I know…it’s no bombshell of amazing wisdom…it is, however, the second half of my encounter with three energetic physical therapists…
After my “talking to”, I kept trying to get a word in edgewise about my spinal cord plight of years ago, searching high and low for some sympathy and understanding as to why my legs were/are well, lame.
I think this is because the last class in Physical Therapy school is “How to have a Dead Pan Face, no matter what gruesome story the patient tells you”. Seriously, not one of them seemed to care that at such a young, tender age, I was paralyzed for a month. Usually that registers somewhere on the sympathy scale.
Not with PT’s…and I figured out why: they didn’t go to school to be counselors, they went to school to prove to everyone that people could be overcomers if they worked hard.
I realized I was out of my league…and after receiving the verbal lashing, their words began to take root in my soul. The truth is, getting strong is never easy. If it was, there would be a lot more strong people out there and a lot of counselors out of work.
My new friends...
As I whined to these kind and helpful people about how I hate working out, hiking, walking, etc…one of them said to me the most profound thing: “If you strengthened your legs, you might find that you don’t hate those things so much”. Ugh. I really have been going about this all wrong – skipping right to the torture of moving my legs, instead of strengthening them for the task. After some helpful exercises – I was on my way.
But not without that phrase sifting down to my innermost parts. How many things in my life are weak that I have not bolstered, strengthened for the task? How weak is my faith concerning areas of my life that I find hard, difficult, maybe even repulsive? It’s not so much about the “quiet time” being done as it is about my faith being strengthened. Most times, those things go hand-in-hand, other times, it can be like my futile exercising plan. Doing the work, but remaining weak in what needs to be strengthened. (I am not condoning eradicating quiet times or devotions…only the act of disguising them as strong faith…and besides that’s just one example!)
So…I’ve been thinking a lot about what else can use some strength training besides these silly legs…
Strengthen my faith, Lord.