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Imagine zipping around Nashville, signing books like a whirlwind, only to find yourself hobbling back to a hospital bed. Kathie Lee Gifford, age 70, recently had a mishap that landed her back in the hospital, this time for a fractured pelvis. She’s been quite the busy bee, moving mountains—or rather, 300 books by herself!
“I weakened my body,” Gifford admits. “It’s my own fault.” And like many of us speedsters, she rushed to the door to greet a friend and, as fate would have it, tripped. Next thing she knew, her pelvis was fractured in two places, front and back.
“It didn’t take much, because I was weak in that spot,” she says. “The pelvis is unbelievably painful. But anyway, here I am.”
Having been through hip replacement surgery before this latest adventure, Kathie knew a fair bit about pain. But the pelvis pain? “That’s more painful than anything I went through with the hip,” she adds. Ouch! No kidding, Kathie.
“You think you know your body and the next thing you know, your body changes when you get older,” she reflects. Can we get a collective nod in agreement here?
“It’s summer for everybody but me,” she laments. But she’s optimistic, planning to visit her little farm and dip her feet into her salt pool soon. “The Lord is telling me it’s time to slow down. I’ve been running my whole life. The Lord is telling me, ‘You’ve planted a gazillion roses. Try smelling them.’”
Despite the humbling experience, Kathie chose to stay in the hospital for the full week. Why? “I don’t trust myself,” she admits. Sometimes, slowing down is the hardest yet the most important thing we can do for ourselves.
Earlier this month, Kathie shared that her hip replacement surgery was one of the most painful situations of her life. She needed it due to her active lifestyle, which included climbing mountains and never taking off her high heels. “You kept going and that’s why you’re going through what you’re going through,” her surgeon told her.
But don’t think for a moment she regrets a thing. “Would I change that? No. I was doing what God put me on this earth to do,” she says. Indeed, Kathie, indeed.
And if you thought hospitalization would slow her down, think again. Kathie, ever the multitasker, celebrated the release of her new book, Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior, from her hospital bed! The book offers a deep dive into how Herod came to power and how the teenage Mary faced obstacles to bring Jesus into the world.
This idea sprouted during a rabbinical trip to Israel a few years ago, and it was Kathie’s son Cody, 34, who convinced her these stories needed to be told. “People need hope,” he said. Ain’t that the truth?
“I don’t know how much time the Lord has me still on this earth, but for whatever time it is, I pray that I would be useful,” Kathie shared. “I am a strong woman, but I’m a woman who for 60 years has been trying to do godly work.” Preach, sister!
It’s a reminder for us all to slow down, embrace our seasons of rest, and yes, to smell those darn roses we’ve been planting all our lives. You’ll get through this, Kathie, and hopefully teach us a thing or two about resilience and faith along the way.