This time last year, to the hour, I broke my finger. Badly. It caught in the way of a heavy duty aluminium framed door, and oh the pain!! Literally and figuratively. I was genuinely shocked when the x-ray showed a fracture – but the agony I was in certainly reflected it. Today I was reminded of this because a good friend of mine has spent the majority of the day so far at A&E (lockdown-style) with her son. A year to the day: what are the odds? Ouch, I feel his pain.
Rewind: when this happened a year ago, we were smack-bang in the middle of our house repairs (which in themselves had taken a looooong year to eventuate after the house fire) combined with an unexpected renovation of the flat downstairs. We were living, and homeschooling, in the middle of it all. It was a tricky time, to say the least. Emotions (for all of us) were all over the place, our house was literally a building site surrounded in scaffolding with all furniture pulled from the sides and permanent dropsheets everywhere. I can’t quite explain the intensity of the fishbowl effect of living in the second story of your home with workers walking by at eye level, within a metre of every window.
To top it all off, I couldn’t believe that, of all times to break my finger, I had done so during (what turned out to be) the final week of us having builders permanently onsite! How was I going to return furniture to its rightful places, let alone clean up after the sawdust and building debris, or even wash dishes? Pain meds had me in a daze for the first 3-4 days and I could hardly move without setting off shooting pains, especially that first week. Incredibly enough, God went ahead of me. Family, friends and even ACC stepped in to help. While I was forced to rest, everything happened around me. My house returned to normal (in fact, better than normal thanks to the repairs!) the building remnants slowly disappeared, my housework was done, and all while I had time to stop, and to heal. Who ever would have thought that anything about a broken finger could be a blessing?
Fast forward to today… if you had told me what was coming a year down the track, I would never have believed you! A worldwide pandemic? A lockdown? Weddings, funerals, parties, togetherness: stopped? The economy: slowed to a trickle? Supermarkets: on the frontlines? Life turned upside down, hugs something we have to think twice about… the list goes on.
For some, this time has been exceedingly difficult, separated from loved ones and so very alone. For others, this has been a time of healing, of respite, of connection and family. For still others, it has been a time of uncertainty, heartache, anxiety and even trauma. For each of us, this time will represent something different. We will each recall it in a different light, with a different slant, when we one day share our experience with future generations.
But right here in the middle, just like when I broke my finger, I do find myself thankful for the perspective our current circumstances have brought me. I’ve been reminded of what truly matters. Family connections have grown stronger, and certainly won’t be taken for granted again. The forced rest has given me space to breathe, to pause, to consider (albeit reluctantly, at times!)
And as life begins to return to a new ‘normal’ over the next while, I can’t help but think that we have all been changed in some way. While I choose to be thankful for the blessings I see – and even those I don’t – I know that for me it has taken a concerted effort to turn my face toward the sun and take that perspective. Some days more than others. Because of this, I’m also finding myself thankful for the difficult seasons in my life story that have helped me find the perspective to weather this particular one.
Perspective. It can often be so much easier in hindsight, can’t it?
Kristy x
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