Morning had broken….the birds were singing, the squirrels were rustling about in the trees outside my window, I had enjoyed my quiet morning reading and planning out my day….yes, the day was shaping up quite nicely.  With one glance to my watch, I figured I had just enough time to throw in a load of laundry before heading down to the shop to start my re-do for the week.  So many ideas were tumbling through my head.  Best get this laundry tumbling too!

With my husband out walking the dog, I headed to our bedroom to strip the bed linens.  Gathering the pile into my arms, I plodded toward the laundry room, enjoying the rhythm of the day.  And then my rhythm broke, and it happened…..

I was suddenly sailing through the air – literally flying the span of two rooms – before banging into the closet wall and landing in a heap on the floor.  I immediately grabbed my right foot, pain searing from the side of it.  What just happened?  I don’t remember my feet tangling in the laundry, I never felt I was tripping….I just suddenly sat in the midst of strung-out bed sheets, holding my foot and wincing in pain.  And that is how my husband found me.

He immediately laughed at the mess, until he saw that I couldn’t stand.  And from there, the day took on a life of its own….nothing of my plans being fulfilled.

Blessings still overtook me, though.  My brother and his wife came to Brevard for lunch, and while that might seem oh so normal to most of you reading this, my brother has been out of the country for a couple of years, returning to the states in late May of this year.  This was the first time I had seen him, and I immediately asked him to put on his professional hat and tell me if I needed an xray.  Fortunate for me, my brother is a doctor!   With a very simple diagnostic test, he said, “Yep, you need an xray.  Your foot is broken at the fifth metatarsal.”  How right he was….

Several hours later, after a trip to Asheville’s Bone and Joint Clinic, I was diagnosed for the second time with a fracture and put into a walking boot, but told to ice my foot and keep it elevated for the next 3-4 days, not being on it for more than 15 minutes every hour.    What that literally means is that I have enough time to wobble myself out of the ice pack encompassing my foot, grab some crutches and get myself to the bathroom, then back into that same position of icing….in about exactly 15 minutes!

With my very ungraceful fall across the floor on Monday, it means that I will be unable to stand at Burlap & Lace to welcome in Fall with you this first week!  Let the icing down of my foot continue as the temperatures begin their own chilling down!

BUT, with the second week of October soon upon us, you can be sure that I will be back on board with new treasures, and new vignettes for you to enjoy!  Another blessing?  Time…..unhurried and lots of it….to plan, to read, to pray and seek what God wants for us in this gorgeous season wrapping all around us.  And while I am being somewhat “forced” into this quiet place, I encourage you to carve out some quiet as well.  Why?   Because one thing I have already noticed about me. Look at this….I am prone to sit with eyes downward….searching my phone for the latest news or FB updates….instead of looking up, and out.  Too often I have missed the beauty right in front of me…in the scenery, or in the face of a friend or loved one I am with.  I encourage you – today – to turn your eyes upward and away from what normally entraps you.  Look outward….beyond yourself….and see the beauty all around you.  And remember with me….

The Lord is my Shepherd.  I shall not lack…He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul.  Ps. 23

May your soul be restored this day.  See  you in a couple weeks!

~Blessings,

Connie