This past week my youngest son had to wear a cast on his little leg. He had a nasty fall at the park over Christmas. He fell about six feet onto a patch of ice – of course my arms were waiting to catch him – just out of reach. So he went down hard. The doctors asked us to monitor his healing, but he was still limping 10 days later. So it was decided that he should wear a cast for a week and that would slow down our very active two-year-old enough to let his body heal properly. Well, the first cast they put on was plaster, and he ripped through that pretty good in about four hours, so the next day we were back at the hospital for a fibreglass cast – made extra thick – and that did the trick. Getting it off yesterday was another story – took them at least 1/2 hour to saw through the bulky thing! But it’s all good now and my son is hopefully well on the way to recovery.
This week I was constantly reminded of the Bible verse “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. My son was definitely burdened by his cast – so much so that he could barely walk. He HAD TO REST, he had no choice. And the cast was also a burden to my husband and I. We had to carry our little guy everywhere – we were supposed to keep him off his feet as much as possible. Our backs are still aching and recovering from the near 50 pounds we hefted around all week! But in the midst of the burden of caring for our son, and the weariness of watching him adjust to the disability he experienced, there was also great rest – reconnecting with him, falling in love with him all over again, remembering how much I love being around him, realizing he’s a really great kid – despite his two-year-old-ness!
We knew the cast was the best thing for our son, we hoped he would heal, and we knew it would be over soon. I imagine this would be a great way to look at the trials in all our lives, to have certainty that things will work out for the best, to hope for healing, and to know the trial will pass in time. Give your burdens and your weariness to Christ – he asks us to – he can absolutely handle them and He wants us to rest in Him.