Kate's Story - Opening up to God

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June 2005

Kate's Story - Opening up to God

Kate Meijers played in a soccer semifinal in April and collided with another player. Her coach described the resulting injury as 'the most severe and freak soccer injury' he'd seen - grade four (of five) kidney damage which usually requires removal. After two weeks in hospital she is now undergoing another month and a half of recovery before final surgery. Here is her story.

Although this has been a really testing and painful time for me I've still been able to find the entire ordeal a blessing. As you said, this situation has really forced me to inspect my life with God and open myself up to His help - when everything is going normally and smoothly it's very easy to just go with the flow!

It's been hard not to find my circumstances depressing - I'm going to have to defer my uni courses, I've undergone a month of pain, boredom and very undignifiying situations, I have lost fitness and muscle tone and will not be able to return to soccer for the year, or undergo any strenuous physical activity for another two/three months. All on top of the concept that I have just had a brush with death!

BUT! heh, heh luckily, God (once again!) proved that even the most harrowing of times can be used for good. While my time in hospital was still uncomfortable, I know God was watching over me; my recovery was very stable, I responded well to surgery and blood transfusions; there were no complications (a bit of a miracle considering the amount of drugs I took, blood I lost and general effects of lying still for ten days!)

I was also particularly blessed by the responses of my friends and family who sacrificed a lot of time and energy for me and I felt very safe knowing that so many people were praying for me!

I often felt this whole period was a waste of my time but later thought 'well what would I be doing otherwise?' It's not as though I had to get back to my children's orphanage or anything! So while a hospital stay doesn't allow you to go to church or interact with people normally, it does provide the perfect opportunity to build on relationships and catch up with old pals and provides an excellent platform to talk about what God's been doing in my life - and that's definitely not a waste of time, hey!

So all in all, despite all the rubbish, I still feel so blessed by God and am thankful (in hindsight) for the incident!

Kate is 18 years old and became a Christian two years ago. She attends BayWest and wrote this email to a friend whilst recovering from her injuries.

Kate Meijers is pictured at her baptism.

	The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search
	a healthy church...transformingLIFE
	Home About Contact us News Issues Parishes Prayer Calendar Youth Resources

				June 2005

		Kate's Story - Opening up to God Kate Meijers played in a soccer semifinal in April and collided with another player. Her coach described the resulting injury as 'the most severe and freak soccer injury' he'd seen - grade four (of five) kidney damage which usually requires removal. After two weeks in hospital she is now undergoing another month and a half of recovery before final surgery. Here is her story. Although this has been a really testing and painful time for me I've still been able to find the entire ordeal a blessing. As you said, this situation has really forced me to inspect my life with God and open myself up to His help - when everything is going normally and smoothly it's very easy to just go with the flow! It's been hard not to find my circumstances depressing - I'm going to have to defer my uni courses, I've undergone a month of pain, boredom and very undignifiying situations, I have lost fitness and muscle tone and will not be able to return to soccer for the year, or undergo any strenuous physical activity for another two/three months. All on top of the concept that I have just had a brush with death! BUT! heh, heh luckily, God (once again!) proved that even the most harrowing of times can be used for good. While my time in hospital was still uncomfortable, I know God was watching over me; my recovery was very stable, I responded well to surgery and blood transfusions; there were no complications (a bit of a miracle considering the amount of drugs I took, blood I lost and general effects of lying still for ten days!) I was also particularly blessed by the responses of my friends and family who sacrificed a lot of time and energy for me and I felt very safe knowing that so many people were praying for me! I often felt this whole period was a waste of my time but later thought 'well what would I be doing otherwise?' It's not as though I had to get back to my children's orphanage or anything! So while a hospital stay doesn't allow you to go to church or interact with people normally, it does provide the perfect opportunity to build on relationships and catch up with old pals and provides an excellent platform to talk about what God's been doing in my life - and that's definitely not a waste of time, hey! So all in all, despite all the rubbish, I still feel so blessed by God and am thankful (in hindsight) for the incident! Kate is 18 years old and became a Christian two years ago. She attends BayWest and wrote this email to a friend whilst recovering from her injuries.		Kate Meijers is pictured at her baptism.