Raise your right hand

I have just one question. One simple little question. And it's just one word...WHY? I seem to be on a roll, I had a little down time and i was excited about preparing a lesson for my Sunday School Class and then....boom! I was trying to help my mom who has very limited vision.  It's not that I feared her getting hurt, I did not think she could see the problem to fix it.  A tealight candle was stuck on a side panel of a lantern.  I tried to pry the candle off the panel and in the process, the candle came off easily but my momentum drove my hand into the lip of the lantern. Ouch. 

I did what any normal person would do-I put a band aid on it and drove home.  I knew it was not an ER injury but thought an urgent care trip might be necessary.  After an initial assessment and a trip across town, I ended up at the hand surgeon's office.  Praying my way through the visit, we discovered the tendon was cut but not all the way through.   Five stitches later, I was told that we would pray for the best and hope the tendon reattached itself.

I was pretty "bummed" I had all this quiet time to write and prepaqre and now I could do neither.  I asaked my husband "Why" but really knew the answer before I asked.  As I asked I thought of Psalm 46:10.  My husband's response was "Did you ever think that God may be wanting you to be still and listen?" "Yep" I did think of that but I still asked why. 

I now know what it is like to miss my right hand.  I can not use my fingers, can not grip, grab,grasp or even type, Cant wash my hair, eat with a fork or put make up on with my dominanant hand.  I can use my right thumb and have become resourseful in typing texts.

The perfectionist in me wants every word spelled right...i have no patience and am frustrated when I type "right" and it says "tight" My friend Tracy texted me and asked how i was and I texted "much butter" to which we both got a good chuckle.

The doctor said to keep my right hand in an raised so that the "throbbing" will stop. For years I heard "Raise your right hand" and now that I have to, it takes real effort.  I wonder why this happened.  If God would have told me to slow down I probably would have without losing the use of my hand. Really?  I have to ask myself "how many times did I not listen that it had to come to this."

My hand is still swollen, still painful, and still weak and I am frustrated that it takes me over an hour to type something I could have done in ten minutes.  I covet your prayers for the preparation of a lesson for Sunday...although there is a lesson in this! Most of all, I pray that I will be still and LISTEN to what God would have me learn during this time. In the hustle and bustle of life, we should all slow down and spend quiet time listening.   I have seen more of His beauty, heard more of His voice and learned more from His word because I have been still.

Be still and know that I am God....Psalm 46:10