I went for my first jog today in over three and a half weeks. It was quite an achievement for me. It was a slow careful jog that might seem 'a small step' for you, but was 'a giant leap' for me. To understand it all, you need to put it in perspective. I have been unable to sprint, run, jog or even walk properly for three and a half weeks now. I tore some tissue in my knee playing the first 10 minutes of the 1st game of the grade soccer season. This ironically happened to also be April fools day, except this time, the joke is obviously on me.

While I am looking forward to returning to the field, I can't rush it for two reasons. Firstly, I am semi-crippled, and cannot rush anywhere, no matter how much I want to. Second, and more importantly, if the knee isn't strong again when I do play again, the chances of re-injuring even worse than before are massive. In fact, the muscles around the knee need to be STRONGER than they ever were before to compensate for the weakness in the scar tissue, because those damaged parts never fully recover 100%.

I was thinking how like life this can be. Speaking from personal experience, there was a time in my life when I fell so badly, that it cost me almost everything. It cost me my reputation in the community, my youth ministry, my positions within the church and within the music team, my friends, my mentors, my job... even my position in an indoor soccer team that I had started. The wound went deep, and there isn't a day when I dont feel the ache of things lost.

I don't think that the wound opened up by my mistakes will ever fully heal. The scar tissue will remain for life, and will often ache in the cold times. The scar will always be a little tender to the touch, and a little weaker than it used to be.

But other parts of my life have been made stronger through the experience. While the wounded part of my life heals slowly, and may never recover, other parts have been forced to become stronger. The roots of discipline in reading the word, and the tap-root of my faith have been forced deeper, into harder, but more stable ground, where the refreshing waters never cease to flow.

Sure, I will make many more mistakes in this life, and be left with many aching wounds, there's no escaping that. But with the right care, as the wound heals, my body grows stronger. As my character is forced through the fire, so it is purified as gold.

Some food for thought for any nursing lifes wounds... keep heart.