Fairy tales and princesses

I was in my 20’s when I had to have ACL reconstruction surgery on my left knee. I remember the doctor appointment after the MRI where Dr Thomas put a picture on the bed next to me and pointed and said, “That is where your ACL is supposed to be”. His words, “it has ruptured and we need to build you a new one”. I was expecting that but the next part of the conversation I wasn’t exactly prepared for. In my mind, we schedule surgery, get this knee fixed, go through rehab, and one day begin playing sports again. But he said I needed to go to rehab before the surgery. What? Before? Why? He explained that I was about to have a scheduled trauma to my left leg and it would cause muscle loss, pain, etc… He then went on to say that I needed to build up the muscles in my leg to help the recovery and some other things we can talk about later. Whatever, right?

It seemed kind of counterproductive and wasteful to me. But then I began to think about that this week when my son-in-law and daughter had to take Bryant to the hospital. This picture specifically (left) got my attention and it made me think of about a year ago, which is the picture on the right…

          

I'm sure when Kelcey and Ryan thought about their life together, it didn’t include images like these. Honestly, most of us don’t. We prepare for our night out with the new person, we prepare for the day we propose or are proposed to (where should it happen, what should I be wearing), we prepare for our wedding, and we prepare for our honeymoon. But only a few prepare for these days.

My wife loves those awful princess movies on Hallmark. You know the ones where a normal girl meets a guy who is secretly royalty somewhere in a country we have never heard of and they get married and then she’s a princess and they live happily ever after until the sequel but even then all their problems are fixed in a 90 minute window. We are all living for fairy tales and princesses yet few prepare for the hard times because let’s be honest, how do you prepare for the day when your little boy is sitting in a hospital bed with wires hooked up to him trying to assess “what’s wrong” with him? How do you prepare for days when your spouse refuses to come home because you two are terrible at communication? How do you prepare for seasons when, even after carefully planning, there are just more days in the month than dollars in the bank? How do you prepare for days when the past seems bigger than the present and you’re having trouble discerning between the two?

Sounds miserable doesn’t it? Yay for Friday!

But think about this. As long as you live life here on earth there will be good days and bad days. There will be tragic days and magical days. Are you the first to experience this crazy rollercoaster? Of course not, but that doesn’t help very much when you’re the one in the fire. Remember the words of Dr Thomas. You are about to experience something that will affect your muscles, cause you pain, and be a pretty awful experience. You should begin preparing now. Because the bottom line is you can survive the surgery and make a good recovery without the preparation but studies have shown that doing the work before the surgery helps the recovery process.  

So I suggest we prepare now. These days are going to happen but they don’t have to be the end. The doctor’s report may not be what you wanted or expected but it doesn’t have to be the end. He may not come home and she may not ever love you again but it doesn’t have to be the end. You cannot give up and give in, you have to find a way forward.

Personally, when I deal with big issues I like to look to the bible for answers. Here is what I found for today. Jesus said in John 16 …”in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Peace is a beautiful thing but it can be elusive in hospital rooms, attorney offices, unemployment lines, lonely bedrooms, and well, just about everywhere these days. But, Christ said that we could have peace in Him. That is where I choose to put my trust. In Christ. He never promised to fix everything but he did promise to never leave me.  Take heart. Get up. Have faith. Try again. Never give up! Jesus is peace and you can have it.

Oh and by the way, Bryant is fine. He will probably never remember the time he spent in an emergency room but his parents will. And just like we all do they will probably worry but after a few moments, they’ll have peace. Because the Christ they live for has overcome the world.

Have a great week,

Pastor Dad aka Papa