Stuck!  We’ve all been there.  Stuck in traffic.  Stuck in a bad situation.  Stuck in a undesireable job.  Stuck in the airport.

I left the house early this morning to make a forty mile drive to get my MRI for the “too-mah” on the palm of my hand.  I drove down the road and got on the ramp for the freeway … and then stopped.  No!  I had thirty-eight more miles to go and already I was stuck in construction traffic.  Oh dear.  I really get antsy crawling in traffic.  Exhaling and digging deep for any stored patience, I managed to get to the end of the construction zone and was back to speed in about ten minutes.  Not too bad.  Just a bad start to a long drive to a place I’ve never been before.  I was going to be late.

I suppose I hadn’t planned enough time for the drive and should have gotten an earlier start.  But I was on my own with Amanda and had to get her all dressed, fed, and washed for the day before I could leave.  Usually Ted is around to help.  But Ted is also stuck.   Ted left the day before and was in Indiana overnight.  Without giving details, his boss wanted him there for a certain account that they are trying to arrange business with.  Ted felt it could be done over the phone.  But the boss said go, and you have to listen to the boss.  Ted is stuck in Indiana until business can be taken care of.

I was late for my MRI, but had called ahead to let them know I was on my way.  It was all good.  Then it was my turn.  Now I’ve had MRI’s and I knew pretty much what to expect.  Before taking me for my turn, the tech asked me if I needed to use the restroom.  I answered “No.”  Maybe that was a mistake.  We got to the great machine where I was told to lie on my stomach with my left hand stretched straight over my head, as if I was raising my hand to ask a question, only I was lying face down.  My hand got laid on a cushion, covered with a cushion, and then strapped down nice and secure.  With earplugs in place, they slid me in the tube – hand first – as if I was diving in – or saluting – Heil Hitler? – or maybe just a one-armed Superman pose?   The fact was, my left arm and hand were stuck in position.   I was told not to move.  They took some pictures.  Then they took some more pictures.  Then more.  Then “One more four-minute scan.”  Geez.  How many pictures of my hand can they take???  My fingers were really getting numb.  Finally, they backed me out of the tube to ‘inject.’  Lying like I was, with my left hand strapped down and stuck in the same position, I had to bring my right arm forward, palm up so the nurse could poke a need in the crook of my arm and fill my veins with some stuff that would show up on the MRI.   Quick!  Back into the tube they slid me for more pictures.  Now I was thinking that I really should have gone pee.  And not only were my fingers numb, but my whole hand and half way up my arm.  Uh oh – now I had this sudden intense itch on my nose – and I couldn’t scratch it!  I was stuck!

Of course, I survived.  I got to itch my nose.  I got to use the restroom.  They got their pictures.

Sometimes life puts you in a place where you feel stuck.  It is always temporary.  Things can change in a minute.  Sometimes you can be stuck for days, months, or years.  But it is a temporary place between the start, and the end or resolution of the un-liked ‘stuck-ed-ness.’

But to come to the end of your waiting in that stuck-limbo, you are probably back on the right track and cruising down the road in the right direction.  Or you’ve left the other state, and have made it home again.  (see you soon Teddy)  And just when everything went completely numb and you thought you could never feel again – everything gets back to normal.

If you are stuck somewhere – hang in there.  You’ll find your way out :-).

just Laurel

Ecclesiastes 7:8  The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

1 Corinthians 10:13  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.