Have you ever had one of those weeks? I’ve been fighting something that has invaded my respiratory system leaving me coughing, blowing my nose, and sleeping most hours of the day. From Saturday to Tuesday I think I slept more hours than I was awake, including through the Super Bowl, and still didn’t feel like it was enough. With the initiation of a round of antibiotics and the assistance of Dayquil, I returned to work on Wednesday. The rest of the week seemed to move in slow motion, I seemed to move in slow motion. I’d go to bed at 8:30-9pm, get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, then back to bed. I was glad when Friday rolled around because that meant Saturday came next and I could sleep in as long as I wanted. God had plans for my Friday though, more than just another day to move through in slow motion, eagerly anticipating when I could return to my bed.
I truly love my job. I think that if you were to ask me when I was in school, what my ideal job would look like, it’d be the job I am working right now. As I’ve alluded to before, I’ve had a few (five total) knee surgeries during my soccer career. With each surgery, came a bout of physical therapy to make sure I was ready to return to my beloved sport. This naturally led to an interest in studying injuries and rehabilitation while trying to figure out my life’s course in college, which in turn, led me to physical therapy school after graduation. Now, in my life, I’ve always worked jobs that involved kids: baby-sitter, one-on-one caregiver in an elementary school, nanny, soccer coach, daycare employee, etc. So adding pediatric to my title as physical therapist wasn’t a huge stretch. The job I have now has even exceeded my expectations of what it means to be a pediatric physical therapist. I get to work with young athletes to ensure they are ready to get back to competition after an injury, I get to snuggle babies on an almost daily basis, I get to put on my imagination hat and take magic carpet rides to the jungle so we can practice our animal poses, and I get to teach kids how to do things they’ve never been able to do before. Nothing compares to the joy and pride on their faces when they switch their focus from what they can’t do, to what they can do. Their whole lives, people have looked at them with pity, thinking about what a hard life they must have because of all the things they can’t or won’t be able to do. At my job, we get to show them all the things they can do or get to do that they never thought possible. Their perseverance and hard work in the face of adversity is inspiring and an amazing blessing.
On this particular sleepy Friday, I was again reminded of why I love my job so much. I met a new patient who has very little verbal communication. While walking on the treadmill, I feel her hand sneak up behind me and land on top of my head. I look and her lips are moving slightly. Her mother asks: “Are you praying for her?” I see an ever so slight nod and feel a smile come across my face. Here is a child who has difficulty communicating with the people around her, but no problem whatsoever communicating with God. And she choose to speak with God about me, a person she met just 10 minutes before. Later, I worked with someone who had been coming for a while. It was one of my last appointments of the day and I was feeling pretty tired. At the end of our time together we decided to try something different. I put her in a piece of equipment we have at the clinic, and for the first time in a long time, she walked! After her short walk was complete, she was smiling, mom was smiling, the interpreter was smiling, and I was smiling. I was so proud of her perseverance through pain and discomfort to accomplish something that was really difficult for her. It was such a cool moment.
I in no way have things all figured out, but here is what I learned from this week. We don’t always feel like doing what God has called us to do. We may be tired, worn down, discouraged, feeling inadequate, or intimidated by the weight of what God is calling us to do. But God will never call us to something he won’t give us strength to complete. There are times where we need to take time to prepare for the call. For me that included going to school and learning about how to be a physical therapist. There will be times when we need to rest and let our bodies and souls rejuvenate for a time so we are better able to complete the work, like my four day sleep fest to get over whatever crazy bug infected me. Then there is a time for the resting period to be over and we need to get back whatever the call may be. Even if when it’s difficult, God will provide the strength we need and bless our obedience, re-energizing us at exactly the right time. He is so good.
What is God calling you to do? Will you take a step of faith?
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” ~1 Corinthians 12:4,5
No comments:
Post a Comment