This post is going to be a bit like exposing a raw nerve part way through getting your tooth evicted…painful! But sometimes to expose our struggles helps to move us through the pain and come into the sunlight of reclaiming, reframing and renaming what has been laid bare. So here we go, I’ll take a deep breath and dive into it. I want to share bravely, so that you too might feel encouraged to share your journey with boldness and bravery.
With the Work Cover process there are lots of people that get involved and if you’re like me being the centre of attention is extremely stressful. With lots of people being involved it is inevitable that there are many reports and tons of paper being used, which does sadden my tree hugging nature! One such report was from a Neurosurgeon that I saw. Now, he in no way mentioned about weight being a medical problem to do with the issue he was seeing me for. So when I read the following six words in his report, they floored me.
He wrote….
- “Unfortunately…
- She…
- Is…
- Still…
- Over…
- Weight…”
Six words. That’s all it took. Six. Little. Words. The alphabet turned from sounds to words that confounded me as they tried to keep me bound from transcending my injured body.
“Unfortunately… She… Is… Still… Over… Weight…”
They sank to the pit of my stomach just as though I’d swallowed a large apple pie whole – baking tin and all! These words made me feel that I had failed all the years of physical rehabilitation, including re – learning to walk. I felt like a fake when I needed to use my walker. Which I still use to this day. It’s as though I’m faking the fact that my legs go numb, feeling like ghosts live in them. Or the daily battle of electrical pain coursing through my back and legs is just make believe.
It hurts because I have done my very best, I’ve been engaged in ALL of my rehabilitation. Yes, I am larger now. But no matter my size words can hurt just the same as anyone else.
Still, underneath all of this lies the fact that it shone a light on my own struggle. Unwanted light. Like when light pierces through your eyelids as you deal with a migraine and your head feels like a giant watermelon ready to explode.
Yet at least this light gives illumination to the heart and mind. It shone on the reality that I have struggled, arm wrestled with self – esteem. It’s been a battle most of my life, yet some seasons are better than others in this aspect of life. I am mostly okay with who I am, just not necessarily how I am in my body. Which is why it hurts to see those words. Since my injury I have had to get used to a new body. I am sometimes vulnerable and sensitive to how others perceive me physically. But I am coming to a place of accepting that as a whole person I am more than my body.
But why should it matter what others might write, say, or how they may stare? Is my perception of how others might perceive me actually correct? Whether or not I have interrupted other people’s words or actions correctly they are an opportunity to take them to Jesus and leave them with him as he declares other six words that reclaim my true identity? How would my heavenly father rename those six words, what would he say?
“1) You.
2) Are.
3) My.
4) Precious.
5) Image.
6) Bearer.”
How he renames me is filled with more truth and healing than anything the doctors, specialists, work cover, strangers or even myself can say or write about me. This truth is just as true for me as it is for you. Let me invite you to ditch the names, the lies that Work Cover have said over you and take up the truth that you are forever loved.
My Child…
Note: this part is written from the perspective of what God, our father might say to his child/children. It is not the Bible…
Live in the words I give you! Your worth is not found in the size of clothes you wear, the lowest calories consumed, following the newest fad diet, smashing it out at the gym, specialist’s opinions, your own thoughts and feelings. These are false indicators of worth. Strip them off and live free in me.
Live in the words I give you! From the very start I have called you to be my image bearer, to resemble me in some ways. Just like a baby reflects some of the physical traits of their parents, you reflect some of my spiritual traits. Which means that all people on earth deserve respect and dignity, this includes you too. Please, my precious child, show and treat your body I have created with respect and dignity (Psalm 139:13).
Live in the words I give you! I invite you to find out what your true royal identity is in me and live free (1 Peter 2:9). Here are a few reminders of who I say you are and how I see you.
- You are saved – 2 Timothy 1:9
- You are complete – Colossians 2:10
- You are chosen – 1 Thessalonians 1:4
- You are my child – 1 John 3:1
- You are redeemed – Ephesians 1:7
- You are wonderfully made – Psalm 139:14
- You are light – Matthew 5:1
- You are justified – Romans 5 :1
- You are more than a conqueror – Romans 8:37
- You are called – 1 Corinthians 7:17
- You are victorious – 1 Corinthians 15:57
- You are accepted – Romans 15:7
- You are beautiful – Song of Solomon 4:7
- You are special – 1 Peter 2:9
- You are precious Isaiah – 43:4
- You are healed – Isaiah 53:5
These are your true attributes in me and because of my son, Jesus, they are yours freely to receive. Live in the words I give you.
Often people will only look at the outside of a person and whilst your physical body is important, there is so much more to you (1 Samuel 16:7). It is the tip of the iceberg, there so much more and do not listen to the lies that come against you. Bring to me what people say or write and let me show you if it is worthy of being part of the special identity that I have uniquely crafted in you. After all, you are my masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10).
What you experience in your body is important to me. Why do you think I sent my son, Jesus in human form? It was so that you would know that he is, that we are, right there with you. To identify with what it is like to be fully human means to experience joys and the deepest darkness of pain and suffering (Isaiah 53:3 – 5, John 1:1-5, Hebrews 12:2). Yet through Jesus, pain, suffering and death do not have the final word. I do. I will bring life from death.
Live in the words I give you. I am your true light illuminating the path forward (Psalm 119:105). My child do not live in the dullness of apathy for you are called to live in the light (Colossians 1:13). Just as the sun shines its brightest on cloudless days, let my light shine even brighter in your heart and life. For in me there is no night, no darkness at all (Psalm 139:12, Psalm 18:28, John 8:12, John 12:46). So, throw off the heaviness of others words and the disempowering systems that humans create. Throw them off and live wild, free to dance in the light of life, in my son, Jesus.
Live in the words I give you.
Love, your father, God.
Bible Verses…
Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Isaiah 53:3 – 5 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
John 1:1- 5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. he was in the beginning with God. all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 139:12 Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as day, for the darkness is as light with you.
Psalm 18:28 For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.
John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 12:46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
Work Cover Tip for the Injured Person…
It may be helpful to find a support group near you. The city that I live in does not have any support groups for injured workers. There is one which I believe you can join via zoom, but it is based in New South Wales called Injured Workers Support Network. You can do a google search to find where you can access support. Even social media such as Facebook can have support groups.
In terms of body image and improving upon that practice gratitude towards your body. Write down one thing, everyday why you’re grateful for your body as it is right now, which for me is my injured body. Also watch the Embrace documentary on Netflix. It is by the Australian of the 2023 recipient, Taryn Brumfitt. Also check out her website bodyimagemovement.com for further information.
Work Cover tip for Family, Friends and Colleagues…
What words we use are so important. As your loved one comes to terms with their “new” body make sure you speak positive but honest words to them and pull them up on negative speech. Rule of thumb if you wouldn’t want it said to you, don’t say it to another.
I Am Pilgrim 