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As I lay on the icy Shanklin pavement in early
January, I had a Victor Meldrew moment of ‘I don’t believe it!’ I was
looking at my twisted left wrist - it was a textbook case of Colles fracture
- thankfully not my dominant hand but still….
It was all so avoidable – I was carrying quite a
heavy backpack full of stuff needed for my Junior Church session, the
Resource File and a pair of shoes as I was walking in wellies, which were
safer than my walking shoes! I even had a large tin of Roses chocolates to
give as a thank you to the Liberal Club for allowing us to use their rooms
for Junior Church whilst the downstairs lounges were undergoing renewal and
transformation!
What am I like??
I guess that at least half of the contents of my
backpack were not really needed that particular day – so what was I trying
to prove?
We had already had to postpone the youth worker
interviews because of the weather so it might have been sensible to take
some precautions myself. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to what
we think we can achieve in our own strength and I started to wonder why God
had allowed this ‘minor injury’ to happen to me and what He was trying to
teach me:
1. 1. I
didn’t realise how self-sufficient I have become.
2. I
didn’t realise how hard it is to graciously accept help from others.
3. 3. I
didn’t realise how hard it is to ask for help from others.
4. I had
a bad case of ‘pride goes before a fall’- I was quite proud of the
preparation that I had put in to the Junior Church session.
I didn’t know that I needed some time out to give
God a chance to speak to me on certain issues, not least of all, how much
time I give Him during the day and how much I was prepared to ‘be still and
know that He is God’ (Well, I did really but chose to ignore it!)
However, I do
want to say a massive
thank you
to so many of my friends who have helped me over the past few weeks – meals
on wheels, meals out, helping me with zips, changing my bed linen, walking
Freddie, taking me shopping, giving me lifts…. and praying and ringing me
up…..and more!!
I am counting the days until I am out of plaster
– I’m sure Ellen Robinson, who had a very similar injury, is too! How good
of God to give us each other for mutual support.
After my accident, my brother sent me a pair of
Yaktrax Walkers which promise to ‘give you better traction, confidence and
safety on packed snow and ice’ – they fit on the sole of your shoe and are
really good apparently. I have yet to try them but you can get them from:
Step Beyond (Yaktrax)
11, Wrythe Lane, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 2RL
I am looking forward to the Spring......going
back to work, gardening, housework(?), cleaning the car, blitzing my
paperwork, walks on the Downs with Tricia and Bess… hang on a minute though,
have I learnt anything from this experience??
Romans 12:2 Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind.
Jane Watson |
Maurice
Wakeman died peacefully on 3
He
and Rose married in mid life and celebrated their 42
Our
Sunday evening high school age group, is where we encourage the youth to be