Falling Down: A Personal Testimony
“The Body of Christ was beautiful today!”
That was a simple summary post I made on Social Media last Sunday for a variety of reasons. We came together for worship – it included music, scripture reading, prayer, a powerful Biblical message, and we celebrated the Baptism of one of my best little buddies, Caleb Lopes (a.k.a. Kahlib). It truly was a beautiful day and it was good to be in the House of the Lord. The Body of Christ was beautiful!
But, something else happened that day before it all started. As my kids would put it, “I LITERALLY fell down.” Our family pulled up to the church as usual (Rena usually drops me off at the door), I got out – Mia beside me, I took a short step up and then came tumbling down. The only thing that kept it from a total face plant is that it was kind of a “slow motion” fall and I was able to keep my head up. As for the rest of me, bump, bruises, and few nice strawberries. Oh, and I happened to fall right on top of the rest of my coffee – I was soaked. It hurt for sure. There were tears and – I confess, little fractures of pride.
As most of you know – my current health condition is on the extremely low-side. With light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel is long and will take a while to get there. So, until I reach the other side, I am extremely weak, quickly fatigued, immunosuppressed, and – did I mention, extremely weak. We’ve had to make a few modifications in the house, I have a cane with me, I move about slowly, and am very conscious of my moves, where and how I sit, and an exit plan. Most of this is brought on by current treatments – steroids and other potent medications. The worst of all it is that I have no lift strength – meaning that I sit too low to the floor, I do not have the lift muscles in my legs to push me back up and I’ll need some kind of assistance. I can even feel it when I take a step up – they are hard because of the lack of lift. I’m doing exercises that I think are just maintaining the very little muscle strength I’ve got.
SO, you can imagine that when I fell at the entrance of the church, I COULD NOT GET UP. I was like the lady in the old “Life Alert” commercial, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” Within seconds, “my boys” (and some of the ladies) appeared – dear friends from the church came swarming out take care of me – to offer care, comfort, prayer, and support. They never left my side. Unfortunately, with the position I was in, we had to call the Fire Department for help. I confess I was embarrassed, but the church took that on for me. They wouldn’t let me feel that way. Every one of them was for me and knew my condition and they were there to champion my success. The Firemen came and got me right up. I wish I would have remembered the Engine Number – the guys were so gracious and kind. In fact, when they got me, I started walking around as usual. The lead Fireman was kind of shocked. I told him a little about my story and where I was coming from and assured me that he understood and told me it’s not the first time something like this has happened. He was just glad to see me back to “normal” – I was too!
Soaking wet, I proceeded into the church, they bandaged me up, and then what I wrote in the first paragraph took place (go back and read it again – it’s worth it). What started out as a disastrous Sunday for me, turned out to be one of the best. One that I will never forget. Yes, “The Body of Christ was beautiful that day.”
By the way… I would love to put out a list names to thank, but for fear of forgetting someone, I’ll just say “THANK YOU” to everyone who stopped what they were doing to make sure this big guy was ok. You have no idea what your presence and support meant to me and my family! Needless to say, I took some more baby-steps walking into church yesterday. YOU ARE LOVED MY FRIENDS! EVEN IN THIS, GOD DESERVES ALL THE GLORY!
For His Glory,
Pastor Pusch
