Do You Need an Achilles' Tendon Rupture?
Traci
achilles
Achilles' heel: a fault or weakness that causes or could cause someone or something to faili.e. I am trying to lose weight, but ice cream is my Achilles' heel.
It took the rupture of my Achilles' tendon to make me aware of an Achilles' heel in my life.
In August of 2002, Joe and I had been married for nearly 6 years. AJ was 14 months old. I was 10 days shy of being 6 months pregnant with BJ. I was coaching middle school volleyball. I was the janitor for our church. Joe was a full-time youth pastor. Life was full and challenging, or so I thought.
On August 27, towards the end of volleyball practice, the other middle school coach and myself were playing a little 2-on-2 with our girls (yes, I was 5 1/2 months pregnant and felt great!) I bent to pass a ball and felt the fateful snap as though someone had hit me in the back of the leg. I waddled (yes, waddled) to the ball cart and wrapped up practice immediately. I then went and sat on the sideline and wondered if it was my Achilles. (I considered this because my brother-in-law, Dan, had ruptured his Achilles just 6 months earlier with a similar story.)
Our only car was a stick-shift and so I had one of the moms drive me home, and then Joe took me to Urgent Care. It was on that table in Urgent Care that I heard those awful words: You're Achilles' tendon is ruptured. Knowing what Dan had gone through (4 months of on-the-couch recovery) made the news so real. A thousand questions rattled in my mind, like "How in the world are Joe and I going to manage our busy little life now?" I was benched!
Ten days later (the doctors wanted to wait until I was a full 6 months pregnant), I had surgery. I spent a good part of two months with my leg elevated above my heart. Pain was intense and there was little I could do without help.
The rupture of my Achilles' heel revealed my personal Achilles' heel: I preferred to tackle life without help. I was a Lone Ranger. I thought I was stronger if I did things by myself.
The list of things I needed help with and the numbers of people who stepped in are countless, but I am going to recount a few because it was through this humbling process that I realized how much I need other people in my life.
* Joe coached girls volleyball (girls anything) for the first and last time. Those girls still call out, "Coach Joe!" when they see him around town. * Joe did my janitorial job at the church. * Debbie offered to watch AJ and her son, Josh, would come pick him up. This began a great relationship and all of our kids ended up spending time at Debbie's Daycare over the years. * Janice cleaned my bathroom. It was disgusting and she did it without complaint, without question, and with tons of joy. * Meal after meal after meal came to our door by loving people from our church. * Taking a bath and washing my hair. Yes, I needed help with these tasks too. Getting around on crutches at 6, 7, and 8 months pregnant was no easy feat, let alone getting into a bathtub while trying to keep my casted leg out of the water.
Two better than one
Life is best lived in the companionship and company of others. In fact, this is how we were created. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 sums it up well. "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"
What is your Achilles' heel in life? Are you willing to acknowledge it and take action to make changes? Hopefully it won't take the rupture of an Achilles' heel to get your Achilles' heel in check.
Be Extraordinary!