"If you need anything, please let me know."

So....I finally met an injury that even I can't run through.

I broke my ankle Thursday night while playing softball.  I don't recall the exact events leading up to the injury --one minute I was making a play at second base and the next I felt excruciating pain in my ankle and when I attempted to put weight on my ankle I felt a sensation of jello.

According to Wheeless Textbook of Orthopedics, my fracture is classified as an unstable Weber B fracture.  Unstable Weber B fractures result from excessive supination and external rotation of the foot and ankle causing fracture of the distal fibula, tearing of the anterior and lateral supporting ligaments, and disruption of the deltoid tendon.  The picture above isn't my actual xray but it is the closest thing I could find online.  My xray actually looks a little different (probably a little worse) because on mine there is more medial clear space (the space between the tibia and the talus) due to the disruption of the deltoid tendon.  Unfortunately, this type of fracture can only be repaired surgically and thus I am scheduled to undergo an ORIF (open reduction & internal fixation) tomorrow morning at South County Hospital by Dr. Aidlen.  Post-op course includes up to 8 weeks of non-weight bearing and then 4 weeks of rehab.  If all goes well then I should be back running by October.

One might expect me to feel a little down after such an injury.  Afterall, I can't drive, can't work, can't go to clinicals, and can't run -- I can't do anything that I normally do and am basically homebound for the next several weeks.  But in the days following my injury I have experienced such an overwhelming outpour of love and support from my family and friends that I can't help but smile for I realize just how truly blessed I am.  I can't even begin to count how many times I've heard "If you need anything, please let me know."   From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU all!

SIDE NOTE: As many of you know, I have fractured many bones in my lifetime -- clavicle, both arms, fingers, toes, etc -- but I can honestly say that this is the LEAST amount of pain I have ever experienced with a fracture.  I'd like to claim that I just have a very high tolerance for pain but I realize that's unlikely.  So praise God for not making it hurt!  I shared this information with my orthopedist and her response was "Just wait until after I cut it open."  You gotta love a surgeon with a sense of humor.

My Testimony: Finding God in the Atlanta Airport

(Here is the written version of my testimony.  Those of you present to witness me deliver my testimony live will quickly notice that the written version contains details not included in my verbal testimony -- proof that I'm a much better writer than I am speaker.)

I first visited WKBC in Feb of last year. Pastor Keith can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe I own the distinction of being the 1st person to come to WKBC after discovering the church on the social networking site Twitter. I figured any church cool enough to have a twitter account was worth checking out.

That first visit to WKBC marked the 1st time I had attended a church service in 10 years, maybe even longer. I had grown up in the church, but after enduring what I can only describe as a “negative church experience”, one which left me heartbroken and without a church home, I decided that the hurt was too great and I turned away from God. I was young, maybe 13 at the time, and thus spent my high school, college, and early adult years fully immersed in the world, dead in my transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1), filling the space in my heart once occupied by God with alcohol, drugs, and unhealthy relationships. The life I was leading was anything but Christian.

But God, forever loving and faithful, kept calling. (1 Thessalonians 5:24). I attempted to run and hide but as I would later learn there is no running or hiding from God. And on June 12, 2010, God grabbed my heart. While traveling to a vacation destination, a 1 hr layover at the Atlanta International Airport turned into a 12 hr marathon layover. Normally a delay of that significance would have infuriated me but this time I didn’t mind. I had been reading a book recommended to me by a Christian friend on the subject of forgiveness and was happy to finally have the opportunity to delve in and do some reading. As I sat there reading I could feel God overwhelming my heart, revealing his purpose to me – as if these words had been written specifically for me read. Forgiveness was what was missing, what I truly needed. I had held on so tightly to the hurt that I experienced as a child in the church and to the shame I had for my actions since turning my back on God that I had allowed those things to be a barrier preventing me from submitting my life to God. So at 1 o’clock in the morning, sitting alone on concourse A of the Atlanta International Airport, tears running down my face, I prayed. First, a prayer of forgiveness asking God to help me to forgive to those had hurt me and to forgive me for the all the things I had done, to take away the things that had darkened my heart for so long. Secondly, I said a prayer of salvation, inviting Jesus to become Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from that day forward. I was saved.

That was exactly 1 year and 7 days ago and I am proud to stand before you today a new creation – the old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17) In the past year God has blessed me in enormous ways – from helping me find a solid church home and a place to grow here at WKBC, to getting me involved in a ministry close to my heart – the Nurses Christian Fellowship on the URI campus, to introducing me to the awesome people in my Tuesday night small group who provide me with continual support and encouragement. I am truly blessed. But best of all, I know that I am redeemed, restored, forever a member of God’s family. And I can say to anyone out there in a similar situation, I am living proof that God is forever faithful and forgiving, ready to welcome you into his family at this very moment. You just have to stop running and let him. Thank you.