Not the prettiest picture you’ve ever seen, but VALUABLE lessons have been learned…

“Pride cometh before the fall…”Proverbs 16:18.

Well I have now lived that in a very literal sense…

I went jogging the other day and had a brand new workout outfit that I was taking for a spin for the first time. Very exciting – especially for girls. 😉

I made it down a main drag in my neighborhood, past a few shops with large windows. You can probably see what’s coming already. In my vanity and pride I wanted to see how I looked jogging along in this new outfit, and before I even got a good glance – – – DOWN I WENT!

I didn’t see a large part of the concrete that had split causing a uneven elevation and I went flying! Hands outstretched (amazing I didn’t skin up my arms and hands) but I slid hard on my knees. I managed to get up and hobble to a nearby bench to take stock in the damage.

My knees were stinging and I could see dark spots from underneath my black leggings, so I was afraid of what I might find. Welp, you’ve now seen what I saw. As I peeled up my leggings, the poor skin has shred off, leaving red, raw tissue.

I carefully pulled the pants back down and made my way back home. By the time I got home it was really stinging and I knew I had to do some damage control.

The skin had literally been taken off, so it’s been a painful and bandage-filled few weeks patching it up and daily tending to it.

But as the scabs begin to heal revealing new, slightly off-colored skin, I now have permanent reminders of what happens when you take your mind off the task at hand are preoccupied with YOURSELF.

Lessons I’ve learned, and you can too:

1. Pay Attention – especially on uneven or high traffic areas
2. Don’t be Vain – vanity clearly can have unwanted physical consequences, which defeats the whole purpose of what you were being vain over!
3. Take Time to Heal – wounds take time to heal (be it physical, emotional, spiritual etc.) But the beauty is found that no matter how bad the damage, healing will happen. And God is there to guide and lead all along the way.
4. Healing is Not Necessarily Painless – my physical wounds have been VERY painful, even though they seem small. They cut deep and have had to slowly heal from the bottom up, and outside in. Healing from other types of non-physical wounds is also not always easy or painless, but knowing God can create something brand new and stronger in the end, is beauty in the healing.
5. Patience Really Is A Virtue – I’ve had to learn and exercise patience for the healing process, and it’s not easy! But I know that I’m learning to not only deal with consequences of my actions, but learning to respect that my body is doing what it was designed to do – to heal – and to respect the process. Read more about patience in Galatians 5:22-23 and here’s a great article about the Virtue of Patience.

Just yesterday I went for a run again for this first time since the injury, wearing bandaids and all, and purposefully went back to the scene of the incident. I did not want to subconsciously begin fearing or dreading that area, for something that was my mistake to begin with.

Don’t let fear control you after a negative incident. Ask God for courage and recognize areas that you might be holding yourself back because of past experiences.

The God of Love and Peace wants to help you through the healing, if you’ll let Him.

~Melody

P.S. I’m in love with my new Fabletics workout gear! Grab an awesome 2 or 3 piece outfit for yourself! Here’s my referral link: http://www.fabletics.com/invite/60391016/