The Blessed Hands of God

Ok, so perhaps I do have something philosophical to write about.
Whenever one is troubled or bored or wants to get out of the house, one thinks that going on a walk is a very good idea. So I did just that.
Actually, I'm not being positively honest. Yes, all of those reasons above are true but I've been thinking about how out of shape I've always been and I allowed those temptations to get ahold of me so I went on the walk to prove them wrong. I'll get back to that soon.
Nice, brisk afternoon. Slightly chilly because of the wind, but still a gloriously beautiful day. My cheeks are still tingling from the wonderful coldness of it all. If you didn't know, I love cold weather.
So, I'm walking with Max(my dog) and making sure that he doesn't chase after cars or run himself to death and I get to the end of the road and meander out into the open field(simultaneously thinking about how it was the same field the helicopter landed in when my brother had his accident and had to be flown to the hospital). It's a beautiful day. I listen to the sound of the wind, the whoosh of the cars passing by on the nearby road. I sit down with my back to the road, facing the open field as Max prances around me, rolling around like he was 2 years old again. For a 14 year old dog, he sure doesn't act like it often.
My mind is clouded with what all I have to accomplish this weekend and in the next coming weeks. I'm thinking about who to go to prom with, my conversation with my Danish student, Sofie, online, the four page paper that's due on Tuesday about the use of allusions in Frankenstein. There are dark clouds rolling in from the north west and I start to think about the allusion of lightning and occurences in Frankenstein and how it relates to the force of nature.
I lie back on the prickly, dead grass and watch the clouds roll in and begin to ponder the forces of nature. The forces that control the weather, how without all the bugs and mosquitoes on the earth frogs wouldn't be able to live and all the other creatures that eat the frogs in order to survive. The food chain of life that sustains itself throughout all of time. Then I realize all of this works in accordance because God says so. God made all of this work the way it is to protect us and sustain our lives on this planet.
I notice that the dark clouds have covered where my house is in the little alcove at the base of the mountain. I decide to head back and Max comes with me. I'm watching him wander around the nearest yard, on the other side of the barb wire fence and wonder why if he's going to get himself stuck up there. I call for him to get out and stop being silly. I have my attention focused on him when suddenly my left catches and falls off the side of the pavement and I fall forward, landing hard on my palms. Still overcome and started by the subtlety of the unexpectedness and the bafflement of how fluent my body was able to fall, I hear...no, ... I don't know if I heard it, but there in that moment I heard: I gave you these hands. Then I thought of what would have happened if my hands hadn't have come out to stop me?What if God hadn't given me hands? I would have hit my face and I would have been in really bad shape.
I suddenly realize how fortunate I am to have hands. I am fortunate to have a body to maneuver. I am fortunate to have a body to walk with on a beautiful day. I realize that I really do need to stop focusing on the thought of how my body looks and think of how I am a body. I realized further that God has said: These hands. Being the AP english nerd that I am, I ponder of the importance of that word and think of how a mother will guide her daughter's or son's hands when stirring a batter of cookie dough, how the mother will firmly but gently take hold of the small hands so that they will know what to do next time. I now think of God that way; holding onto my hands, making sure I'm doing the right actions. I need to use my hands to benefit God, benefit and bring glory to him by using them correctly.
That is my focus now.