Last week I waged a battle with the back yard weeds. It felt so good to grab their bodies and jerk them from the soil. They are unwelcome visitors…they take up precious space. I could grow flowers or vegetables there. Handful after handful. I filled two large yellow leaf bags, and then looked around, and went for the squatters in another small-ish area, and then another, and then, just one more to fill the bag firmly. I was proud of myself. I had won the war, or, at least the battle of the day!
That afternoon, Bob and I went to the zoo…just to walk around and enjoy our favorite friends. I no sooner entered through the gate than I felt incredible drained and tired, and, the father I went, the more I realized that I was in pain. It actually took me a couple of days to realize that the weed-warrior had some serious battle scars in the low back!
So, I’ve been limping around and feeling old and broken. It reminds me of the poem Bob wrote many years ago when he cracked a vertebrae. I’m sure I’ve posted this one before, but, here it is again:
Each day I live you come to me,
Almost always by surprise.
You have no thought of decency,
From my tip-toes to my eyes.
Sometimes you stay just a little while,
Other times you stay too long.
And when you do, you sing to me, a very painful song.
But, dear old friend, thank God for you,
For without your warning signs,
I would not know and could not know
Those injuries of mine.
And I would probably bleed to death,
Or something just as bad,
If you weren’t there to counsel me
By helping me feel bad.
So, my dear friend, thank God for you
Just one more time.
‘Cause when you’re gone, and I feel good,
That feeling is sublime!
The following link is to mormonchannel.org and contains a 3-minute video of a man who endured a lot of pain. It makes me feel grateful that my pain will subside. It’s not something I have to live with, as so many others do (my husband included).
http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/im-a-mormon/tim-hurst-running-on-faith
Share your stories of pain, please!
