A Burden Lightened

A Burden Lightened

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

I felt a terrifying lurch as the car began to fishtail on the rural dirt road, loose gravel pinging off the doors. Spinning once, twice, then again, it finally slammed to a halt on its side in the ditch. Hanging from the lap belt that crossed my hips, I knew from the blinding pain in my spine that something was very wrong.

Two ambulance rides, one spine surgery, and seven days in the hospital later, I was finally released—the two vertebrae I’d broken in the accident held together with metal and a bone fusion, a back brace encasing my chest and the upper part of my hips. My body was healing, but the fun summer I had envisioned was irrevocably altered. I couldn’t be part of the marching band or take the weeklong band trip with my friends. Cheerleading wasn’t possible, either. I couldn’t even drive. To a seventeen-year-old, that felt like the kiss of death.

Thank goodness for friends. Several of them visited me at the hospital and my home to cheer me up, but my friend Lynn was a lifesaver. On hot days when she wasn’t working or had finished her shift, she’d pick me up and drive us to Manuella Lake. Swimming, my body weightless in the blue depths, was one of the only forms of exercise I could do—and one of the only times I felt like a normal teenager. The sun, waves, and wind went a long way toward restoring my spirits.

Then and now, I’m grateful that Lynn went out of her way to accommodate my altered circumstances. Just as the weightlessness of the water diminished the burden of my body on my injured back, the weightlessness echoed in my heart. I felt happy and optimistic, my spirits brighter. When we share one another’s burdens, we lessen the load. As the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, we can encourage our friends through actions that reflect his love and care.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Think of a friend who is bearing a burden—whether emotional, physical, or circumstantial—and find a way to lighten their load.