Lesson #10

4 months + 4 days

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I am a changed person, like a person with a new name, I will never be the same and I have no desire to go back to the person I was!

This storm has changed my life. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you already know what I am saying. I still need improving. There are things that I should be doing that I am not doing well. This storm in no way has made me perfect, but it has changed me for the better. I have learned so much. I have matured so much. I have a new perspective of God that I did not have before. I have been changed. I am like a person with a new name. I will never be the same and have no desire to go back!

4 Month Anniversary

Day 120

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I have spent the last several days looking back over the past 4 months. Hard to imagine that 4 months ago to this day, I fell 14' and blew my heels away! So much has happened! Here is an update on my current status:

• I have not used my wheel chair in 2 weeks!
• Physical Therapy is progressing and is SO helpful to my recovery.
• I am walking most everywhere with the help of a crutch.
• My next doc appt is this Thursday, Dec 11.

Thanks again for all of your calls, emails and most of all, your prayers. It has been an exciting 4 months and I am so thankful for all that has transpired!

Side-Bar...I Must Chase A Rabbit!

Day 117

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I will have to include what I am about to tell in you my "Things Learned" list. If I don't write about it now, I will forget the details....because I have several things on my list!

Tonight, I was reminded of something that I never wish to forget. I have a better understanding of people who have disabilities. I have a better understanding of what people with disabilities have to go through on a daily basis. Therefore, I wish to never take some one's disability for granted!

Having a disability has proven to me how nice and generous people can be and also how inconsiderate they can be. I have had complete strangers come up to me, asking if I need assistance. In most cases, I tell them "no thank you." But recently, I made a trip to Sam's Club and I over-did it on my feet that morning. I finally made it back to my car and I was in great pain. A stranger walked up to me and asked if he could remove the items from my cart and load them in my car. I said, "Yes, sir, and thank you very much!" I have had doors opened for me and just 100s of simple kind things. It puts a smile on your face!

Unfortunately, there is a flip side of this coin. There are moments when people forget that you have a disability or they just don't take it into consideration. They invite you to an activity and yet provide you with limited opportunity to participate. And when you mention that you can't participate because of limitations, they do nothing to minimize the limitations that could allow you more participation.

This post is not a pity party for me. I just wish to convey to you the frustrations that people with disabilities have to endure. I wish for you (and me) to take into consideration the person and their disability.

I will never forget my time with a disability. It has been good for me. I have learned many things!

Lesson #9

God Is Truly All That You Need!

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Either you have already had such an experience OR you will soon go through one....but in time, you will have a moment where everything is stripped away; you will be completely exposed, raw if you will and it will be that moment when you realize God is all that is left.

I can remember a couple of these moments while I was in the hospital. I was alone and was over-come with feelings of loneliness and sadness. I could not walk. I was told I may never walk correctly again. I was in lots of pain. I could not work. I could not leave my bed. I was completely dependant on other people for everything from cooking my meals to wiping my behind. I was in control of NOTHING! For a control freak like myself, it was like my skin had been ripped off my body. I was raw and exposed to all elements and there was nothing I could do to change the situation.

The ONLY comfort I could get was from God. He was there with me. I truly was not alone at all. He comforted me. He took away my negative feelings. He put a smile on my face. He gave me joy despite my circumstances. The words He wrote in the Bible gave me hope; a hope that would not (and did not) disappoint me!

So you see, we get attached to a lot of things and people here on earth. It is easy (when things are going well) to use these attachments as our security blanket. But I am here to tell you that when these "attachments" are ripped away, you soon remember that God should be our only security blanket; our first and highest attachment!

Lesson 7 & 8

I Already Knew Who My True Friends Were!

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When I fell and even until now, my true friends, those that stuck closer to me than a brother, have proven themselves over and over again that they INDEED are my truest and closest of friends. They have sacrificed time, money and energy; doing, fixing, calling and going places for me and my family. My family would not have made it through this crisis without their help, love and devotion! Actions speak louder than words and let me tell you, their actions spoke volumes to Robbie and me!! Their actions reminded me of a covenant friendship that is found in First Samuel 18. Jonathan and David had a covenant friendship. They were not acquaintances. They were not fair-weather friends. They were not crisis-only friends. They were true friends. No matter the circumstances, they stuck to each other. They were committed to each other. They defended each other. They helped each other and they encouraged each other. Wow...how refreshing to have such friends!

The lesson here is this: You have many acquaintances, but you have only a few true friends. We must be kind and friendly to all people, but we must "stick closer than a brother" to those we have made a friendship covenant with! Cherish your true friends. Never leave their side. Never be SO BUSY that you can't carve out time for your dearest friends! Be there for them when they need you and stay with them till the end of time!

The header to this post says lessons 7 & 8. Lesson 7 is what I typed above. Lesson 8 is along the same lines, but the reverse and is a little too personal for me to write about.

This Day Finally Came!

Day 109 (since my accident)

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If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know that while I was still in the hospital, I asked God to allow me to walk (for the first time) at Thanksgiving. You see, my request and desire was to walk for the first time to my Thanksgiving dinner table; just so that I could give God all the glory and honor for my continued healing. In my heart, I believed Thanksgiving Day was appropriate for such and honor.

Beginning the day that my surgeon told me it would be December before I began to walk again, I started a countdown of days to Thanksgiving. In my mind, walking meant being on my feet and moving from point A to point B. It did not matter if I was using a walker of if someone walked on my right and left, I was going to be on my feet, moving towards our Thanksgiving table. This was my request, my hope, my heart's desire....my dream. AND I knew God was going to deliver. Yet I never in my mind believed He would answer my request in the way that He did!

As the days counted down, I kept believing in my God! As I approached my Oct 30th doctor's appointment, I started believing that the boot cast that was still on my right leg would have to stay on another 6 weeks. I just did not believe my right foot was ready for me to put weight on it. That meant that I would be in that boot past Thanksgiving. My prayer changed and I told God that I would be completely satisfied with walking on one foot....just having the privilege to walk on one foot at Thanksgiving would answer my prayer. That in itself would have been something AWESOME to praise God for!

Well, in God-like fashion, my prayer was indeed answered, but I got much MORE than I asked for. My doc told me to dump the right boot on Oct 30th and on Nov 2nd, I was walking on both feet with a walker! Many days before Thanksgiving!

But guess what! The story does not end there. On Thanksgiving Day, I stood in my living room with my family. We prayed and gave thanks to our Great God and I then walked on both feet, on my own, no assistance, to our Thanksgiving table.

Can you believe this? Is this not amazing? Isn't God just beyond anything you can imagine? Here I was ready to settle for a one-leg hop to my table, yet He delivered a full, normal walk without any assistance!

Praise Be To Our Great God!

Lesson 6

You MUST have a good network of friends and family!

We are all too busy! Our calendars and schedules are so crammed with activities, that we barely can breathe! We get this false sense of security from checking off tasks on our To-Do lists. Yet, what I have learned is that our busy lifestyles have moved us away from building lasting relationships! We have become an island of one. Nothing else seems to matter but our calendars, to-do lists and our personal activities. Because of this, we have very little time to devote to our friends and family. I must shamefully admit to you that if it were not for birthdays, I would probably never see my dearest friends. And even then, we are late to celebrate the event! It is shameful. We all know it is. We freely admit this shame, but in the end, we do nothing about it! We go back to our crazy lives and await the next time we have to bow our heads and admit we are too busy...and the cycle continues!

I AM BLESSED to have close friends and family. They came to my (AND Robbie's) rescue in my (OUR) time of crisis. They swoop'd in and took care of things so that Robbie and I could focus on healing. It was amazing to watch and even now to look back upon!

So here is what I have learned! I will stop taking my friends and family for granted. I am going to pursue my friends and family more than I have in the past. I am going to pray that they too will look for ways and implement ways to improve their relationships. My personal schedule should not stop me from cultivating the close relationships that I so desperately need in my life.

Lessons 5

I wish to pick up where I left off on the lessons I have learned so far since my accident over 3 months ago.

Lesson 5

Throw out your pride and accept help from others!

More than often, most of us reject offers of assistance. Think about it! How often do your friends and family offer to help you and you tell them, "no thanks!" Lets be completely honest here...this is a pride problem. Sure, we may say, "oh, I don't wish to bother you with my problems", or "you have plenty to do without having to help me with my problem or situation" or "I can handle it, not to worry!" That is all crap and when it boil it down....it is pride that tells people NO!

Sure, there are times when I should say no. For example, if I am out mowing my yard and my best friend comes by and asks if I need help, I would tell him, no. My yard is my responsibility and not his. But, if I have fallen through my ceiling and crushed my heels and am unable to mow, then, this is an appropriate time to say YES!

A perfect example of this happened to me today. A friend send me an email telling me that her 2 kids were very sick and that she and her husband was having a very hard week at work on top of having to stay home with sick kids. My heart immediately said, "They need someone to cook dinner for them tonight....ME!" So I told her I was bringing her dinner. Immediately, in the next email from her came excuses for me not to cook dinner for them. I told her fooey on that, that dinner was coming anyway! She was pretty insistent, but I delivered anyway.

Bottom line: There comes a time when you must dump your pride and accept help from others. I sent out an email asking my friends if they knew of a place where I could purchase fire wood for the winter. A friend called me to tell me he would bring me some fire wood. I told him I was not looking for free fire wood....that did not matter to him. He cut the wood, delivered it and stacked if for me. I was overwhelmed by his help.

Not allowing others to help you robs them of the blessing of helping. Don't be a robber!

Craziness & Fun!

Day 94

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WOW! Since being released to bear weight on my right foot, I have been doing all kinds of fun stuff! Primarily, driving! At my last doctor's appointment, I was concerned how I was going to get to my physical therapy appointments. As you read in my previous post, I have figured out how to get my wheelchair in my car and go places on my own. So my prayer!

I have completed my first week of physical therapy (PT). I spent this week in a wave pool. Walking in a pool of water cuts my weight in half and allows me to walk on my right foot without any assistance of people or devices. It was so cool to do this. It was painful, but cool nonetheless.

I spend time walking, stretching and at the end walking against water currents. Now that is very interesting. I can adjust how powerful the currents are.

Just after one week of PT, I am walking more with my walker and spending less time in the wheel chair. So cool!

The Tiger Has Been Let Out Of His Cage!

Day 86

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Since my last doctor's appointment on Oct. 30th, I have been engaging in several firsts (at least, firsts since my accident).

• On Friday, Oct 31, I drove my car 3 times. It was awesome to be driving again!! Robbie put my wheel chair in the back and we both took off to our destinations.
• On Sunday, Nov 2, a friend let me borrow his walker. After church, I WALKED FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! My goal was Nov 25, yet God allowed me to do it 23 days early. I did not go far, but it was exciting and very emotional!
• On Tuesday, Nov 4, I got into my car and drove to Sonic by myself to get a Diet Coke. I wheeled out to the garage, stood up, got into my car and drove off. Came home, got back into my chair and wheeled back into the house. So refreshing to do thing on my own!!
• TODAY--I decided I could pick my wheel chair up and put it into my SUV on my own. So, I went to Office Depot to get some storage boxes. Then I wheeled through Best Buy to get a cable for my computer and then I stopped to get a Diet Coke for my wife. I then went to her office to deliver it and surprise here. It was amazing to be out on my own. Lifting the chair in and out of my car was no big deal.

I start physical therapy tomorrow. It should help me to walk better and longer!

God is SO amazing!