Stitches

Well, it happened. There was an accident at our house the other day. It was after VBS -- 2 of my kids were here and they each had 3 friends over. It's ok...we always have extra kids here and we actually love it! The 4 middle school boys were out in the pool & the 4 high school girls were upstairs watching a movie. (actually, after a week of morning and evening VBS I think they were asleep!) I was watching Paula Deen make Orange Brownies on tv. (Which, BTW, I made later that day and they weren't too bad...it was the cream cheese icing that won me over!) One of the fellas decided to pull a prank on the girls. They ran inside from the pool and I could see them running around upstairs. I yelled, "What are you doing up there?" To which they said, "nothing!" In a minute, they came running down, headed back to the pool. Down the stairs and almost out the door, one of the boys (not mine) started yelling! I went over to find him in a pool of blood (ok, pool of blood may be an exaggeration) and in quite a bit of pain. I am not a calm person ever so I immediately start giving everyone orders. And, I have an intolerance for the sight of blood... One of the girls called the boy's mom and I had to tell her the bad news. He caught his little toe on the door upstairs and there was a gash between two toes and up onto his foot. Ugh! Mom said, "Is that him screaming I hear?" Oh yeah, it was. There's no doubt that it hurt like the dickens. They live about 15 minutes from us, but she said she would be there quickly and she was...real quickly! By the time she arrived, Johnny was home and he took over the doctor duties. To sum it up, mom did take him to the emergency room & they had to xray because they thought his toes might be broken. Thankfully not, but he did have to have 6 stitches in his foot.

Why, you might be thinking, write a blog about my son's friend's accident and stitches? First of all, I am thankful for friends and fun and summer. There has not been one quiet day yet since school has been out, but there will be lots of quiet when the kids go back. It's a season & a very busy one at that. Second, I am really thankful to have had the privilege to stay at home with my kids all these years. At times, I have longed for a job or a place outside this house to devote my time and energy. One where there's a sense of accomplishment...you know, you can finish the laundry and think the job is accomplished until you walk upstairs and it just starts all over again...it's a never ending, thankless job. Not just the laundry...all of it.

To have the awesome responsibility placed on me and Johnny by the God of the universe, who knows way more than I do & is sovereign over it all, to raise 3 kids...to mold their lives, to take care of their needs, their wants, their hurts, to experience their joys and trials, to be there when decisions have to be made and to hear what's really on their heart...

We've made it all these years without a friend having an accident requiring stitches while at our house...we've made it through a lot, actually. I'm thankful for it all...I really am.

Serving the King,

Jeanette