Elbow Surgery and My One Word

I’ve been focusing on the word “rest” this year.  God has revealed so much to me about this word.  So much that I did not anticipate when I chose (or He lead me to) this emphasis.  I prayed and meditated on the word “trust” last year.  My trust in God and His care for me and mine needed to grow.  I allowed a couple of things at the end of 2021 to bring my anxiety to a ridiculous high.  It was as if I stood on the edge of an active volcano waiting to be swallowed up.  I’m getting to my elbow surgery, but I hope you will indulge me in a little more background first.

Should I choose the word “trust” again in 2022?  I knew I wasn’t trusting Him with my life details.  Did I learn anything last year?  And then it came to me.  “Rest” as in “rest in the Lord”.  Another version of “trust”, if you will.  So I settled down with my Faithful Life Planner and my word to get to work.

I looked up verses on trusting and resting in the Lord.  I prayed them and meditated some more.  And then I stumbled upon (I don’t really believe it was by accident) a couple of bloggers who were posting about different ways to interact with this chosen word for the year.  And these exercises blew my mind (like a volcano, if you will).

At some point I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”  Proverbs 19:21 NIV  I knew I needed to pull in close to our all-powerful God and learn to trust Him more.  But He opened up a whole mess of other ways He wanted me to learn to rest.

I get enough sleep – most of the time.  But I don’t sabbath well and I am not ok with being unproductive.  And the Holy Spirit whispers, “It is good to have set aside moments that you don’t produce, Lauren.”  He called me by name, there.  It’s getting very personal and quite serious.

And Now – the Elbow Surgery

On May 18th I underwent surgery for tennis elbow.  Never having played a single game of tennis, I nevertheless had frayed tendons.  This outpatient procedure came early (5:30 am early) and wrapped up quickly.  With anesthesia and pain meds in my system, I gave myself permission to take it easy for the day.  (Even typing that sentence is preposterous, but sadly true.)  I watched TV and slept in the recliner.  Nothing physically strenuous and nothing to even tax the mind.  What a good patient!

The day after surgery I stayed on my pain meds, but decided that computer work was restful enough.  And I had time before getting cleaned up and dressed up to go to my daughter’s voice recital – the day after surgery.  Day 2 stunk.  With limited range of motion in my elbow and the wrist brace to restrict movement there I had a terrible time typing.  I tried multiple positions and propped with various pillows before saying words that I won’t subject you to.

I tried to answer texts and e-mails on my phone but kept dropping it due to the unforgiving nature of the wrist brace.  Well I eventually resorted to the accessibility features on both my computer and phone so that I could talk-to-text.  The silicone valley wizards improved this technology greatly since its inception, but it still struggled to understand my Texas twang.  Which I do understand is excessive.

By the time I got the hang of talk-to-text, I was frustrated and exhausted.  And do you remember me saying I was still on heavy duty pain meds.  I tried to write, sleepy and fuzzy with strained capabilities.  In several hours I accomplished remarkably little.  Resting would have been a much better use of my time.  I wish I had let myself relax for a second day.

So here we are half way through the year, and it doesn’t appear that I’ve learned much.  But life is more than a snap shot.  God shows me more every day, but in my sin nature I sometimes fall back into old habits.  I’m so thankful for grace, mercy, second and 49th chances.

The Link Up

Who to feature is always a hard choice for me, but Linda Stoll’s Doing the Blogging Life was so unique.  I confess I didn’t have time to answer her questions or read the responses, but I’m going back!  If you are a blogger and you haven’t weighed in yet, make sure you do.  Thanks for starting the discussion, Linda.

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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