Encouragement

---

Mom believed you had to take frequent walks to keep up your health. She often walked "The Greenway," an area close to her home. On the way she observed the holes left by ice and thawing. I’ll have to watch these on the way back, she thought.

However, on the way back she spotted a car parked by the curb. The driver sat in the car instead of getting out. What is she doing there? Mom wondered. While she gazed at the car, her foot caught in a hole. Suddenly, she landed on the ground in a heap. She struggled to get up, but found herself stuck there. The lady in the car helped her up and into her car. She drove my Mom home. She had paused to read her mail.

That afternoon Mom attended Sunshine Circle, a neighborhood club, as usual. The hostess gave her a package of frozen peas to place on her ankle as she did not have an ice pack.

Mom’s swollen ankle pained her every time she tried to walk. It’s just a bad sprain, she told herself. I’ll get over it.

The next day the swelling started going up into her leg. "You need to see a doctor," her friends and relatives urged her.

"No," she said, "I sprained my ankle. I’ll be all right."

The next day she hobbled rather than walked. It is not getting any better. I will see a doctor, she decided at last. My daughter is getting the house ready for her piano lessons this afternoon, she thought. I can drive myself to the doctor.

The doctor took x-rays. He showed her the pictures and said, "It’s broken right here." Fortunately, he did not have to set the large ankle bone. He prepared the plaster for a cast—up to her knee. Mom could not drive home.

She telephoned her brother-in-law. "Kenneth, my ankle bone broke. I cannot drive home. Can you come and get me?"

"Sure, I’ll be right there," he replied. He called his friend. "My sister-in-law broke her ankle. She drove her car to the doctor’s office. Can you pick up her car and follow me to her house?"

"Of course, Ken," he replied.

After she arrived home, Mom called me. "Lynn, I broke my ankle. I’m going to need your help."

"I’ll be over as soon as I can, Mom," I said. I drove over and stayed with Mom until she could do things herself again. If I turned her back, Mom walked into the kitchen and started washing dishes and putting them away. Soon her foot started to ache.

Mom refused to let me care for her gratis. "I’m going to pay you $99.50 per week," she said. My needs were not taken care of in the way I chose, but God still cared.

Later, Mom left on the plane for her son, Darel’s house. Her leg didn’t hurt on the plane. The swelling went down. God watched over her.

She wore a crocheted slipper to keep her cast clean. I can’t wear that on the plane, she thought. She had to be a lady even with her cast. I made her a black crepe slipper to wear on the plane. She also wore it to her granddaughter’s wedding.

In six weeks she went back to the doctor. He x-rayed her ankle. “Alice, I’m sorry,” he said. "I’m going to have to put another cast on your leg. Your ankle isn’t healed yet." For another six weeks, I stayed with Mom. Then she sent me home. God had healed her ankle.

God cared for my needs and for my Mom. He cares for all of us. He wants us to cast our cares on Him.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE