A Crossroads ... A Milestone ... Part 2

You know, God's timing is perfect. Here I was full of anxiety and worry about my present life situation. I felt as though I needed an answer now, that I had to act now. That if I didn't make a choice, make a decision, do something, anything, that I would actually be allowing a mistake to happen or be allowing a major disruption to occur.

Once again, as I look backwards, I was relying on me and not on God. Haven't I learned that lesson yet? Apparently I needed a refresher. All the while I was praying for God's guidance, direction, intervention or assitance, I was still relying on what I would do, what choice I would have to make. Silly human, God is in control!

Yes, God is in control and He let me know that most directly. It seems God answered me in the most curious way... by stopping me dead in my tracks.

You see, Sunday after church I was preparing to paint the the soffit and fascia at the very peak of my garage, about 25 ft off the ground. I got the ladder all ready and realized there was a bee hive in my workspace. So I got a long extended pole to knock it down, climbed up the ladder just enough so the pole could reach the hive and succeeded in knocking it down. Out came the bees, not directly at or towards me, but they were a buzzin'! So I decided to get off the ladder and on the ground as quickly as I could. I stepped down one rung, pivoted to step of, thinking I was at ground level, took that step and then realized I was still about 5' in the air.

I landed on my feet .. well, one foot mainly ... and "POP" "CRACK" went my knee. Can we say severe pain!?!? I hobbled into the house, where my wife examined my knee. It wasn't so much my knee but directly below it and I was in terrible pain. I sat down, getting ready for my wife to drive me to the ER when apparently I passed out, most likely from the shock. So then the circus began.

My MIL calls 911, tells them I "fell off a ladder". My wife is attempting to revive me, after my son had to stop me from falling out of the chair. The 911 operator sent everyone and their brother ... the EMTs, an ambulance, the police. I suppose they were expecting a bloody mess on the ground somewhere when they heard I "fell off a ladder". Much to my good fortune, they didn't... they just found silly, embarrassed ole me who finally came to after 5 min, sitting in a chair, unable to walk on his leg.

Well, I took a lovely ambulance ride to the ER where after an examination and some x-rays I was informed nothing was broken, ripped or torn. I just had a severe sprain. They gave me an immobilizer and a pair of crutches and sent me on my way. I took the next day (Monday) off of work but have since returned. However, each day I return home from work, I have to plant myself in the recliner, elevate my leg and ice it down. From being on it all day it swells to the point I can barely bend it. But by the next morning the swelling is reduced and I'm able to report to work .. and then repeat my evening recuperation. The overall pain is improving slowly. I still can't take stairs as before, my knee still wants to give out and not hold my entire weight, but overall it's not as bad as it had been and I believe is slowly getting better.

So by now you're probably asking what's this have to do with anything?? Like I said, God answered me by stopping me cold. Sitting around the rest of Sunday, all of Monday and every evening after work since has given me plenty of quiet time. I can't participate in many of the distractions I usually did after work. So I get to practice what God tells us to do: "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10 - NIV).

By God compelling me to be still, to listen to the still, soft voice of the Holy Spirit within me, I have been able to hear/see what it is God wants me to do about my situation. I have received peace and comfort from God to see the plan he has for me regarding my situation. I now know what path to take, what choice to make and how by following God, it won't go wrong.

God is good, all the time.