We’d been looking forward to spending a day at the zoo with friends. This couple are both med students and about to graduate and leave Detroit so we’d been looking forward to spending a special day together. We started off with a dead battery in our van. Last night we had driven home in darkness after the Maundy Thursday service and cheered our kids with the glow of the interior lights. But then we forgot to turn them off. Blessedly, our friends had jumper cables and we still made it to the zoo by opening time.
Shortly before lunch, we were exiting an exhibit and Charlotte had a bad fall. It was one of those moments where you go back over and over it in your mind, wishing you could change what happened. But there she was, a huge gash on her forehead and needing more treatment than a band-aid. I have to admit when I first looked at it I almost threw up.
Isabelle really wanted to stay at the zoo with our friends so they cheerfully continued their day while Ben and I took Charlotte to the local hospital. She was cheerful by the time we arrived but we were still reeling. She got some beautiful stitches by a plastic surgeon and we hope that there will be minimal permanent scars. She thoughtfully recalled the shot of sedative she was given and the fall itself. She’s okay.
This was taken before she had her stitches. She called this her "pirate bandage" - ARRRRRR! We've now had the dreaded first ER visit with a kid. But this is the part of parenting that they don’t tell you about. When your kids are hurt, you’ll want to take their place. You’ll wish you could do anything to come between them and their pain. You’ll feel like your insides are on the outside.
And it’s Good Friday. The day that God’s son died to rescue his children from their pain. A small window into God’s suffering at losing his son, and also the motivation behind Jesus wanting to take our pain upon himself. “See how very much the Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” I John 3:1 NLT
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1 comment:
owie! looks like she's a trooper though.
When T got her burn i felt guilty for months, replaying it in my head, thinking what I would have done different. Now she's all healed and "grown up" and there's nary a trace of the burn, except in my memory and my heart... :)
Melody, glad you're back!
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