God's Detour, Part 2 - The Immediate Return

Photo courtesy of my furkid, Harika, who seems to
be able to get comfortable ANYWHERE. ;-)

"...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." - Philippians 4:11b

I wrote yesterday about the epiphany I had about 3 weeks ago (as of the moment I'm actually writing this post).

As a result of that flash of life-jarring insight, I decided that things WOULD change. Not someone else. Not the circumstances of my life. ME. My heart and way of thinking. I wouldn't let resentment have a part in my life anymore. I would enjoy the time I had with family and friends, so I can look back with peace instead of regret.

The rewards for this attitude change were immediate. I visited with family who had come to see us without being distracted by discontentment or thoughts about the book I "should" be trying to finish that "really needs to get done".

After that, I ended up going out of town with my mom to spend the weekend with even more family (an opportunity I almost passed up). Despite a few annoyances (such as what resulted in my back injury), I wouldn't trade that time for anything. Two major, special things came out of that weekend. One is too personal to share. The other?

I got to see my oldest nephew perform in an opera at his university. It was the first time I'd ever seen him perform, and it was WONDERFUL. It was the first time my mom had seen him perform since he'd graduated from high school. I thought for sure she was going to cry. If she had, I'd have been right there with her, probably both of us embarrassing my sister, who isn't a crier. Thankfully, she held it together, so I did, too.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Despite my back.

Funny thing about the back injury. If it had happened even a week prior, I would've been seriously ticked off about yet another disruption in my life. Especially after receiving the news that I have months of recovery ahead of me. I never expected to be using a walker at only 48 years of age, but as it happened, I've had peace and maintained my sense of humor, despite pain and serious limitations.

(Though, I have to admit I temporarily lost my sense of humor after a sourpuss, impatient lady at the store hit me with her shopping cart because I didn't get out of her way fast enough. She scowled at me like it was my fault and didn't even apologize for the pain she'd caused that nearly buckled my knees. How rude!)

My body's healing with fabulous help from my chiropractor and our naturopathic physician, and I'm remaining content, purposing NOT to allow my current dependence on others or curtailed routine/life to dampen my spirits or cause me to lash out. The timing on my epiphany was perfect, and the peace it brought is already overflowing into other areas of my life, as is generally the case when God shines light on issues like that.

What does all of this mean for my writing though? Watch for my next post to find out.