The Extras

You know there are times when you just simply have to laugh.

This morning has been one of those times.

A little background before the story:

**Resolution made long before turning the big 4-oh: I would not focus on the age but on the life. I didn't want to miss the good that the maturing ages bring because I was focused on the age itself or on the unpleasantness that may or may not accompany growing older.

**Because of the "extras" in my life (prosthesis, chronic pain, etc), I have to sort of schedule really busy days with some cushion for some down time.

**Another resolution: never, ever be afraid to find the humor--and the lesson in a situation.

Now the story...

The last several weeks have been incredibly busy for us and this week and weekend were a sort of culmination of that busy. Several of us had planned a garage/bake sale to benefit the school Gracen attends. That happened on Saturday and was far more successful than any of us thought it would be! A very good thing.

I knew that Saturday afternoon and Sunday would be sort of a question mark as to what my body would allow me to do. Saturday afternoon wasn't too bad. Clothes got washed, dinner was fixed, time was spent outside, and football was watched--good times.

By bedtime, though, things were starting to rebel like a spoiled two year old.

This morning, the two year old had blossomed into a defiant teenager.

My leg hurt, my back hurt, my shoulders hurt, and I couldn't breath because my nose still isn't quite doing right.

I had to laugh. I immediately thought of my Grandma's love for the television show The Golden Girls and remembered one scene in particular. The part I thought of begins at about 1:46.

Go, watch--I'll wait.

As I thought of the Icy Hot (that I paid for with a coupon, thankyouverymuch) I'd just put on my shoulders in an effort to be able to put on my artificial leg and dry my hair, the nose spray I'd just used in an effort to be able to breath, the lotion I'd rubbed on desert dry skin, and the Ibuprofen I'd just taken in an effort to actually bend--well, I had to laugh.

Turns out the Icy Hot didn't help so much. So now I sit, legless and flat-haired, writing about my adventures as a 40 something year old amputee with more pain than I'd like and missing worship with my family--and on a gorgeous day, I might add.

Temptation to whine, moan, and despair right there at my fingertips. It would be so easy. I'm not stronger than anyone else--I want to whine and groan. And, you know what, there are times when I do. More times than I care to admit, actually.

But then, I remember that it is simply not about me. Hopefully, my life, with all its extras, reflects something more than myself.

I firmly believe that God gives many gifts. Some are very welcome (in our way of thinking), some are not but they are gifts, nonetheless, because God gives them and because each of those precious gifts teach us something more about Him--and leaves us looking a little less like ourselves.