stay away from sharp knives...

If you are easily grossed out at the sight of scars, you may not want to read this post.  

Okay, you've been warned.

Thought I'd give a quick update on my hand injury. 

Anyways, the stitches are out now!  When they were removed on Monday, the hand doctor gave me the green light to try to begin playing violin that very evening...

So I pulled my instrument out, and slowly began trying to play again.  Though it hurt to vibrato, (that's where you see string players sort of "shaking" their left hands) I was SHOCKED at what my fingers were able to do the first time.  It all started coming back so fast.  

Caroline was literally jumping up and down screaming, "Mommy!  You're playing violin again!!!"  My sweet, sweet girl.

There is no doubt in my mind that it was due to the hundreds of prayers that had been lifted up in my behalf.  (and many of those were from you, dear blog readers.)

Over the course of twenty minutes, even the vibrato began coming back without much pain!  I was playing in sheer AMAZEMENT and gratefulness.  I didn't want to stop.  I've never been so thankful for the ability to play before.

It's amazing how a split second can change everything.

So here are a couple of pictures of how it looked after 17 days, just after the stitches were removed...

Such an awkward place, right between my 3rd & 4th fingers.

What you can't see is how the wound literally curves around the back side of my ring finger, too.  Fun stuff.

So now the work of recovery begins.  This morning I went to a hand therapist, who gave me a ton of strengthening exercises and ways to help minimize the scarring process.  I can play, but it's still quite sore.  I am mostly having difficulty getting my ring finger to fully extend straight, but the therapy should help me increase my range of motion.  

I'm managing just fine with normal life, but it's dumb little things that are a little aggravating right now.  

I can't clap.  It's hard to wash my hands.  It hurts to bump it or brush it against something.   

Such is life, right?  I know it will get better with time, but you can pray for the moments of discouragement that naturally come with healing.

There is so much more I could say, and perhaps I will save all of my reflections from this hand injury for a later post, but can I just say I'm SO thankful?

Thankful the Lord didn't let that knife slip just a bit further.   I could've never played again.

I'm SO much more grateful for the talent He has given me.  I see now that it's more of a gift than a right.

And I'm thankful for the extent in which He has used this situation to teach Marc and me.  Our love has been deepened through this.

But for now I think I'm steering clear of sharp knives for awhile...