation went something like this:
ReplyDeleteTourist: "What do you do for a living?"
Cousy: "I'm a basketball player."
Tourist: "What's that?"
Cousy: "I throw a big ball through a little hoop."
Tourist: "Amazing! And from this, you make a living?"