What body part are you?

Last night I hurt my thumb. Many of you will not be surprised that I was hopping over a chair during our youth service and jammed it, or fractured it, or maybe broke it. Who knows. It hurts thought! Super bad.

Rich\'s broken finger

I attempted to make a splint to immobilize it last night but that didn't work. So then I just used medical tape to try to keep it from hurting too badly. I did not sleep well.

It's amazing how one little hurt finger can cripple you in so many ways.

Moving my other fingers on my left hand moves the thumb and therefore renders my entire hand useless.

Last night I couldn't

  • unbutton my pants to use the restroom.
  • unbuckle my children from their car seats.
  • open the Tylenol bottle.
  • squeeze the tooth paste to brush my teeth.

This morning I couldn't

  • wash my hair in the shower.
  • put on make-up.
  • blow dry my hair and use my brush.
  • put on a shirt normally.
  • carry more than 1 child.
  • help my children get dressed.

Did I mention I'm left-handed? That means my plans for the rest of the day are shot. I can't

  • write our monthly budget.
  • pay bills.
  • vacuum the house.
  • fold laundry.
  • scrub bathrooms.
  • rack our front yard.
  • sweep the floors.

I've tried to do all these things. Some I've accomplished but at a MUCH slower pace than normal and look'n like a fool the entire time. You know: holding the toothpaste with my forearm and squeezing it out against my tummy. Washing my hair one-handed. Stretching my arm over the top of my head hoping I rinsed out all the soap. Applying mascara to my eyelashes {and the rest of my face} as I tried reaching across my face.

My emotions keep swinging back and forth from laughing at myself and my failed attempts to act like nothings wrong and wanting to cry because my thumb hurts so bad when it moves.

God is teaching me today from Romans 8:28 (NIV)

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Yeah yeah, the whole, "He's got a plan" thing and the obvious, "Maybe He wants you to slow down" advice but today, God is teaching me about the body of Christ through this circumstance.

~~~~~{Long break from typing for lunch, that took twice as long because MY THUMB HURTS!}~~~~~~~

 Often, as Christians, when we hear the passage talking about us being the "body of Christ" we run in two different directions.

  1. We see all these important people in "church" and assume our job is insignificant. We attend minimal services much less contribute to any ministry because we feel unqualified {especially in comparison to others around us}. We see our simple gifts and talents as unnecessary or useless to ministry.
  2. We hike up our boots and assume there's enormous amounts of work to be done...by ME. So we take on every ministry possible and fill our weeks with every "church" activity available. We take a worldly point of view and view ministry like the American dream. The more well-rounded we are the better. The higher in authority we become the more worthy. The more titles we acquire the more meaning we bring to our lives.

I'm here to say I am learning that neither of these approaches is biblical!

Taking on either one of these points of view will cripple the body of Christ and inevitably the advancement of the gospel. Who knows the human body better than God, its creator? He formed every inch of us with a specific purpose. Who better would understand the inner workings and specific purposes of the body of Christ than Jesus Christ? He lived it.

Manikin II

When you join a local body of believers and assume they have everything running smoothly and don't need you, the body is crippled. Maybe you see your role in the body as a thumb and say "I'm just 1 of many fingers. What difference does it make if I am involved engaged or take part. It won't make big difference if I'm even healthy. They can do it without me." By not engaging or participating in the ministry of your local body of Christ using your specific gifting and talent you are hindering it. When you do this you are belittling the craftsmanship and sovereignty of God. He made you a thumb. You have a significant part in the body of Christ to advance His gospel in your community and beyond.

In the same since, when you assume you are to be involved in every aspect of your local body of believers you hinder its full potential. When you try to work your way up in what the world sees as the hierarchy of the church, the body ends up look'n like a fool by having a thumb attempting to do the specific purpose of the nose...and a leg...and a tooth...and the hair. It takes at least twice as long to get something done and that's if the task ever gets accomplished. AND we make the other parts feel unnecessary by us doing their job.

Wow, that was a lot thinking out loud. Hope that all came out right. God's teaching me all kinds of new things about saying no and stepping up. Maybe I'm not the only one and that's why I felt like sharing. Thanks for reading through my thoughts on being a part of the body of Christ. Tomorrow I plan to come back and finish up some thoughts on "splinting" and "talents".

Leave a comment: share your thoughts are your journey as a thumb, or an eye, or the brain ;o)

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What’s that…SQUIRREL!

When I was in 5th grade I was labeled at ADD/ADHD…I don’t remember which one. For one entire school year I was sentenced to take medicine called Ritalin. Not knocking the diagnosis or the medicine but for me it was an undisciplined social little girl who wasn’t “good” at school but loved being there to hang out with her friends.

I vividly remember walking back to the class room one day after lunch. My friend and I were near the front of the line. We had a hold of each other’s hands goofing around when I suddenly let go of her hands leaving them to fly loose and smack her in the face. It bloodied her lip. She began crying {as would I if I was 5th grade and my BFF just made me bleed}. Our teacher rushed toward us and her first words after checking on my friend were directed in my direction, “Did You Take Your Medicine?!?” I had forgotten it that day. I don’t know that it would have made a difference in my behavior. The whole class stared at me in disapproval. I was so embarrassed. I was the girl who was broken and needed medicine to correct her. She was in need of assistance to make her like everyone else.

I begged my mom over the summer to release me from my sentence as a convicted “hyper child”. She allowed me to begin 6th grade free of my daily walk of shame to the nurse’s office for meds. My teacher that year sweetly invited me up to her desk the first day of school and politely asked me if I’d be taking “medicine” this year. When I timidly informed her I was “trying it without” she never said another word. I trained myself to behave as directed and along with many other things that transpired over the next few years I began a relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s been almost 18 years; high school diploma, wonderful marriage, a degree in psychology, and 3 children since that dishwater blond girl stood in the hall ashamed she wasn’t “normal”. I’m still the girl who doesn’t want to be labeled. I want to rely on that relationship with Christ to overcome my faults in the eyes of the world. I want a “fixed” life through Christ. I’m still learning to accept that I am who I am because Christ formed me this way. Hyper activity. Timid. Outgoing. Odd. Silly. Blunt. Originally Me. Some days I like me. Some days I don’t. Either way, it’s the way God made me. It’s the way He is continuing to make me. I’m being formed more into his likeness every day. Squishing out the bad, filling it in with some good. He's using everything for His glory. It doesn’t always look like what the world expects. It doesn’t always look like what the world accepts. It doesn’t always look like what the world wants. It doesn’t always look like what I expect, accept, or want. God has so many different facets that there is no way he could make one human being to fulfill his likeness. That’s why we are called the body of Christ. It takes each, unique Christ follower to make up His image. I’m learning my role in this body.

What are you? An arm? A mouth? A tooshy? An eye. A leg? A fingernail?

Find what God is creating you to be. Enjoy it. What’s your purpose in the helping the BODY accomplish its big picture? Relish in the fact that even among your body parts there is none exactly alike. As I look at my fingers as they type, none are the same. Even my pinkies have something a little different about each one. That’s what makes them…them.

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