We’ve been wanting to start sharing “God Stories:” stories that show how God is involved in our life and ministry here in PNG. Here’s one from yesterday.
This evening, we were on our way to take a walk with the kids. This is always a nice, relaxing thing to do before dinner. However, this time it turned out differently.
At the bottom of our stairs, I misstepped onto the driveway, twisted my ankle, tried to catch my step but couldn’t bear any weight on it, and fell in the flowerbed. By God’s grace, I didn’t fall on the concrete steps behind me or concrete drainage ditch beside me so didn’t further injure myself in the fall. And, Timothy was in the Ergo carrier on my back, and I didn’t hurt him either. He wasn’t even phased by the experience, but I wanted him out of the carrier ASAP because my ankle hurt so badly I thought I was going to pass out and/or throw up, and I really just wanted to lay down on my back.
At the same time, two friends (who we had just spent Easter afternoon with, one of whom the girls call “Aunt Jessica” because she’s taken on the role of a surrogate aunt) were walking by at the bottom of our driveway. They came up and helped with the kids while James helped me get back into the house: ; we have about 10 stairs down to our driveway, so getting back up on 1 good leg was a challenge.
When I fell, I thought I heard a snap, so James and Jessica took a closer look at my ankle once I was settled on the couch. Both noticed some weird bumps that were not duplicated on my other ankle and agreed that it might be broken. So, James called the nurse on call (it’s a holiday, and the clinic wasn’t open). They said we should come in, and Jessica and her friend offered to stay with the kids while we went to the “E.R.” (aka: the clinic in Ukarumpa, our support center).
We called a neighbor to ask to borrow their car (because it’s a long bumpy walk to the clinic), and they were happy to let us. They even brought it right to our door, which was helpful in all of the rush and confusion to get out… at one point, Jessica asked James if he needed anything and he said, “a brain!” LOL.
As we were leaving, James said, “This will be the quickest trip to the E.R. ever!” And he was right. When somebody calls after hours, the nurse and doctor come specifically for that person, so there’s nobody else they have to wait for. Sure enough, we got there, and I was in to be examined within a few minutes.
They took 2 x-ray’s and determined that it wasn’t actually broken, but was probably a 2nd degree sprain. We are thankful it was not a 3rd degree sprain, which is much worse, because I would have had to go to Cairns to have it treated! They splinted it up and said I need to stay off of it for 2 weeks. And my physical therapy exercises? Write the alphabet in the air with my foot. :-) The doctor said I’d probably only be able to go through “E” the first day, but keep working on it to keep things moving and encourage healing.
So, looking back on the evening we see a few “God things”:
-Jessica and Narelle just “happened” to be walking by and saw that I had fallen. They were willing and available and offered to stay and help out with the kids.
-We had NO Ibuprofen in the house but called our neighbors to see if we could get some from them and they offered us a full bottle!
-Borrowing the car enabled James to take our friends home, which allowed us to get some extra medicine from Jessica. The clinic had said I should take it, and I thought we had some at home, but we didn’t. Jessica just “happened” to have it!
-A few weeks ago, our friends had loaned us an ice pack while they went to the village. We used it to help with pain and swelling.
All in all, we are grateful for many things:
-My ankle isn’t broken or sprained any worse.
-There is a team of ladies on center who can provide some meals for the next several days because I can’t put weight on my foot (which makes cooking difficult).
-There is a clinic here, and people to staff it for events like this!
-The clinic had crutches and an “air splint” on hand to help with mobility and the healing process.
Please pray:
-That my ankle will heal well and quickly.
-For James as he picks up the extra responsibility (laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc) that I normally do around the house.
-That the kids will be well behaved as it will be more difficult to have me much less mobile for a few days. We’re expecting that they will really enjoy “helping” Mommy because “she has an owie”.
In Him,
Christina and James
