Thankful for a Smashed Ankle

One year ago today, I was pushing my shopping cart through a crowded grocery store. It was the evening before Thanksgiving, and I was determined to scrounge up a few staples to pull together a meal. I was painfully pregnant ~ you've seen those women ~ when we look like we'd rather sit down in the middle of the aisle and take a nap than go another step. I had been having a rough week, lots of pain, and now bronchitis on top of everything else. Each step through the store was a challenge. I clung to my cart and pressed on... then it happened.

At the chaotic intersection of dairy products and paper goods, I stopped to let someone by, but the lady behind me did not. Her cart crashed full speed into the back of my ankle. The shock wave shot through my entire body and I could barely speak words to acknowledge her apology. With tears beginning to stream down my face, I suddenly realized something, the only thing that hurt was my ankle. The belly pain from contractions, the tight chest from coughing, all were completely eclipsed by my throbbing ankle. It was as if all other senses had been turned off to devote attention to the new crisis.

Now, with only a crushed ankle to worry about, I hobbled through the store feeling better than I had all day. I was actually thankful for the injury because, as I wrote to a friend later that evening - what seemed horrible was actually for my good!

Barely two days later, in the early hours of Friday, November 23rd, my little girl went to be with the Lord. Just as I would never wish for a crushed ankle, I would never wish for my daughter's death. But what seemed horrible has been used for our good. The concerns and the pains of the world, the nagging things that can weigh me down and sap my strength are all dimmed when I think of what we have endured.

Thank you Lord for smashed ankles and broken hearts.