Two months ago I was riding my bike. I decided to take a short cut to get back to
the main road. This short cut involved
some dirt…and my bike got stuck…I went to pedal forward and my bike wouldn’t
move.
As I tried to pedal but couldn’t move I found myself starting to tip
over. I knew that I was going to fall
over if I didn’t put my foot down to prevent it. As I placed my foot on the ground my ankle
immediately twisted and I heard and felt a snap. The pain was intense! Immediately I could feel it start to swell.
As I lay there on the ground with a wounded bleeding hand and a
painful massively swollen ankle, I realized that I was going to be unable to
ride home. I was only about two miles
from home…but there was no way I could do it.
My first feeling was panic and this intense feeling of being
alone. There was no one around me on the
path…I was by myself. My husband was
dead. He couldn’t come and help me. Now what? Quickly though I felt prompted to call a dear
friend for help. Cell phones can be such
a blessing! She was about 20 minutes
away but willingly agreed to come and pick me up. I was so relieved to see her beautiful face
arrive!
As my friend got me home and helped me in to my house, she
immediately began to address my wounds.
She propped my ankle up and put ice on it. She got hydrogen peroxide and started to work
on my hand to get the gravel out of it…not sure which hurt worse my ankle or
the digging at my hand to get out the debris!
Because of the immense swelling in my ankle, my friend felt that she
needed to have our neighbor look at it—he happens to be a P.A. He was concerned and had me go for
x-rays. The x-rays revealed a fractured
fibula in my ankle…and I had severely sprained tendons on both sides. I was sent to an orthopedic surgeon. Fortunately, my injury did not require
surgery. I was placed in a boot and had
to limit usage of the ankle. Gratefully,
I am no longer wearing the boot and am finally able to start using it more…it is
just going to take some time for it to be completely healed.
I would like to share a couple of the things I have learned from
this experience. First, we are not alone even if it at times it feels that way
and there is no one visibly around us.
As I mentioned, I felt so alone after I was first injured, then I felt a
calm come over me. I was prompted as to
how to get help. I was guided from the
other side of the veil…we are being watched over by a loving God and His
ministering angels—both heavenly and earthly angels.
Even if you don’t feel the calm or recognize the help you are
receiving from God…it is there! I love
this statement by Jeffery R. Holland because I believe it is true, “On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced
from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often
enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us
all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and
go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.”
The second thought I would
like to share is that we must keep moving forward. As I learned, in order for a bike to remain
upright you must keep pedaling and moving forward. If you become stuck and/or stop pedaling, you
will fall. Albert Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep
moving.”
There will be those moments that you simply feel you can’t move
forward and you may find yourself falling into deep sadness, regret,
loneliness, despair, or any other myriad of emotions. Don’t just lay there if you do fall down. Get back up! You don’t have to nurse your wounds alone. Turn to God, and
allow others to help you. You are never
alone!
And don't forget to Move (Keep Walkin')! This song will inspire you to get up and move!
