A Better Understanding of Anatomical Complexity

The human body has 206 bones, 4,000 tendons, 640 skeletal muscles and 360 joints, and they all amazingly work together to allow us to eat with a fork and knife, blow dry and curl our hair, put on earrings, vacuum stairs, walk dogs, wash windows, play golf and tennis, water ski, bicycle, hike, jog, and lift a variety of objects including those precious little things called, "babies." A little over one month ago in the fraction of a second, I broke one of those bones and joints and displaced a couple of tendons. It is called an olecranon fracture of my right elbow. The part of the elbow that is the olecranon is what we call our "funny bone," or the pointed tip of the elbow. I had to have surgery to reattach that triangular piece back to my elbow, or more specifically the end of my ulna. No crazy glue would work, instead my surgeon reattached it with a screw and a washer. He also had to drill a couple of holes and reattach some tendons because they are needed to help my elbow bend. (see drawing)

Now I am in the throes of physical therapy, with daily exercises to try to get my right elbow to bend like it used to. When I said the pledge of allegiance this week at school and tried to place my right hand over my heart, I had to really push it and there was pain. I am still unable to cup my right hand with my left hand in order to rinse my face with water. I also look "gimpy" when I put face cream or make-up on. My therapists tell me that I have made good progress, but there is still a while to go before I regain my elbow's full range of motion. In fact, total healing time for an olecranon fracture is about 12 weeks. At some point in time, I may also have to have the screw and washer removed from the elbow if it sticks out too much.

With all that said, this experience has taught me just how complex and precise are the movements of the human body. Every bone, tendon, muscle, etc. is interdependent on each other. Nothing is able to work alone. And at the cellular level it is even more complex. The simplest living cell has over one trillion molecules. That is more than 1,000 times 1,000 times 1,000 times 1,000 times 1,000 or 1,000 times one billion. Those numbers are mind staggering.

This all leads me, more than ever, to proclaim the power, magnitude and awesome intelligence of our Creator God. Though I broke my elbow accidentally, the complexity of the human body is no accident of evolution. It was created by a supreme being in order to glorify Him and commune with Him. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26)The current complexities of our body chemistry and construction are only a remnant of what they were at creation. Because of sin we are subject to imperfections, accidents, disease and death. However, no matter what their current state, we can, one day, count on full restoration if we know Jesus. He substituted his blood for ours, not surgically, but sacrificially. Once again let me say with the psalmist, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." (Psalm 139:14)

The Gift of Driving

Do you remember when you first got your driver's license? What a great feeling of freedom.

You felt like you could go anywhere and do anything. That life was yours for the taking.

Recently, as I was stricken with a broken elbow, I was sidelined from the driver's seat and boy was that a bummer. I had to be driven everywhere and I found that to be very limiting. I couldn't just run an errand or visit a friend at a moment's notice. Every trip had to to planned with an available driver, either my husband or a family friend. I felt sort of trapped and I didn't like it. I mean, this is America, I should be able to go where I want, when I want. Having this temporary inconvenience really bothered me, and I began to realize how I took the ability to drive for granted. That doesn't necessarily mean that I love all aspects of driving, like being stuck in traffic and having to go to the bathroom or driving around in circles looking for a parking place or even driving in a blizzard.

With those exclusions, driving remains a gift that I will appreciate more fully since I finally got the OK from my doctor to once again, turn on the ignition and blast my "Jesus music" as I sing to the heavens and drive to my destinations! However, the next time I'm stuck in traffic, rather than letting my frustrations fester, I will offer a prayer for those people who are denied this gift of freedom for medical, monetary or aging reasons.

Back to School...Back to Reality

For a teacher, like myself, summer is a time of fantastic freedoms. Freedom from bells, schedules, paperwork, deadlines, parents, administrators, students. Now, in a few days my freedom will be over as I begin yet another school year, my 20th to be exact. There are things I do like about going back to school. New books, fresh unsharpened pencils, blank spiral notebooks and smiling new students. It is a time to begin again that quest for knowledge and the ability to use it well. It also means for me, a reality check that my time is really not my own. It is a gift from God, and I need to use it for His purposes, rather than my own. Within my sphere of teaching I have always found His purposes to be manifested each school year in different students. You know the really, really, needy ones. Sometimes they are the outcasts, at other times they are the popular and gifted ones. And sometimes, in fact, most of the time, they are children who are suffering from neglect or abuse at home. My boss (THE BOSS), I feel has called me to minister his love and discipline to these needy ones. It is my call to reality. "Has not the potter a right claim over the clay?" (Rom. 9:21)