“‘When you reap the harvest of your land,

 do not reap to the very edges of your field or

gather the gleanings of your harvest.

Leave them for the poor and

for the foreigner residing among you.

I am the LORD your God.'”

Leviticus 23:22

Recovering from surgery can be a slow, painful process. All my life, I have been on the go, involved in work, volunteering, teaching. This injury left me housebound, unable to drive. After several weeks, however, I am beginning to appreciate unexpected benefits.

First, since I could barely use my right arm and hand, my left hand was called into service. At first, it was woefully inadequate for most tasks, best at knocking over objects or dropping food to the floor.  Now I can eat, stir, use a computer mouse left handed with greater ease, and I have concluded that in doing so, I have built a more nimble brain. Experts recommend using your non-dominate hand to help strengthen neural connections in your brain and even grow new ones. When you have lemons…

The most enjoyable benefit was building relationships. I have had wonderful conversations with neighbors, discovering shared interests and concerns. People from church were kind enough to deliver meals, even though we live 25 miles away. When you factor in SF Bay Area traffic, this is no small feat. So people visited my home with regularity. Finally, there was time with God, time spent contemplating our relationship, time spent considering what He has called me to do next and how I might go about moving forward with that calling.

Writing is tricky with limited use of my right hand. I’ve learned to use the voice command functions on my phone and iPad, but that created more than a few strange sentences. Nevertheless, I have felt free to spend time slowly tapping out ideas. No rush to complete other tasks.

God knew the benefit of creating margins. In Leviticus, He commanded people leave the edge of their fields unharvested so that the poor could glean enough to eat. Ruth kept herself and her mother-in-law alive thanks to this practice when they moved to a new land. (Ruth 2:3) It is humbling to accept this kind of help.

I have never been comfortable on the receiving end. Still, I am learning that by graciously accepting help, I am blessed. Those who extend a hand are blessed by serving. As one friend put it, “It gives them the opportunity to exercise their ministry muscles.”

Releasing my agenda and expectations, leaving space open on my calendar, leaving margins in my finances makes room for others, other plans, better plans. It gives God room to work and restore. It enables me to listen to what He has to say. When I am not rushing ahead shaping plans, I have time to consider His perspective.

And so I am learning to be content (much of the time) in my recovery. Stopping to smell the roses and give them water.