My poor hubby was playing a softball game this past Tuesday night, and as luck would have it my kids and I were able to attend that one. Oftentimes we aren't because I am running one kid or another to soccer, scouts, etc. But not Tuesday. It was a later game and soccer and scouts were over by then, so we all trekked up to the ballfield to watch Daddy play.
He did great too! Ended up on second base, then the next batter was up. Crack! He hit the ball into the outfield. Tim ran to third, the guy in the outfield missed the catch but quickly recovered the ball. "Run to home!" they shouted at my hubby, and dutifully he did.... right as the ball was thrown that way. He poured on the steam to get to home plate and decided to slide on in to make extra sure he got there before that ball did! Well, the ground was wet since it had rained previously, and he didn't slide so well. Rather, his foot stuck in the ground more than he expected while the rest of his body continued forward. Unfortunately then, there was yet another crack. This time it was the audible sound of both bones in his lower right leg breaking-- clearly heard by one of his teammates.
The next bit of time seemed to go by in slow motion. All the players, from his team and the other, were surrounding him and helping. Luckily one of our friends is a chiropractor, and another of my husband's teammates has a wife who is a medical resident. They were both on hand that night, by the grace of God, and helped my husband stay still and calm until the ambulance got there to take him to the hospital.
The rest of that night turned out to be a very long one. After the ER he went to the OR to get knocked out so they could repair his leg. He was in way too much pain for them to realign the bones with him awake! Sadly the cast they thought would do the trick-- one up to his hip at that-- was not enough to keep the bones straight and together, so his orthopedic surgeon said he would have to have surgery instead. Not what I wanted to hear of course, and my husband was still unconcious on the table so he would not know about this new decision until he woke up.
They determined he would need a titanium rod the length of his lower leg to be inserted from the kneecap to his ankle, and several pins put in there too to hold it all in place. Lovely. But I must say, the resulting bandages and "boot" he has to wear for several weeks are a slightly better alternative to the full leg cast he would have been in for two months or more!
Nothing was more lonely or eerie than me having to sit in that big and EMPTY waiting room that night waiting for my hubby to come out of surgery. From midnight until 5:30 am I waited and worried. Not very fun! But a huge thank you to my friend Karol's husband who brought me snacks and stayed with me until 2am. That was so kind of him, especially when he had to get up for work the next morning! But I have come to find out over the past few days, that you know what...... that is just some of what good friends do when you are in need.
My husband and I were talking today about how things always happen for a reason, and how sometimes bad things happen to us so that a greater good might come from them. He has been wonderful through all of this. Never uttering a "why me?", never really complaining at all. He is a strong man, and this experience has served to deepen his faith, and his love of his friends and bretheren. And we have come to find out that in just three short days since this accident, many good things have happened as a result.
As my husband has been unemployed for some time now, we do not carry health insurance. We were informed today that people were taking up a collection of money to donate to him to help a bit with our expenses. You know who gave the most?? A member of the other team they had been playing that night! Word had spread of my husband's injury and he had been added to their prayer list at their church. As a result, they were lead to give.... give to a man they never met. My husband was just about moved to tears when I told him. He really couldn't get over their generosity and was so humbled with gratitude. Amazing.
We were talking today and I told him this is just one of those things that renews your faith in the human spirit and reaffirms that God is still working in His people! It takes things like this to happen every once in awhile to remind you of the love of your friends. The cards, many phone calls and meal we received tonight from some wonderful ladies remind me, and him, of how incredibly blessed we are, and we are beyond grateful for their love and support.
And this is an excellent reminder to US as well. We shouldn't sit back and be complacent when there are others that need our help. Don't leave the burden of helping your bretheren in need to fall on the shoulders of others. If we are always too tired or too overcommitted with our "fun" things and such, we won't be able to give back to others like they have given to us.
Our friends, and even those others we do not know, have been wonderful Christian models for us to emulate. Help those in need, give freely of ourselves, and give our time and our funds when we can. And that should be often.
In the words of our Savior in Matthew 25 verses 35-40 :
"For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me." Then the righteous will answer Him, "Lord when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger and invite You in or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?" The King will answer and say to them "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me"
AMEN! A big thanks to all those who have taken these words to heart and applied them to serving us this week.
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