Glory in Tribulations

Radiant beams of sunshine were beating down. The recently trimmed grass brought an additional sense of grandeur to the air. To begin my typical routine, I lined up with fellow teammates to start the familiar stretches and drills I had become accustomed to from the beginning of my baseball season with the Indianapolis Home School Kings. After finishing warm-ups, the visiting team took their allotted time to prepare in the infield because they were up to bat first. When they were finished, our coach reviewed our previous game reminding us about our positive and negative game plays. It was now our turn to take the playing field. I hustled out to my normal position in the infield, second base. Once catching, fielding and throwing a good amount of baseballs, it was time for the baseball game to begin! Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Because of some of the errors our team made, it took us a lot of grit to end the inning. When the bottom of the inning began, it was almost my turn to bat. I was on deck (the offensive player who waits for the batter ahead of him to complete his at bat). Whoosh, the
pitcher threw a wild pitch! Now it was my duty to retrieve the baseball since there was no one on base. I headed to the backstop at a quick jog. Pop! A sharp pain shot through the left side of my foot. What was happening? I could still walk, right? No, no I was limping!
Early this summer I was faced with a very difficult experience. While running to get a baseball, my foot had unevenly turned, therefore twisting it. At first, I thought I might be able to walk it off. I also placed ice on my foot to dull the throbbing pain. When the pain wouldn’t cease from irritating me to death, my mom decided that I needed an x-ray. Once the baseball game was over, she and I headed to Immediate Care to discover what really happened to my foot. After the specialist examined my foot and the x-rays had been taken, the doctor confirmed that the fifth metatarsal of my foot was fractured (broken). Had a dagger just been thrown in my heart? Many thoughts rushed in
my head! Why now? Why me? I found out that I would be out for eight weeks, most of the time being spent using crutches. What was God trying to teach me? Since the time of the injury I have learned to be much more patient. It also helped me to remember to rely on God continually. If I had to select one verse to summarize this event, I would chose Romans 5:3- “ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience.”