Exhausting Piece Of Heaven

Thursday nights for the past few weeks I have gone with Mark to his volleyball games. It gives me a chance to get out of the house and walk around the track while he plays. Different scenery, you know. A change up in the workout routine always helps to stay motivated. So I’ve been walking at the Y on Thursday nights instead of walking on the treadmill, or at the lake, or down the Greenway (the Greenway is a four foot wide sidewalk that goes from one end of town to the other…a great place to workout).

Well, last night we got to the Y and Mark headed downstairs to play ball, and I headed to the track. I had been walking for about 15 minutes when I hear my name. I turn around and there’s Mark hollering for me. I headed back to the stairs where he was and he goes, “I need you to play tonight.” I stopped and stared at him for a minute because I know it’s too soon for me to get back on the court. He goes, “All I need is a warm body, otherwise we’re gonna forfeit.” So I played.

Can I just tell you how awesome it felt to be on the court again??  It’s been almost two full years since I’ve looked at a volleyball, let alone touched one. I walked onto the court telling the team and myself that I was just going to be a warm body and that I wasn’t going to be playing full out so don’t expect much. Even though the doctor has released me to do whatever I want, I’m so freaked out that I’m going to hurt something on the insides. So I was pretty determined to take it easy.

We’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

Oh my gawd, ya’ll!!!!!!!!  I got to play volleyball last night!!!!!!!  There is no “halfway” in my body make-up. There is just the game; the competition; the smell of the court; the feel of the ball on my fingertips; the love for the game; the adrenaline in the heat of the moment!! There is volleyball!! And I played hard. I was sucking wind. But I played. For the first time in a very long time I felt alive! Utterly and completely alive. In between the first and second sets Mark goes, “It feels good, doesn’t it?” And it did! Beyond good. I was exhausted by the end, but it was exactly what I needed. Heaven, I tell you.