Saturday Morning Tumble

 “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”*

Last Saturday there was a big crash. However, this time it wasn’t the stock market! Unfortunately, while holding the laptop computer and walking across the guest bedroom that morning, I happened to trip over something.

Because my hands were full, I couldn’t brace myself and landed on my left hip, dropping the laptop in the process. Like most falls, there was no warning. I suddenly found myself on the floor thinking, “What in the world just happened?”

“Is this a repeat of 2017 when I tripped over TJ our dog and broke the same hip?” I wondered. That accident resulted in surgery with three long screws used to repair the fractured bone. This fall didn’t seem as serious though. Hopefully the screws did their job!

After a time of assessing the situation, I was able to get up and walk a few steps to the dining room with the help of a walker that Al had quickly retrieved from the basement. He picked up the laptop and assured me that it was still working.

Should we call the ambulance? Drive to Emergency? Go to Urgent Care? Since I could sit up without a great deal of pain, we decided to go to an urgent care nearby that we’ve used several times in the past. Al helped me get into the car, then went back into the house to get a few things.

While I was waiting, two deer rounded the corner of the cemetery fence, came up the driveway and approached the car. How unusual! They seemed oblivious to the fact that there was a person inside. I sat frozen, watching their every move.

The young buck and doe, maybe brother and sister, walked by the driver’s door and headed to our backyard; however, something spooked them, sending them on a trot back the way they had come until they were standing near the curb.

It looked as though they wanted to go into the cemetery, but were stopped by the high fence which was topped with several strands of barbed wire. One of them tried leaping over it from a standing position on the ground, but miscalculated the height and fell backwards. That was a surprise for them as well as for me! But, I could relate!

The two deer then turned back towards our driveway where they stood looking a little confused. Which way to go? It was a great moment to catch on the camera; however, Al had the cell phone. So, I continued to be the silent observer, praying that they wouldn’t run down the middle of the busy street.

 A favorite verse came to my mind: “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and sets me on my high places.” The injured hip, the deer and then those encouraging words… Perhaps it was a prompting from the Lord, reminding me that I could depend upon Him for strength and that He hadn’t abandoned me. 

Only a few people were sitting in the waiting room at the urgent care facility, so it wasn’t long before a nurse called us to the exam room. That hardly ever happens, especially with the demand for COVID testing! X-Rays showed no broken bones or screws, which was a great relief.

Now several days later, all activities and plans have been put on hold while my hip has time to heal. Actually, everything connected to the hip needs to heal as well. The whole body is sore!

It's natural to ask the Lord 1) why this happened and 2) what He wants me to learn from it. However, after two prior falls and two major hip surgeries, I realize that it happened because I wasn’t watching where I was going and as a result, got my foot tangled up in something!

What does He want me to learn? Slow down? Watch where I’m going? Yes! And also to trust God for strength—not just physical but also for spiritual stamina.

My love for Him only grows deeper as I get older and go through these traumatic experiences. I’ll never run or leap up the sides of the mountain peaks like the deer. But my soul can soar and my spirit leap with joy each day as Jesus reveals His love to me. Of that, I am sure!

*Habakkuk 3:19 NIV

Pictured above and below are deer at our Springville, CA home, not an unusual sighting. But seeing them here in the suburbs of Detroit is always a surprise!