Two Choices

Last weekend, my husband, son, sister and I went hiking on a local trail. I knew, because of the date, that it would be a difficult day for my sister and I was hoping that being out in nature and being with us would keep her mind occupied. The main trail is about a half mile to an overlook that looks over the Susquehanna River with a beautiful view. On the one side of the overlook, there are some pretty big rocks to climb down to get to it. We have done this many, many times over the years, even since we were kids. It's a popular local spot. This day, however, my sister and I had some difficulty making our way down the rocks. Chalk it up to old age, I suppose. I finally started down one side of the rocks, and she decided to go down the other side. As I was climbing down, I heard the leaves rustle and said out loud, "Oh no, did she slip?" No one answered. I climbed further down, and I heard her ask, "Am I bleeding?" I thought to myself, "Oh no, she's bleeding," thinking it was a scratch on her leg, like a brush burn. I finally made it down the rocks and walked over to my sister who was now sitting on a rock, her head dripping with a pool of blood between her feet. The first thing that came out of my mouth was, "Oh, my God!"

My husband and son who were already at the bottom of the rocks, saw my sister begin to climb down, her foot slipped a little and she grabbed for a tree branch. The branch wasn't steady, and she ended up slipping headfirst, doing a somersault and hitting her head on a rock. My husband was able to stop her fall before she hit her head a second time. He was trying to calm her down when I arrived with my look of panic. "She's okay," he said, "it's not that bad.", trying to keep both her and I calm now. He gave our son the keys and told him to run to the van to get napkins to try to stop the bleeding. We finally got it cleaned up to the best of our ability and we all headed back to the van to make a trip to urgent care. We were pretty sure she would need stitches near her eye, and I was concerned about a possible head injury as well. Luckily, they took her right away, but by the time she was assessed, and stitches were completed, nine in total, it was a three-hour visit. My sister continuously apologized for "ruining our hike" and I was feeling bad, almost wishing I wouldn't have invited her along, thinking this already bad date would now only have one more negative thing associated with it. 

I read later in her Facebook post these words: "I realize I had two choices today. 1. Stay home, which would have meant staying in bed and ending up allowing the depression to consume me, or 2. get out of bed, get dressed, and get outside with the people I love so very much. I am glad I chose option 2. The day did not turn out like I anticipated, and I didn't get to stand at the overlook...and be blown away by God's beauty. No, instead I got a lot of bruises on my body, a two-hour [more like three] timeout at Urgent Care, and nine stitches near my eye. Today,...the day I have been dreading...was one of the best days I have had. I made memories, got to spend time together with my sister and family...and more importantly, got to see God's hand in my life. Today was a great day!"

I was so humbled and proud to see her offer this perspective on the day. The moment she fell was so brief, but it did a lot of damage. As she said, she had two choices at the start of that day; to stay in bed or get outside. In the moment after the fall, she also had two choices; blame God for one more bad thing added to the day or see God's hand of protection. She chose to see a longer-term lesson in the awfulness of it all. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV) Let's choose today to change our perspective. Are you facing something hard? It's only temporary. Our hardships on earth keep us longing for heaven. Philippians 3:20 (CSB) "Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Hang in there, my friends, and choose which choice you will make.