“My Strong Family” by: Topher Wiles
“Look dad!” Micah yells as he strains,
grunts, and huffs his way to a half pull-up.
At five years old, my third son carries a bulk heftier than his
siblings. If Gabriel is built for tennis
and Ethan is built for wrestling, then Micah is definitely built to be a
line-backer. Being over twice Micah’s
age, Gabriel recently achieved his first honest pull-up, a great achievement
for a sixth grader. Any of our readers
who have multiple children know the “monkey-see-monkey-do” routine of the
younger brothers and sisters. So here we
are, watching what must be Micah’s hundredth attempt at a pull-up. Teeth are gritted. Face is strained. Knuckles are white. Micah is still only halfway up when his arms
finally give out.
Why do
I watch eagerly without wavering in attention? Why do I lock my eyes on Micah’s like a heat
seeker homing in on its target? Why do I
cheer, encourage, and high-five this pre-k hulk before, during, and after his
inevitable failure at accomplishing a single pull-up? Stay with me a moment while I tell you an
awful and amazing story to answer our questions.
January
of 2018 was much colder than this year.
The frigid temperatures saw me working feverishly to get my
new-to-Sparta family out of our RV and into the new home we purchased. Before we could pack up and move our
belongings out of our Indiana home and into our Sparta home, I had some serious
work to do. I began to feel a small
strain in my back after days of ripping carpet and pulling staples from the
existing hardwood floor that lay underneath in our new home. Yet a weekend closing date on our home in
Indiana meant that I couldn’t slow down for pain or strain. I had to get everything ready to move within
5 days since the buyers of our home up north were taking immediate possession
when they signed on the line.
It was
the deadline, the long hours remodeling, and the lack of proper strengthening
that landed me in Ty Webb’s office (one of our elders at Central Church of
Christ), writhing in pain from my first lower back injury. Did you know that you can be in so much pain
that it induces your vomit reflex? Yeah,
I didn’t either. I wonder what was going
through Dr. Webb’s mind as his new preacher was crying like a baby, unable to
stand up, and begging for a trash can to mitigate the effects of the up-chuck
reflex at 7am that Wednesday morning. I
wonder what the emergency room doctor in Indiana was thinking three days later
when he was told the story of my back injury and how I was writhing in pain on
his gurney because I hurt it again attempting to load my recently sold house
into a U-Haul.
I
wonder at these things a year later as I enjoy one of the fittest moments of my
life. I’m stronger now in my back, arms,
and legs than I’ve ever been before. I’m
stronger entering into 2019 than this time last year because of family. It was my church family in Indiana that came
to our rescue and loaded that moving truck.
It was our church family in Tennessee that moved me and my wheelchair to
the front porch to let me watch as they unloaded my belongings into our new
Sparta home. It was Dr. Ty Webb, my
brother-in-Christ, who encouraged me to do my first triathlon as he continued
to watch over my strengthening progress.
It was my wife and kids who took up the slack to let my body rest and
heal. It was my family who continued to sacrifice
time so that I could visit the YMCA every morning to get stronger, be healthier,
and become a better version of my former self.
I am stronger today because of the love, care, and attention of my family.
Why do
I give my love, care, and attention to Micah even though he can’t do a
pull-up? The reason doesn’t lie in the
pull-up itself. I could care less if the
boy can do 1, 10, or 100 pull-ups (although 100 pull-ups at 5 years old would
be cool!). What I do care about is Micah
knowing that he has my love, care, and attention as he becomes a stronger
version of himself. That’s what God, my
heavenly Father, did for me through the trials of the last year. Love, care, and attention – that’s what families give.
The word “forte” comes from the
latin word “fortis” meaning strength.
Our weekly Family Forte article in The Expositor is the effort of family at CentralChurch of Christ to give your family the love, care, and attention it needs to
become a stronger version of itself. If we
can help you in any way, please contact us at Central Church of Christ through
email, topherwiles@spartacoc.com, or through our website, www.spartacoc.com.