Thoughts on bruises

Who is Nat?

My name is Natalie Husk, although most people call me Nat (except my parents!). I was born and raised in Cornwall and am proud of it! I have always been involved in the church, whether going to my local village chapel in Common Moor, joining with bus loads from Cornwall at MAYC events, helping at the District Children’s Holiday or even attending Synod a few times! I am very thankful to the Cornwall District, the Liskeard & Looe Circuit and of course Common Moor chapel for being such valuable parts in my journey of faith.

Today I live in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where I work as a youth worker for the Methodist Church. I run after school clubs, youth clubs, a youth fellowship, do outreach work and organise trips away. Not long ago I was asked by a youth group, to give them a weekly topic for reflection, an email containing something to focus them on God for the week. So every week I sit at my computer and write down my thoughts! It started quite small, with just the young people receiving them, and now lots of people of all ages find my thoughts in their email inbox!

It is a huge privilege for me to find that people enjoy and are challenged by what I have written, especially that I can now share what God has done for me with those who walked with me at the beginning of my journey. Ultimately these reflections are aimed at the young people I now work with, but if God can speak to others through them, how great is that!!

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December
Advice
I Love You

November
38. Bald is beautiful
37. Fire
36 Sleep
35 Music

October 2006
34. Stupidity
33. Painting
32. mmm Pasties
31. Built to last
30. Phlegm

September 2006
29. Meetings
28. Crime thoughts
27. Colours
26. Unwanted guests

August 2006
25. Comparison
24. Waterproof Mascara
23. Tasty MSG
22. Helplessness

July 2006
21. Attraction
20. Hair
19. Hero
18. Laughter
17. Factoids

June 2006
16. Voiceless
15. Bruises (ouch)
14. Sunburn
13. Mistakes

May 2006
12. Arms
11. Willow Tree
10. Eurovision
9. Chicken
8. Addictions

April 2006
7. Age
6. Celebrities
5. Language

March 2006
4. Commonwealth Games
3. Decisions
2. Drizzle
1. Trelawney

Bruises (ouch)

I bruise easily. Not just a catchy song, but a statement about me. Not in some deeper, psychological or emotional way, but literally. I bruise easily. Very easily. In fact I seem to be covered in bruises, yet I have no idea how I got half of them!

When I was younger I used to count my bruises before I went to bed – more to keep a record of how mean my brother was to me, rather than in some other weird bruise counting way! I figured I’d grow out of being constantly bruised, if not largely due to my brother living on another continent and not being able to punch that far! But here I am still getting beaten up, or at least looking like I am.

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I walk into a table or bash my arm on a door or something, and it really hurts but there is no sign of it. I wait for some mark so I can get some sympathy or just know that I have something to show for my pain. The other week I sprained my ankle and even now it still hurts (sympathy please!) but there is still no bruise or mark to see. Other times, I find random bruises on my body and wonder how on earth I got them. Yeah sure, they hurt when you prod them, but I have no recollection of hurting myself in that spot recently. Right now in fact I have a cluster of bruises on my leg and yet they are in such a position that I wonder how I can’t remember bashing myself there!

I think we are like that. Not the skin and bones of us, but the deeper stuff. Things happen, life happens and we get bashed around and we get hurt. When the injuries are visible it is easy for others to see our pain, and therefore to try help us get back on our feet again. When the injuries are not seen, when we don’t know why we are hurting, when the pain isn’t noticed we can feel alone and beyond the reach of help.

But God sees everything. He sees all our hurts and injuries, the heartbreak and the loneliness. Oh and God isn’t just an observer of these bruises (both the visible and invisible ones), but the healer of them. That is if we let Him. When we are feeling battered and bruised God is the only one who truly understands, and who can truly bring us healing, although not always in the way we expect. So when you are hurting I recommend chatting to God about it, after all He knows a thing or two about suffering.

I guess that means He also knows how I got these weird bruises on my leg!!

Take care and have a safe, bruise-free week! Nat xxx