Sit! Stay! Heal!

After the fall on my hip a couple of weeks ago, I received an e-card with the picture of a puppy and three puppy commands to follow: 1) “Sit!” 2) “Stay!” and 3) “Heal!” instead of “Heel!”  Very cute!

Unfortunately, I landed on the same hip that had been fractured in 2017 and repaired surgically. Although it was painful, my fall did not result in another fracture or in any broken screws, thankfully.

In an endeavor to follow those three commands, I’ve been trying to take it easy.  But now that I’ve been able to trade the walker for a cane, it’s tempting to “overdo!” There was a good opportunity to sit outside one morning, however when Al had arranged for a landscaping firm to deliver a truckload of bark to our property. 

He and I had talked about this project the night before and decided that it would be good for me to supervise the workers in the backyard, while he took on the oversight of the whole operation. We were concerned that they might not see some of the smaller shrubs. However, as it turned out, they were very careful. My being there wasn’t really necessary.

Sitting outside with the sun warming my face was most pleasant. It wasn’t exactly quiet, due to the fleet of trucks coming by for trash pickup, recycling and yard waste. But, in spite of the groaning and grinding of the trucks, the sounds of bird songs could be heard.

While waiting, I looked around at the ever- evolving landscape of our small lot. Wedged between the white rain gutter and the brick wall of the house, a robin’s nest caught my eye. Long strands of dried grass poked out from the nest, which had been abandoned quite some time ago.                          

 We had watched with interest as a robin pair built the nest early in the spring. The female had abandoned it though without her eggs hatching, as far as we knew. What had happened? Maybe we scared her when we began planting the vegetables in the garden bed nearby. After all of that work, it was too bad that she was not able to raise a family there.

When she was sitting on the nest, the male robin would often call to her from a perch on the edge of the birdbath, also known as “Teddy’s water bowl!” Our late golden retriever could easily reach it and seemed to prefer it to his own water dish. Oftentimes he would lie down nearby and guard the birdbath, chasing off any little birds that might try to come down for a drink.

After Teddy had passed away, the birds began using it again regularly. One day I happened to look outside in time to see both robins bathing. The female had left her nest and was chirping loudly to her mate, who dunked himself in the water several times, flapping his wings and spraying it everywhere.

They both seemed quite joyful to have a bath, especially after a few days of warm, dry weather. I imagine that it felt good to her especially, after spending so many hours confined to the nest. There was barely enough room for her to turn around let alone escape the rays of the sun.

Finally, after a couple of hours of “supervising,”  the project of spreading out the bark was nearly completed. I left my post and went into the house for breakfast. It had been a nice morning of “sitting and staying,” observing and reflecting… a healing morning for sure.

Just as a time of quiet reflection certainly can help with the healing process, it also creates an opportunity to connect with God, who understands our struggles. When we draw near to Him, we’ll discover that He has been with us all along. It just takes time to sit and stay in His presence in order to heal! God is good!

 

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV