Toe Jam

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 (The Message)

Last night, after a perfectly lovely weekend, while turning off a light, I jammed my middle toe into a chair that was not in its normal place. When I hobbled into the light, the toe was at a ninety degree angle facing left. Hearing my howls, youngest son came to the rescue putting his newly learned skills (and newly certified, I might add. He passed his certification test on the FIRST try!) to good use. Saying, “Close your eyes and don’t look,” he twisted my toe causing more pain than I remember in childbirth. Once straightened, he taped it to another toe and sent me off to bed with a dose of Advil. Remarkably, after the initial throbbing subsided, it no longer hurt, and I slept through the night. Upon awakening, I made the mistake of crinkling up my toes in a stretch, heard a popping sound and felt more pain. So, at husband’s insistence, I called and made an appointment with the doctor. I really didn’t want to go. You see my doctor and I have some unfinished business in the form of weight loss she expected me to accomplish, which I did not. I did swear off refined sugar a week ago and did well until our Cedar Key weekend of binge eating fried seafood and little fried cheesecake squares served with ice cream and caramel sauce. Not exactly what you want to do and face your doctor first thing on Monday morning. I was relieved to hear she was too busy to see me today, and I would have to see her associate. My toe hurt so badly, I practically crawled into the office where I had to get up on the scale and then, have my blood pressure taken. Though I tried to think calming thoughts, my blood pressure was way up just as it was the last time I was there. After an exam of my toe, x-rays to determine it was dislocated and not broken and that youngest son’s ministrations had done the trick, the new doctor wanted to talk about my blood pressure. Thankfully, it went down twenty points while I sat in the waiting room, so there was no need to call an ambulance, but I have to go back in three weeks for a recheck and a talk about lowering it. I think I will ask them to take my blood pressure before they make me get on the scale. I guess swearing off fried foods and sugar for a while might be a good idea, too. If it’s not one thing it’s another. The pain in my toe made me think of these verses. When one part hurts, the whole body does as well. I’ve got some friends going through some heart break. I’m hurting right along with them and praying for God to step in and bring healing. They might have some more pain first. Just like when my newly minted EMT son wrenched my toe back into place!