Spiritual self care

This blog is important for every mama in the world. A few weeks ago, my son Nathaniel (Nate) had a horrific wrist break. He broke both bones in his wrist and one of the bones broke through the bottom of the skin. It is a day I will never forget. It was a Wednesday in June. My husband and I were touring a school for my daughter Mia, when I received a phone call from my second son Nehemiah, who was also at the same football camp. In my mind I thought this camp was just a simple no contact camp where they would be conditioning, catching balls, and having fun.

When I saw Nehemiah calling, I thought he may have left his lunch, so of course I answer the phone. “Hey son.” “Mom, Nate broke his wrist!” You need to come now!” I could hear the panic in his voice. Nehemiah is always calm, cool, and collected so I knew it had to be serious. “Okay, I’m on my way.” We ended the school tour, rushed to the car with my daughter Mia and drove as quickly as possible to the school. My mind is racing a hundred miles a minute. We pull up and Nate has this horrific look on his face. My husband hops out and helps Nate into the car. He is in agonizing pain.

We take off to the emergency room and every pot hole or bump that we hit Nate could feel. He is yelling and grimacing in pain. The two bones were hitting each other and the nerve endings were going crazy. I’m looking at him shrieking, my daughter was in the backseat with her hands over her ears, and my husband is trying to drive as quickly and safely as possible while avoiding potholes. All the yelling was so heartbreaking because there was nothing I could say or do that could make him feel better. Believe me when I say I tried. It was the most agonizing 22 minute drive of my life.

We get to the hospital and believe it or not we waited four times longer for them to get him meds. They misspelled his name on his wrist band. They told us the lady put Daniel instead of Nathaniel in the computer, so they couldn’t give him the medication until they corrected his name and resent it to the pharmacy. My son begins yelling, “I’m Daniel! I’ll be Daniel please!! Just give me something!” I wanted to run up to the pharmacy myself. The slow snail pace of the emergency room made my blood boil. Trust me when I say it was definitely not like the television show HOUSE or Grey’s Anatomy where everything is fast paced and being resolved quickly and it was driving me crazy! They decided they needed to cut the rubber bracelets off my son’s wrist because they obviously couldn’t slide them off. That’s when we noticed the blood on the rubber bracelets. No one told us the bone had broken through the skin. I was mortified! My son asked me if the bone was poking through and I knew he was already in so much pain, so I just told him no and that it was turf burn and was bleeding a little. He couldn’t move his arm to see it (thank God), so he just said okay and I saw him relax a little.

I walked out and went to the restroom and tears began streaming down my face. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. It was all too much. I knew I had to stay calm for him, but to see my son’s bone protruding through his skin like that was so gut wrenching. I was so angry that I couldn’t help him. I was so upset that the the coaches didn’t protect him. I was so mad that the trainers didn’t call 911 or tell us the severity of this break. I was so annoyed that the nurses were moving like snails. I felt so much rage and helplessness inside. I had been through this so many times with my husband when he played in the NFL, but it just hit different with my son. I just couldn’t take another hospital surgery. In that moment God told me to pray. And so I did. I prayed in that bathroom for a while. My body calmed a bit and I was able to gather myself. My daughter came in and we hugged. It was a very long embrace for the both of us. I hadn’t even thought about all that she was going through witnessing this. I told her I loved her and I knew this was a lot for her and I appreciate her being here to support her brother. We prayed together and were both able to walk out with a little more peace.

As I opened the bathroom door, I could see a little clearer and was able to just focus on my son and trust GOD. A little later the doctor that we asked for showed up. She examined Nate and told us he would have to have surgery that evening. He was able to get medication and they moved him to a room until the procedure could take place. The surgery lasted two hours. I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. Nate had a plate and screws on the left side of his wrist, a plate and screws on the right side of his wrist, and also they had to clean the football rubber out of the wound where the bone broke through the bottom of his wrist and stitch that up as well. Yes, had 3 sets of stitches in his wrist. It was so hard to see. However, I was extremely grateful that surgery was a success and he was on the mend. He had to stay overnight at the hospital because the surgery procedure happened so late. The next evening we were finally able to pack up and head home. For that I was grateful.

God has shown me a few things from this traumatic experience.

• Continually pray for your kids. There will be some things that happen when you aren’t there. Cover them in DAILY in prayer.

• Lay hands on your children and pray for them so that they feel God’s anointing and understand the power of prayer.

• Self Care is also spiritual. We focus on the mental and physical, however, I now realize it is just as important if not more important to practice spiritual self care. Here’s some ideas that may help inspire you:

1. Sitting still in a room and meditating in silence. Silence allows us to filter out all the excess noise and dive within.
2. Journaling. This has helped me get my feelings out many times and move forward in clarity.
3. Cleansing your space. Sometimes our environments can get stagnant and filled with old energies. When your soul is at a stagnant place you may feel overwhelmed. Take a moment and cleanse your space. Out with the old, in with the new.
4. Taking a walk outside and talking to God or sometimes just listening for God. He will answer us if we slow down and take the time to listen.
5. Reading the word. It reminds us of God’s character and provides revelation of himself to his people. Regardless of what God went through he had an unchanging, faithful, gracious, and loving character. (I definitely have a long way to go.) Haha! Sometimes it’s difficult to see the bigger picture when we are in it! However, reading the word puts everything into perspective and helps remind us to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

I hope this Spiritual Self Care Sunday helped you in some capacity. This story was difficult to put into words but so necessary. I pray that it helps realign or remind you of the importance of feeding your spirit. May it prepare you for the unexpected and remind you that although there may be things that are out of your control God is superseding on behalf of you and your family when you remember to pray. God Bless you and your family and have a phenomenal self care Sunday!