Mercy in the Toe

The scene of the "crime" 

(My toe hit the bottom part of the bouncy seat, which was up against a wall.  So it didn't move out of the way for me.  My toe did the moving.  In three places.  Yay.)

The "help" 

(I will get help from anyone.  Even letting a four year old do the laundry.  She's actually good at it and enjoys helping.)

The "boot"

(Borrowed from a friend.  The doctor said that it would be best to stay in this - for mobility, healing & protection) 

So... 6 weeks of boot, rest and buddy tape.  Not how I thought the end of the summer would be.

Not really at ALL how I pictured the summer ending.  With three kids...  With a broken toe...

It's amazing how God works and plans our lives and we just are sometimes along for the ride, 

marveling in His power, grace and mercy!   

I've been thinking about how this changes so much of what I do.  No more running at the Y for a while.  Running is so far away, since walking is still a problem; I can't walk very well or smoothly. I've got a cool limp now.  Even doing simple things...I tried to turn to go into a closet yesterday, and it hurt so bad.  Who knew the pinky toe was used to pivot?  I do now!  

But then I was thinking in a different way of how this changes everything.  We went to the pool last week and I had thought swimming laps would be fun, for a change of pace.  And I think that would actually be great...in a few weeks.  Mix things up!!  

And thinking about the "pace" of my life...  Three kids really does change things.  Greatly.  I think I was trying to keep the same things going - errands, household work, daily life - the same as when there was just me and the two girls at home.  Just throwing the baby into our schedule.  Not that it was crazy busy, but the pace was definitely pretty fast. What was I thinking? Seriously?!  With three kids, one being a small baby, my pace needs to change.  I need to, well, SLOW DOWN.  And I got the message...  

... LOUD  AND  CLEAR.  

So I'm slowing down.  I completely reevaluated my to-do list over the weekend.  I still have a list, because I won't remember anything at all if I don't write it down.  But the list is much shorter.  And much slower.  I think that I'm going to continue this, even post-toe!  I think that God wanted me to slow down, enjoy this season of life and have some rest.  And I guess I wasn't listening there for a while.  So I had to be immobilized in a way.  To just stop, look around, appreciate all the people around me - the relationships - and to - Listen.  Rest.  Accept help.  Play.  Slow.  

And in that, I see God's power...grace...mercy.