SERVANT HEARTS
It has been such a long while since I've blogged.
I suck at blogging this year.
Perhaps that will be a New Years Resolution for me ... or not. We shall see.
This past month has flown by! Like the speed of light flown by.
It all started when I got back from Washington, D.C. It became pretty clear something was wrong with my knee. I was in unbelievable pain all the time, and nothing was touching the pain. I continued to limp along until the first week in November when my sister and I spent the day together walking and hanging out and shopping. By the end of the day, I could barely walk. I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.
A visit with him, a set of x-rays, and one MRI later, it was confirmed that I had a tear in my meniscus that needed to be repaired. I scheduled surgery for December 10th and set about making sure that things were set for my two days away from work for recovery.
Turns out, I had TWO tears and Grade 3 arthritis (there are Grades 1 to 4 ... awesome!). No wonder I was in so much pain!
Recovery has been longer than I had hoped. It's taking a while to get back on my feet sans crutches. But that's not why I am writing this blog. No I am writing this blog because I have been overwhelmed by the beautiful people in my life that exhibited such wonderful servant hearts.
I don't have a servant's heart. I'm ashamed to admit it, but when asked to do stuff for others, I bristle. I am so busy. I have so much to do. I don't have a lot of money.
The list is long and seems to be focused on ME.
Being single, taking time off for surgery isn't quite as simple as one might think. I didn't have anyone to take me to the surgery center the day of surgery ... no one to stay with me after surgery (I naively thought I could do post surgery on my own ... BOY! Was I wrong!) ... no one to cook for me ... or help me to the bathroom ... or bring me a cup of coffee because I can't take the cup and manage crutches all at the same time ...
I was really worried about how that was all going to work, and some girlfriends from church told me not to worry. They had my back. These are women that I just think the world of, but whom I didn't necessarily think had the time to do all that would be required of this whole undertaking.
One of my friend's took the entire day off of work, rolled out of bed at 5 a.m. to take my limping self to surgery. Then she manned my phone and let my family and close friends know when I was out of surgery. She helped me get dressed in recovery (you know you're a good friend then!). She drove me home, procured my appropriate prescriptions, even got me Sprite, and helped my doped up butt get into the house while on crutches. She moved my furniture around in my living room so that I could have my leg elevated as comfortably as possible AND watch TV. She attempted to get me to eat ... she kept my glass filled with Sprite ... she made me do exercises ... she made sure my knee was constantly iced ... and she listened to me forever complain about the fact that I was so sick (anesthesia and I are not friends. Two Zofren pre-surgery, an anti-nausea cocktail during/after, and Phenigrin after, and I was still sooooo nauseous. I don't even want to think about what coming out of anesthesia sans anti-nausea meds would have been like). Because I was looking so pale and sickly, she even stayed overnight with me. This friend has a husband and daughter. So, lots of responsibilities that she put on the back burner to help me out.
My elderly neighbor made me a HUGE pot of vegetable soup and a loaf of pumpkin bread. She wanted to make sure I had dinner ready for me when I returned from surgery.
One of my colleagues made me a huge, yummy casserole, got me a vegetable tray (she knows my heart!), and some yummy cookies!
Another dear friend from church made me THREE dinners. She is a mother of three with a crazy schedule of her own. Yet, she took time out of her schedule to stop by with those meals. Not only that, but her entire family stopped by the next night to visit. That was a healing salve on this single girl's heart. I really thought I could do this on my own. The visit was such a nice surprise after a day struggling on my own.
I had a sweet friend bring me take out on Friday and sit and visit with me before going home to her husband. One of my precious teammates and friends brought me get well cards from all of my students. They made my heart sing!
My other precious teammate and friend brought me a chef salad (she knows my heart!), muffins for breakfast (which was a HUGE answer to prayer!), and a UK colored cupcake (I'll forgive her for that one).
I had a sweet friend bring me Coldstone Ice Cream (seriously! These people all know my heart!!) and visit with me. I had another good friend take me to a doctor's appointment and then sit and visit with me for a couple of hours while I had my leg propped up.
One of my dear besties came over and washed dishes and took some laundry out of the washer for me. Saved my bacon on that one!!
There were many more who texted, messaged, and called to see if there was anything they could do, to tell me they were praying for me, to just encourage me. Their love and care were beyond what I could have asked of them. I love every last one of them!
All of these people went out of their way ... their hearts were so geared toward serving! I am forever humbled and changed by their love and care. All of them ... their lives are all full of work and family and crazy schedules and insane Christmas obligations. All of them took time out to love on me. I am forever changed.
I never expected this much outpouring. It has made me understand what a servant's heart looks like ... how a servant's heart behaves. I am determined to follow in their footsteps!
Thank you just doesn't seem like enough to express my gratitude to all of them for showing me what Being The Church truly looks like!
I discovered something during this adventure in surgery. I have this amazing extended family called My Church. I love them all so dearly!
I suck at blogging this year.
Perhaps that will be a New Years Resolution for me ... or not. We shall see.
This past month has flown by! Like the speed of light flown by.
It all started when I got back from Washington, D.C. It became pretty clear something was wrong with my knee. I was in unbelievable pain all the time, and nothing was touching the pain. I continued to limp along until the first week in November when my sister and I spent the day together walking and hanging out and shopping. By the end of the day, I could barely walk. I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.
A visit with him, a set of x-rays, and one MRI later, it was confirmed that I had a tear in my meniscus that needed to be repaired. I scheduled surgery for December 10th and set about making sure that things were set for my two days away from work for recovery.
Turns out, I had TWO tears and Grade 3 arthritis (there are Grades 1 to 4 ... awesome!). No wonder I was in so much pain!
Recovery has been longer than I had hoped. It's taking a while to get back on my feet sans crutches. But that's not why I am writing this blog. No I am writing this blog because I have been overwhelmed by the beautiful people in my life that exhibited such wonderful servant hearts.
I don't have a servant's heart. I'm ashamed to admit it, but when asked to do stuff for others, I bristle. I am so busy. I have so much to do. I don't have a lot of money.
The list is long and seems to be focused on ME.
Being single, taking time off for surgery isn't quite as simple as one might think. I didn't have anyone to take me to the surgery center the day of surgery ... no one to stay with me after surgery (I naively thought I could do post surgery on my own ... BOY! Was I wrong!) ... no one to cook for me ... or help me to the bathroom ... or bring me a cup of coffee because I can't take the cup and manage crutches all at the same time ...
I was really worried about how that was all going to work, and some girlfriends from church told me not to worry. They had my back. These are women that I just think the world of, but whom I didn't necessarily think had the time to do all that would be required of this whole undertaking.
One of my friend's took the entire day off of work, rolled out of bed at 5 a.m. to take my limping self to surgery. Then she manned my phone and let my family and close friends know when I was out of surgery. She helped me get dressed in recovery (you know you're a good friend then!). She drove me home, procured my appropriate prescriptions, even got me Sprite, and helped my doped up butt get into the house while on crutches. She moved my furniture around in my living room so that I could have my leg elevated as comfortably as possible AND watch TV. She attempted to get me to eat ... she kept my glass filled with Sprite ... she made me do exercises ... she made sure my knee was constantly iced ... and she listened to me forever complain about the fact that I was so sick (anesthesia and I are not friends. Two Zofren pre-surgery, an anti-nausea cocktail during/after, and Phenigrin after, and I was still sooooo nauseous. I don't even want to think about what coming out of anesthesia sans anti-nausea meds would have been like). Because I was looking so pale and sickly, she even stayed overnight with me. This friend has a husband and daughter. So, lots of responsibilities that she put on the back burner to help me out.
My elderly neighbor made me a HUGE pot of vegetable soup and a loaf of pumpkin bread. She wanted to make sure I had dinner ready for me when I returned from surgery.
One of my colleagues made me a huge, yummy casserole, got me a vegetable tray (she knows my heart!), and some yummy cookies!
Another dear friend from church made me THREE dinners. She is a mother of three with a crazy schedule of her own. Yet, she took time out of her schedule to stop by with those meals. Not only that, but her entire family stopped by the next night to visit. That was a healing salve on this single girl's heart. I really thought I could do this on my own. The visit was such a nice surprise after a day struggling on my own.
I had a sweet friend bring me take out on Friday and sit and visit with me before going home to her husband. One of my precious teammates and friends brought me get well cards from all of my students. They made my heart sing!
My other precious teammate and friend brought me a chef salad (she knows my heart!), muffins for breakfast (which was a HUGE answer to prayer!), and a UK colored cupcake (I'll forgive her for that one).
I had a sweet friend bring me Coldstone Ice Cream (seriously! These people all know my heart!!) and visit with me. I had another good friend take me to a doctor's appointment and then sit and visit with me for a couple of hours while I had my leg propped up.
One of my dear besties came over and washed dishes and took some laundry out of the washer for me. Saved my bacon on that one!!
There were many more who texted, messaged, and called to see if there was anything they could do, to tell me they were praying for me, to just encourage me. Their love and care were beyond what I could have asked of them. I love every last one of them!
All of these people went out of their way ... their hearts were so geared toward serving! I am forever humbled and changed by their love and care. All of them ... their lives are all full of work and family and crazy schedules and insane Christmas obligations. All of them took time out to love on me. I am forever changed.
I never expected this much outpouring. It has made me understand what a servant's heart looks like ... how a servant's heart behaves. I am determined to follow in their footsteps!
Thank you just doesn't seem like enough to express my gratitude to all of them for showing me what Being The Church truly looks like!
I discovered something during this adventure in surgery. I have this amazing extended family called My Church. I love them all so dearly!
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