God Has a Reason
1:04 PMEllen HuntSo life has been very comfortable. No one has been sick, Eric and I have been well off with money. School is good and work is good. I knew something was coming...the Lord has a way of granting us a trial when life gets too comfy. :)
So, on Thursday, February 26th I was making my way to Fresno, California to attend Eric's basketball game. At the beginning of this year I made it a point that I needed to make it to every game I possibly could because its Eric's senior year. Now Fresno is about a four hour drive and Eric was telling me the day before that I didn't need to feel like I HAD to go. I would be working all day, then driving up, coming home, and getting about three hours of sleep before going right back to work. Not to much fun, and I began to consider just staying home and watching the game online. But then a still small voice started giving me the feeling that I needed to go, that for some unknown reason Eric would need me. And so about 2 pm on Thursday I began the drive up.
It was a minute before the end of the first half that Eric came down on his knee wrong after going up for a rebound. He says that he knew immediately what had happened. He heard the pop of his knee, and the way that he explains the sound of it is to imagine the sound of a carrot being split in half. They took him off the court and the head Sports Med started attending to him. He waved at me from the sideline and I ran over to him. "Babe my knee is gone, it's gone I know it is, I felt it." I tried my best to comfort and calm him down as he was looked over. I can't even imagine the pain he was in, or what was going on through his mind. I started to try to reassure him, explaining that maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought, but he took my hand and said "Ellen, I'm so happy you're here, and I appreciate you trying to see the positive...but I know it's bad." They gave him crutches and a brace and they let him come home with me so that he could ride comfortably home. The next day he got an MRI and we got the call that he had torn his ACL, his medial meniscus, and had a sprain of the LCL. I have never seen Eric as upset as he was when he got that call...basketball is apart of who he is, and just like that his collegiate career was over. He couldn't sleep that night.
The next day, Saturday, was Senior Night. Well there Eric was, dressed in his uniform, crutches and all, supporting his CBU Lancers. I know he wanted to be playing that night, but he made the best of it, he was a CBU coach that night. He was the inspiration that his teammates needed, he was an example of the fact that you never know what is going to happen, you never know when you're ability to play could be taken away. He loves his coaches. He loves his team. Eric would do anything for the boys on that team...they're his brothers. I really hope they know that. I hope they know how much they mean to him. Eric is one of the most dedicated people I have ever met, it's one of the reason I fell in love with him. No matter what he would always be there for his team, whether it was on the court or on the bench.
We have received so much love the past couple of days, from friends and family, and from Eric's teammates and coaches. We have felt the love of our Savior and the attention from our Heavenly Father, It's pretty incredible. People are just incredible, and I am so profoundly proud of Eric. When we got that phone call informing us of the damage I was so worried about Eric and how he would take it, but he has done an amazing job of trying to be positive, distracting himself, and putting a smile on his face. The love around him is really helping as well. I'm trying to see it as this trial came at a time where it would be easier to deal with. I am grateful it happened now, in Eric's senior year and the end of the season rather then anytime earlier! Eric has been able to play all four years of college basketball and was able to serve a two year mission with no injury. That itself is a huge blessing. I know the surgery and the road to recovery will be rough. I'm so grateful that Eric and I are married and together so that I can be there to support him and help him. I know that God has a reason for every trial he bestows on us, and that every obstacle presented is a chance for us to grow and become better. So that is how the Hunts will see it, an opportunity to become better. It's a blessing in disguise. :)
P.S. Eric's Senior night game was broadcast on Fox Sports West and the CBU Lancers CRUSHED it. It was one of the best games I have ever seen them play and it was a blast to watch! Couldn't be anymore proud of these boys. :)
0 comments