In the blink of an eye. At the drop of a hat. In just one breath our life can change course.
Yesterday, I ran into a dear friend of mine at the grocery store. She looked concerned and before I could even ask what was wrong she told me her youngest (of 5 kids) was at the emergency room with her husband and she was waiting to hear what was wrong. Earlier in the day Daniel, 3 years old, was riding his bicycle with his brothers and sisters when he fell off, his stomach hitting the handle bar. My friend had turned her back for a moment to pick something up and heard him cry. When she went to console him, assuming it was just a little fall, he grabbed at this stomach in pain.
To make a long story short, Daniel was taken by his father to a minor ER where he was sent home shortly after with nothing but a comment that he probably was still suffering a stomach ache from the virus we have going around town. My friend wasn’t satisfied with this as her motherly instinct kicked in and she noticed he seemed tired, listless and when she put him down for a nap he grabbed his stomach saying, “It hurts!”. There was no hesitation. They took him back to the ER which is when I saw her (she doesn’t do ER’s well 🙂 )… an hour later she was told her baby was being taken by ambulance to Texas Children’s because they noticed some ‘liquid’ on the CT scan in his stomach.
By the grace of God my night was open and I knew I needed to ‘show up’ so I told her I was taking her to meet them at the hospital. On the way there she couldn’t help but soak in the shock of that split second a few hours earlier. In that one breath gears changed in her life and now she didn’t know what lie ahead on the new course. God didn’t fail at giving her His own peace, however. When we got in the car to head to Texas Children’s the clock and my phone both showed 5:55pm. I made quick note of it but (as she knew my little angel story) she stared at the clock amazed and I could see her shoulder’s lose some of the tension. I smiled and said, “See the angels are even telling you it’ll be all right.” 😉
And sure enough he is! He is now at the hospital eating solid food for the first time since yesterday morning (which means NO SURGERY! PTL) and she is certain they’ll get to go home tonight. One comment she made to me as we were in the Trauma room waiting for a bed to open upstairs was that ‘I will make sure my kids are safe on anything they do. That one second, ONE SECOND, I turned my back and who knew?’
Who knew? We will never know when it will be our turn to change course at the drop of a hat, or in the blink of an eye but we can be prepared by giving each day, each moment, each second – each breath – to God. Not all of these moments have the happiest of endings but it is certain that we have the strength to endure through the sudden change with the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
Blessings
Shannon