Battered but grateful.

Grade A, Number one Owchie!

Being grateful for blessings can sometimes be truly a matter of perception. An event that most people would see as bad or depressing can easily be seen as a good thing if you really stop and think about it. Sometimes you have to stop looking at how bad some event is and realize that it could have been much worse if not for the Grace of God.

The other day, I was in the process of taking the garbage can down to the curb and as I was coming back, I slipped on something very slick and slid back down the hill behind our home. My right toe struck a rock with all of my 250 pounds of weight behind it. The nail was ripped up and folded halfway back over my toe and I am pretty sure the toe has been fractured. I also sprained my ankle in the fall.

Now most people would look at my badly swollen toe and ankle and think, “Wow what horrible luck” and in one sense they would be right. I am 50 year old Diabetic so injuries don't heal anywhere near as fast as they used to and I am in considerable pain even with pain medications given to me by the Doctor. I can barely walk and actually doing much of anything around the house is impossible.

However, I can be grateful to God that it wasn't much worse. I could have broken my entire foot or torn ligaments and such in my ankle. I could have been in a cast for weeks or even seriously injured myself in the fall. As it stands, my injuries were not serious or life threatening and I will heal slowly over the next few weeks.

God looks after us every minute of every day and takes care of us when we need him too. I could have been hurt much worse, but I escaped with minor damage perhaps as a object lesson to be more careful in the future. Thanks to His care and devotion, my greatest worry is what we are going to eat for the next week or so. My wife doesn't cook and I am currently incapable of it. Since I am a cook, pretty much all of the foods in the house require a couple of hours preparation. Money is super tight right now, so ordering out every night is not possible. However, we will make do and I will heal and I remain grateful to God for all he has done for me including watching over me when I took a spill down a hill.

Amen