Mar
1
2017
Playing Hurt
Posted in Daily Living 4 Comments
She was five years old when she came home from school with the form.
It was a permission slip to pay T-ball.
She was the oldest of three children, with two more children to arrive a few years later.
I had never had anyone ask to play sports before.
We filled out the permission slip, which included all of her information.
Her birthday, which is in early spring, had a T-ball glove on her list.
Getting the glove was my husband’s department.
I did not know the first thing about any type of sports equipment.
They needed coaches and assistant coaches.
My husband volunteered wherever he was needed.
A practice schedule and a game schedule now hung on the refrigerator.
We had entered new territory.
All through her elementary school years she played sports for a community league.
T-ball was not enough running or action for her.
There was too much downtime and waiting for the innings to be over.
She asked to play field hockey.
She was quite good.
My daughter was a different person on the field.
Her competitive side came out as if it had been in hiding.
Her ability and determination was incredible to see.
The neighborhood league laid the foundation for sports on her school teams.
She played both field hockey and lacrosse.
She was a co-captain of the field hockey team in high school.
She was an amazing lacrosse player, her height and agility were her strengths.
She planned to play field hockey when she went to college.
After going to school two weeks early to begin to practice with the team, she knew.
This may have been a sport she loved in high school, but it was not the sport to play at college.
I found it hard to believe that this daughter could give up her sports so easily.
She did not have to give it up.
Her college was revitalizing its lacrosse program and was looking for good players.
She came home and talked to us about beginning college lacrosse.
The rest is history.
She started and played in every lacrosse game throughout her four year college career.
She holds the defensive records at her college.
She graduated as an All-American lacrosse player.
She is pictured on the wall that features star athletes, with all of her stats readily seen.
NCAA All-American 2006; All MAC 2004-2006, 1st all-time career ground balls (234); career caused turnovers (133); single season ground balls (75); record holder for ground balls in a single game (10); 2nd all-time career draw controls (192)
These stats along with her picture are seen as you walk down the athletic hallway.
I know the behind the scenes story.
I know about her weak ankles.
I know how she often played hurt.
I remember the season when she had Achilles tendonitis.
She drove home to go to an orthopedic doctor.
I thought for sure she would be sidelined.
I knew that would frustrate her since she started and played in every game up to that point.
She was given a cortisone shot right in her Achilles tendon.
Can I still play? She asked the doctor.
I knew a game was coming up in a few days.
You rest this foot today…he said as he continued to give her instructions.
You can play in your game, assuming you feel up to it, he told her.
I looked at the doctor and looked at my daughter and I knew.
He specialized in sports medicine; he has seen this before.
He released her to play and she played.
She never missed any of her college games.
Four years of lacrosse, a record holder, and a Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) Champion team.
She was proud of her athletic career.
To this day, you cannot take the athlete out of her.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31)
I was thinking about all the times my daughter played hurt.
She is not alone.
How many people do we pass on the street each day who are playing hurt?
How many people, though they may be smiling, are carrying a great burden inside?
The aging parent whose memory is gone and cannot remember their own children.
The man who cannot find a job to support his family.
The wayward teenager who rebels against everything and everyone.
The parent who lost a child.
The young man who gets into the wrong crowd.
The young woman who is pregnant and alone.
The person who is betrayed by a friend.
The person who is slandered by someone they trusted.
Many people we pass each day are playing hurt.
They are not sitting on the sidelines.
They are going about their daily routine injured in body and soul.
They are tired and weary; they go on but just barely.
There is no cortisone shot into the tendon that can repair the hurt and brokenness.
There is God.
There is God’s Word and His promises.
There is Jesus.
Jesus played hurt.
Jesus was rejected, beaten, scourged, and crucified.
Jesus knew pain and anguish that we can only imagine.
The wrath of God that was meant for us, fell upon Jesus.
Jesus who knew no sin, took the punishment on Him that was meant for us.
We are saved from the wrath of God when we trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
God the Father raised Jesus from the dead; He accepted the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. (Isaiah 53:5)
Jesus played hurt so that we don’t have to.
Jesus never left the field when sitting on the sidelines would have been so much easier.
Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem even though He knew what awaited Him there.
By His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Thank You, sweet Jesus, for playing hurt on our behalf.
Thank You for taking the pain and punishment that was meant for us.
Thank You that by Your wounds, we are healed.
Amen.
I’m reading J. I. Packer’s “Knowing God” and am on “The Heart of the Gospel” chapter, which echoes your words. It is deep book but very thought-provoking, just as your blogs are. I’m so thankful for all authors (including you!) that help us know God better.
Thank you for your sweet words, Sue. To be put in the same sentence with J.I.Packer is quite an honor. I do pray that after reading the blog post each day, people will pause, and ponder, and seek to know more about our Sovereign God.
Gina
Very thoughtful words. Powerful
Thank you, Kaye. I am delighted that you were blessed.
Gina