One of my favorite demographics at work are adolescents. They still have so much about life to figure out, and I always feel that just some simple small advice coming from their doctors office has an opportunity to go a long way. Naively idealistic, I know. But I especially love adolescent athletes and sports physicals (note, I do NOT love when everyone waits til the last minute to do their sports physical an then I'm double booked all afternoon before they are due.) I feel there's hope for adolescent athletes, that competitive nature, they enjoy being active. This is opposed to those visits with other kids who have trouble getting off the couch and they come in for a visit and mom does all the talking....
Often at those visits, we eventually end up talking about stretching and preparation for games. I ask about ankles, knees, shoulders. And it's not uncommon to hear about the aches and pains of conditioning or short lived injuries. And that's when I find myself educating on growing pains...
Sometimes there's enough anxiety about pains here and there that I'll order an X-Ray or some physical therapy, but most of the time all that's needed is assurance. Validation that as things change, those muscles will need stretched more and they will feel better and get stronger.
So I find myself amidst similar growing pains. It seems the sovereignty of God and my own stubbornness seem to be at odds and I can feel that strain-it hurts! Even as much as I want to jump back in the game and be fully "there," that still quiet voice is saying you need to let Me be in control, I can heal you, you still need to gain strength. I've watched others as they've dealt with pain, both my family and my role professionally, and I've seen pain. And as I learn, its during those painful times, those times where the fire feels the hottest, that there's a clear recognition of my own lack of strength and a strong desire to heal. To come back and play the game stronger and better.
Kay Arthur, in her book "As Silver Refined," said, "We find our joy not in the heat of the flame but in the fact that the Refiner is right there controlling it. The fire is a controlled fire. It isn't a purposeless fire, and it isn't a fire to destroy us. It's a purifying fire."
I'm learning about that refinement. And there is a lot to learn!!
Often at those visits, we eventually end up talking about stretching and preparation for games. I ask about ankles, knees, shoulders. And it's not uncommon to hear about the aches and pains of conditioning or short lived injuries. And that's when I find myself educating on growing pains...
Sometimes there's enough anxiety about pains here and there that I'll order an X-Ray or some physical therapy, but most of the time all that's needed is assurance. Validation that as things change, those muscles will need stretched more and they will feel better and get stronger.
So I find myself amidst similar growing pains. It seems the sovereignty of God and my own stubbornness seem to be at odds and I can feel that strain-it hurts! Even as much as I want to jump back in the game and be fully "there," that still quiet voice is saying you need to let Me be in control, I can heal you, you still need to gain strength. I've watched others as they've dealt with pain, both my family and my role professionally, and I've seen pain. And as I learn, its during those painful times, those times where the fire feels the hottest, that there's a clear recognition of my own lack of strength and a strong desire to heal. To come back and play the game stronger and better.
Kay Arthur, in her book "As Silver Refined," said, "We find our joy not in the heat of the flame but in the fact that the Refiner is right there controlling it. The fire is a controlled fire. It isn't a purposeless fire, and it isn't a fire to destroy us. It's a purifying fire."
I'm learning about that refinement. And there is a lot to learn!!
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