The Bump

If I tried to list all the cute things my granddaughter did while I was visiting her in Canada a few weeks ago, I'm pretty sure I'd be writing for the rest of my life ... trust me, that kid is just stinking adorable no matter what she does. There were so many things she said and did that made me laugh out loud as I gathered her into my arms for a hug, and then there were things she did that tested my physical endurance and strength and put me through my paces in a big way. I learned quickly that one of her favorite things to do was to climb on her dad's legs and bounce. Matt and Becca would sing her a little song about riding on a bumpy road, and Matt would bounce his little girl until his legs couldn't handle any more bouncing. And every time he stopped, C.J. would say, "More bumpy road, peas, Dada ... more bumpy road." I know that it sounds like it would be easy to sit on the floor and bounce a little kid up and down while she held onto your legs ... ummm ... not so easy at all. But I love my granddaughter and she loves to bounce while someone sings The Bumpy Road to her, so I sang and bounced until my legs trembled. And then C.J. would say, "More bumpy road, peas, Ghee ... more bumpy road," and I would sing and bounce some more ... of course I would ... sheesh ... of course I sang and bounced as long as she wanted me to sing and bounce, no matter how badly my legs trembled.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a small bump on my left index finger at the joint just below my fingernail. I didn't think much about it, assuming I had probably smacked my finger somehow. But then the bump got bigger and became tender to the touch. When it began to throb and wake me up at night, I decided perhaps it was time to have my doctor take a look at it. Given my past history with infections that seem to crop up in weird places on my body, she wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic and told me if that didn't take care of the bump, she would send me to a hand surgeon. You guys know I've got one or two tiny little irrational fears ... well, you can now add having some surgeon slice open my finger to scrape my bone and remove the lump as having now catapulted to the top of the irrational fears list. And since the bump hasn't improved at all since I began taking the antibiotic on Monday and seems to be getting a bit larger, I happen to think that my aforementioned irrational surgeon fear is not irrational at all ... nope, not even a little bit irrational in my thinking. Granted, I've got another 10 days on the antibiotic, but still ... NOT an irrational fear at all.

Maybe it's because my finger has been exceptionally achy today or maybe it's because my brain goes in crazy directions sometimes, but I've been thinking all day about the bumps we encounter as we journey through life. Sometimes the bumps are small and we can drive over them with ease, while at other times they loom so largely before us that they cause us to stop right in the middle of the road. I did some research on the phrase "a bump in the road," and it quickly became obvious that one definition recurs over and over again ... a definition I've never given much thought to, but one that carries within it deep, deep meaning. The phrase "a bump in the road" is defined as "a hindrance in some quest or extended task." It's not the word "hindrance" that gives me reason for contemplation, it's the words "quest or extended task" that cause me to think I need to change my interpretation of what coming upon bumps in the road of life really means. Go ahead and think about that for a while ... it certainly merits some serious thought.

Here's the thing ... to C.J., the bumpy road was fun and exciting even when it got a little scary. No matter how bumpy the ride became, she reveled in every single moment of it and asked for more and more and more. Not only did she make the most of her bumpy ride, she helped me make the most of it, too. Yes, my legs grew tired and my muscles ached with every new bump, but making sweet and lasting memories with my granddaughter made every bump worth it ... so very, very, very worth it. Maybe that's the lesson ... maybe that's what I'm supposed to learn ... I have to go through the pain before I can get past the bumps in the road, and I have to hurt before I can heal. And sometimes ... sometimes ... sometimes you have to trust the journey, friends ... sometimes you just have to trust the journey ... bumps and all.