This weekend as I was running behind a fairy large group of eighth-graders that had been placed in my care for a youth event with the church I do ministry at, I was running towards the car that was going to transport us to the location of the next clue on our scavenger hunt, and the goal was to complete it before the two other teams *kind of like the amazing race but with less traveling and more middle schoolers*. I jumped over a curb took a few steps and the next thing I know I hear six popping sounds in a row and pure unadulterated pain filled every inch of my body. I had stepped into what I think was probably a ditch and was down for the count.

I couldn't form sentences, all I could think to do was scream and cry and go into full scale panic mode. eventually I finally calmed down and end up calling my aunt who just so happens to live in the town the D-now was taking place, I got in the car and went to get some medical attention. We spent what felt like hours in an urgent care *it was in fact hours* waiting to see a doctor and then waiting to see my x-rays. Not long after putting my x-rays up on a screen and pointing to the crack in my foot thats causing me all the pain, they quickly set me up with a boot, crutches and all kinds of fun things that will help me heal. When I returned to my youth group and started telling my kids what happened we all kind of laughed about it and I tried my best to fall back into my normal routine, it didn't take me long for me to realize that wasn't going to happen.

I could do almost nothing by myself, and the things I could do by myself were shaky and most often accompanied with tears rolling down my face. It wasn't until I was forced to ask the people around me for help with literally everything that I realized just how independent I am. From big things like helping me down the stairs so I don't face plant to little things like walking across the room to pick up an assignment. All of this had to be done for me by some volunteer. It didn't take long for me to HATE this and on top of being late to everything in my tightly packed schedule my week was shaping up to be a bad one. My time was spent thumping around, sitting in a meeting/class or agonizing over the pain I was in. Because of all this, not being able to do things for myself I've spent a lot of time sitting and reflecting on my day or stressing out about how much work I should be doing, something I normally do on a walk but, thats not an option. Towards the end of my stress meltdown I usually stop thinking and let my mind kinda just do its thing *“its thing” is always humming so I look like a crazy person* and lately I've had one song in particular stuck in my head. Its by an artist named Jeremy Riddle and its called Sweetly Broken *ironic I know* it all about letting yourself give into the beckoning on our lives to lay ourselves down at the cross and be broken for the Lord. Just like me with my clunky walking boot on not being able to do anything, spiritually we can’t do anything without help from the creator of the universe.

Those moments when we decide to go down our own path or we decide to make a big choice without first praying those moments are equivalent to me trying to get up on my own and move something heavy with my broken foot, just like the people in my life have to sweetly remind me to sit down and let them take care of me God gently reminds us to just let him take care of things. He's already got it figured out if we would just listen and let him help we would save ourselves a lot of pain. Even In the dreaded moments I'm limping in late to my classes I am reminded that my God is never late he was and always will be right on time. Now I understand that all of this is kind of stretching my situation but being as stubborn as I am, I am not at all surprised that it took me literally breaking my foot to learn what seems like such a basic lesson. Even in the moments I'm trying to hold back my frustration as I explain how I injured myself for what feels like the 700th time I am reminded of my savior and for however long it takes for me to heal I will drag around a reminder to just sit down and let the man who spoke the world into motion have his way!

PS: My team ended up winning the scavenger hunt anyway GREEN TEAM FOREVER!!!