Life Lessons Through Pain: Part 2

Last week I begin a series called Life Lessons Through Pain as a way for me to journal the things God has taught me through my hand experience.

In the second part of this series, I want to talk about learning (or better yet, being reminded) how God gives us strength to match the trials we face.

Chopping one's fingertips off one's dominant hand doesn't exactly sound like a joyous occasion...and I can attest that it was not. But, through it all, I've learned that God never left my side.

And you know what? He is still there...getting me through...helping me find strength where I didn't know strength existed.

There's not a caffeinated drink in the world that could have gotten me through these last few weeks, but, God can and has.

He's given me strength in my less-dominant arm and hand and shown me that anything my right hand can do, I'm sure my left hand can follow suit at.

There's the writing, the cutting, the hair washing, the shaving, the cleaning, the bed making, the clothes folding, the vacuming, the dinner making...all now being performed with the strength Christ has given me in my left hand and arm.

1 Chronicles 16:11 says to "Look to the Lord and his strength; and seek his face always," had this verse and my experience has reminded me that in ALL things that I do, I must seek my strength from Christ.

May you be reminded of His strength today and rely on it to help you through.

Many Levels of Randomness

Ever have those days where your head swims with random thoughts?


Welcome to my world.


So, you my lucky bloggy friends, are about to be the recipients of "Amy's Randomness" at it's finest.


1. The nursing home in our small, rural town flooded today. We hadn't seen rain in many weeks and it was too much for the lines to handle. Can you even imagine the surprise some of the residents felt this morning?


2. D-Man is on again, off again on the napping scene since turning 3, and momma is not liking it. Not that I mind spending EVERY, WAKING MOMENT with his sweet face, but that time between 5 and 6 pm when he should be happy but isn't because he revolted against his nap that day, well, let's just say, this momma doesn't like it.


3. And while we are on the subject of momma or mommy, D-Man has quit calling me those 2 sweet, endearing terms. Instead, I'm just mom. And I'm OK with that except that means that my baby is growing up and this momma doesn't like that either.


4. The Olympics, oh the Olympics, where medals are earned and a new culture we learn, but the air keeps us from wanting to return.


5. The fingers are on the mend, but not as fast as I would like. You women out there understand that in "momma world" one day is too much to tarry, and I've gone on for two weeks with 8 fingers that are OK, but only one hand that is truly functional.

6. D-Man told me over some nuggets and fry-fries that Jesus lives in his heart and in Heaven.

7. I don't really have a seven, but I wanted to, so...

8. Be great today!

Lefty has been way overworked

My left hand, that is, has been majorly overworked this week.

Therefore, I spoke to the boss and asked politely for a day off.

The boss has obliged, but only if I get in the kitchen and make something sweet.

Do you think Jello-O pudding cups will do?

And tomorrow we'll bring out the parka and hot chocolate

We've experienced a real cold snap here in the south.

We've gone from more than 5 straight days of 100-plus daily temps, to two straight days only reaching the upper 90's.

Brrrrrrr....

D-Man, therefore, felt the need to break out the gloves and warm his frozen little fingers up.

It was either that or maybe he just wanted to be a superhero...

A gift from the tooth fairy at 51

This story I am about to tell is real.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Nothing in this story has been fabricated.

My Dad, the B-Man, lost his last baby tooth, yesterday, at the ripe old age of 51.

Fifty-one, you might ask?

Why, yes, and remarkably it had stayed in so long because there was not a permanent tooth below...and because he hasn't been to the dentist in many years, they just now caught it (and I repeat many, because he keeps his distance from anything medically related until he absolutely has to go...but that's another post for another time).

So, my question is this, what exactly should the tooth fairy leave him?

I'm thinking a swift kick in the booty for waiting so long to go, but that's just me.

Life Lessons through Pain: Part 1

My hand experience has been one on my mind constantly now for 8 days.

8 days of pain.

8 days of thinking about what limits have overcome me.

8 days of feeling sorry for myself.

8 days to think.

And through it all, God has taught me so many things. I will cover these things over the next few weeks in my "Life Lessons though Pain" series each Tuesday. I hope you find comfort, strength and peace in what God has taught me.

So, let me kick off the inaugural LLTP by refreshing your memory with this verse. A verse that has been near and dear to my heart for years, but one that holds extra meaning these past few days.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

God has shown me, better yet, reminded me through my experience that His purpose is the one that I should be seeking to complete. My aspirations, my goals, my wants and my needs matter not if He isn't in control of them.

I feel that I had come to a place in my spiritual walk with Christ that had me prioritizing all these other "things" before Christ. And in a blink of an eye, in a fraction of a second, they became "things" with no meaning or purpose because I realized that I hadn't sought out God's direction and purpose for these "things."

I think more often than not, we are all guilty of becoming complacent and numb to those things that don't really matter in life and my wake-up call to this came sooner than later. God has shown me that He is the first thing on my priority list yesterday, today and tomorrow and with Him at the helm of this ship, I can accomplish all things He has called me to do as long as they are according to His purpose.

And here's the whole story

So I amused myself all last week by teasing you daily with the what-happened-to-Amy's-fingers pictures. And I'm sure by now you've all figured it out, but (so that I can have a blog post for today) amuse me a bit and read the below and see what you think.

Warning...warning...warning...what you are about to read could contain detailed accounts of lost limbs. Read at your own risk.

The hand situation got underway last Sunday afternoon as I was beginning to mow the lawn. Husband was seeing his patients in the hospital and I was trying to help him out with some of the outside "honey-do's" on his list. I had made 3 passes with the our new push lawnmower when I saw D-Man start running towards me.

Now, let me take a moment to say that this was not my first time to mow the yard. I am typically the one who does it because Husband's job is so demanding,

Anyhoo, D-Man is running towards me as I hear something get caught in the mower. The mower has no side-discharge attachment because it is a mulching mower and I was unsure with the noise that it was making what might shoot out and hit D-Man. So, in a fraction of a second, "mommy instincts" kicked in and I bent down to pull the stick out from the side of the mower (notice I said from the side, not underneath...mommy instincts were also telling me that mommy didn't need to have her hand chopped off beneath the mower). All the while, I've still got my eye on D-Man. And in that fraction of a second, I didn't release the handle, the blade struck two of my fingers and D-Man was safe.

In a fraction of a second...

It took off the tips and part of the fatty tissue of my 2nd and 3rd fingers on my right hand. I was in the ER within minutes of it happening thanks to our great neighbors (who also kept D-Man with them). And God was so merciful and had a surgeon who specializes in hands on call in our small rural hospital.

He was able to immediately assess, x-ray and begin his plan of attack within 30 minutes of the accident. He took a skin graft from underneath my right arm and constructed two new finger-tips for me in a matter of a few hours.

It was painful, oh so very painful, but in a heartbeat, I would do it all over again to keep my sweet D-Man from being injured.

And, I am happy to report that after having my fingers wrapped up for a week to promote the graft taking, we learned yesterday evening that the grafts have attached and are healing up nicely. Praise be to God and God alone!

I still have very limited use of my right hand (this post actually took me an hour and a half to type because I took so many breaks), but in time, the bandages will completely come off, I can wash my own hair again and I can resume my normal activities fully.

God has taught me a lot this week and I plan to share it with you later in the week. He did slow me down this past week and make me mostly realize that a lot of things I had my focus on were not really as important as I had made them out to be.