You Knit Me Together

Some years, the weeks leading up to Christmas fill with more than what we pencil into our diaries. With two children graduating and one celebrating her 18th birthday, we thought the windup to the school year would keep us on our toes, but God allowed us to cram a hospital stay into the busyness of December.

Tom, our sports mad son, found himself nursing a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and earlier this month underwent a knee reconstruction. Thankfully, it's mending well although a complete recovery is many months away. Tom will plough through hours of physiotherapy and when he finally returns to his beloved basketball, will need to re-fashion his game to compensate for his injury.

For a 16 year old, the summer of recovery stretches before him, echoing with lost opportunities and unfulfilled potential. Yet, in among what masquerades as wasted days, there is a plan God ordained long before our son's bones and ligaments were properly formed. Even while he grew and took shape in the womb, God saw him and knew him. He knit the ligament together in the first place and we trust He will now repair it. 

We also trust in God's plan for Tom. While no one's thrilled the boy's limping around, we are keen to see how God will use this time of rest to shape Tom further, and equip him for the days ahead. To return to the level of sport Tom has been playing will require as much self-discipline as the sport itself. He will need to stick to the therapy schedule and exercises drawn up for him. He will make friends with the exercise bike and pool, as he retrains the muscles around his knee to work and rebuild strength. 

Our prayer is for this time to yield spiritual fruit as well - life lessons, which Tom will remember as he enters senior high school with all its challenges. Thankfully, we have God's Word to encourage us with all of life's steps, whether they require our ligaments and joints, or the faithful steps of our heart. 

Be well Tom, my love. Look to God for your strength, and follow Him where He leads you.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet.

Hebrews 12: 11-13