“Ouch!” I felt the hard, cold leg of the iron chair in my kitchen crush my toe as I hurried to answer the phone. Clearly, this was many years ago as we don’t have to rush for the phone today as it’s usually in our pockets, but the story is still so applicable and one I never forgot. Iron, as you know, does not bend; it does not break. But, toes, on the other hand, do. “Ouch!” Again I said a little louder that time, although all who witnessed the ordeal said they would have yelled a lot louder than I did. I’ve never been much of a crier, so I thought my “ouch” was sufficient for one toe that I suspected was broken. But, it was just one toe—quickly swollen and purple, but just one. The other toes, at first, seemed unaffected. One broken toe isn’t too bad. I knew I could handle that.

The crowd of people who had been at the house that night left and I finally gave in to some hobbling. Then I noticed that two of my other toes, namely toe two and three, were also turning a nasty shade of purple, as well as the top of my foot. Odd, I thought, for just one toe to be battered, but those close enough to touch it also showed signs of distress. I did a few household chores and then decided maybe I should stay off my foot for the rest of the night. When I got into bed I noticed that the sheer weight of the covers hurt my entire foot and I slept that night with my foot cold rather than in agony. Still, I went to sleep hopeful that all would be better in the morning. 

The next morning my foot did feel better when I first woke up and I had great hopes for the day. But, my expectations were short lived as I placed my foot on the floor and discovered that any weight placed on it resulted in a small whimpering sound made by me. So I did what most people do in this situation, I started limping. Limping is never attractive, it’s just necessary to keep from making those awful whimpering sounds. By the time I left for work, I had the limp thing down and I continued through the day, up and down stairs, going to the copy machine, attending kid’s ballgames, driving, running errands, etc. 

That night when I went to bed, I not only had a very sore, broken fourth toe, two other very sore purple toe’s, a swollen left foot, I also had developed pain in my right hip and left calf. I had done nothing to my right hip and left calf except use them more than usual as I redistributed my body weight to relieve the weight on one toe. Three days into my ordeal, my entire body hurt as it strained to help the one little part of my body that was truly damaged

It was at that point, I was reminded of this: “If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it.” That is a passage found in I Corinthians 11 where Paul was called to teach a lesson about working together and understanding the importance of each person. Paul uses the analogy of our bodies because he knew it was a language we could understand. We understand that we have many parts to our bodies, but there is not one part we would be happy to do without. I was “painfully” reminded of this powerful lesson, realizing even one small toe is important. When that small toe hurt, the rest of my body quickly regrouped like an army ready to fight and worked to protect the part that was injured, even to the detriment of itself. 

Each of you has talents and gifts unique to only YOU! God has blessed you as the mother or grandmother of your family. Everyday you do so many things that keep your family running smoothly and happy and healthy. Indeed, YOU are valuable! And if you are not functioning like you want to be, don’t be afraid to look for someone or something that can help you. Sometimes it’s just a friend and a cup of coffee or a yoga class, sometimes more is required, but don’t be afraid to seek it. Likewise, you should stand ready to help others. Being able to empathize with others when they hurt is truly a trait of a mature Christian. Billy Graham once said that real happiness comes from learning the value of sharing in other’s sorrow, distress, and misfortune.  

I know you are busy. Everyday brings more work than you think is humanly possible as many of you work outside the home and then inside the home until time to drop into bed.  It’ takes effort to listen for an “ouch” from a friend or a family member, especially because we know recognizing pain requires effort to help. But, you can do it and it will strengthen you to strengthen others.  

Pain is a part of this world, the Bible makes that clear, but having someone share in that pain, gives us comfort and the promise of a better tomorrow.