Tip of My Iceberg

It would have been a source of pride (and bragging rights with my kids) if I’d gotten it playing soccer.

It would have been more exciting to tell if I’d gotten it in a car accident–more dramatic than a fender bender.

It would have been heroic if I’d gotten it in the defense of some innocent.

No, I got my shiner and head wound from hitting the edge of a dresser. In the dark.

Nothing laudable. Just stupid.

It’s pain. With a high level of humiliation thrown in.

It happened at 5 a.m. one morning last week. John was gone on a trip, and I was getting up at my usual morning glory time. I never turn the light on in the room–out of concern for my other half, I’ve developed a habit of moving through the dark like a mole. It’s never been a problem.

Till now.

I couldn’t find one of my soccer flops, so I quickly bent over to search the nearby floor areas.

Which was when I connected with the edge of the dresser drawer. Open just enough to be in my way.

How rude.

I hit hard enough that the shock dropped me to the floor. I then felt the warm flow of something moving down my face.

I got to the bathroom and turned that light on. Not a pretty sight. It wasn’t this bad–but facial wounds are known to bleed profusely. Which this was doing.

I then saw the puncture hole. Right over my eyebrow.

It was deep. Didn’t look especially good. I thought it might need a couple of stitches. But it was 5 in the morning. I was alone. No one else in their right mind would be up. I wasn’t about to drive myself to the ER.

I scrounged for bandages, wanting something that could butterfly this awkward hole together. Found them and the Neosporin.

And fixed myself up.

Not great to look at. But it will do.

All because I didn’t turn a light on.

Darkness isn’t my friend. It trips me up and throws me curves I’m not expecting.

I need light. To do more than just see.

To live.

I sometimes choose darkness because it’s comfortable. Known. It hides things well.

But I do better in the light. I was meant to grow in the light. God’s light.

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all.”   1 John 1:5

I do need His light. I prefer it.

There will be times when the dark beckons and I’ll want to hide. I’ll not want to see what the light will show.

True light is a journey and a destination. A place to be, to thrive.

I just need to remember to turn it on.

First photo courtesy of fifa.com

Second photo courtesy of galleryhip.com.

Third photo courtesy of facesforfun.com.