How We Grow

Over the summer, I jammed my ring finger so hard that I broke a bone in my hand.  I went to the doctor and had a splint for a week and then got a cast put on.  When I got the cast put on, the doctor suggested that I do some physical therapy after getting it off.  I was hesitant, mostly because we have a high deductible plan and I didn't want to pay the money if I could get by without it.  3 weeks later, when I got the cast off, she once again said that I should get hand therapy.  My fingers could barely bend, so I accepted that she was right.  I walked out of her office with a few exercises to do and a referral to a therapist.

I did the exercises she gave me and made an appointment to see the therapist a week later.  With my own efforts, I made some progress and my hand was feeling pretty good.  My fingers didn't hurt unless I stretched them too far.  When I let them alone, I had no pain.  Then I went to physical therapy.  She stretched my hand, massaged it, helped me learn various exercises and used some heat therapy to encourage healing.  The next day, my hand was sore.  I didn't have to move it at all to feel the soreness.  But, the therapist told me that sore was good and that I should do my exercises 6-8 times a day, unless I was in pain.  So I did my exercises.  My hand and finger remained sore, but the progress was amazing.  By the time I went back to see her 3 weeks later, I had regained full range of motion in both of my fingers.  There was stiffness, but little soreness.

At that visit, she tested my hand strength and gave me exercises to improve my strength.  She told me that my finger would probably be sore throughout the winter and that my finger might not be back to its normal size for up to 18 months.

I realized this has some pretty great gospel applications.  When we go about our lives doing what we always do, there isn't a ton of discomfort.  But there isn't a lot of growth either.  But when we start to work to improve ourselves, we start to find more difficulty.  Sometimes it's hard to want to put in that effort when it feels so uncomfortable.  But if we don't experience the discomfort, we don't grow.  And the result of trying to improve ourselves is worth the effort.  But just like with my hand, sometimes things aren't quick and easy fixes. It often takes time and patience.