So one night after dinner last week BW & I excused the kids to go out to play so we could have a chance to finish our dinner and talk.  As I am taking a bite of food, I see something that looks like a sack fall from above the roofline down to the ground.  In a split second, I thought "What was that?" and then the screaming began.  Boy6 had climbed up a tree in our backyard and as far as we could tell had fallen about 10-15 feet.  Oh - the many thoughts that go through your mind in such a flash.  BW & I ran out and since BW is a former EMT I stood back so he could take over.  Asking questions did no good as our son just screamed his head off.  BW determined that there were no bones broken and picked him up.  Then I saw  blood splattered all over the book BW had been reading to me from just moments before.  It was also all over the back of BW's shirt, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from - and our son was no help.  He just kept screaming. 

We tried asking the older sister - still in the tree - for some answers, but somehow she hadn't really seen what happened, but was full of ideas of what might have happened.  So BW takes him into the bathroom and Girl7 comes in to tell me that the neighbor from next door is outside and wants to know if Boy6 is all right and also to offer some help as he is a fisherman and hunter.  I told him that I thought it would be ok.  I was also trying to figure out exactly where we would take him if he needed stitches and how we could get him to cooperate with that. 

In the bathroom, it is discovered that he has a bad cut on two of his fingers, but the bleeding was slowing down.  BW doesn't think he needs stitches, but Boy6 doesn't want to see the blood and doesn't want anyone else to see his fingers.  BW wraps his fingers in a towel to put pressure on it.  Eventually, we bribe him with an ice cream cone in his good hand so that BW can put some bandaids on it.  BW attempts to clean the blood off his chin and finds it is a large abrasion.  I go into the kitchen to find Girl7 doing the dinner dishes by herself(Did I mention that I had been battling with her most of the day?).  After that, she took Boy22mths and Girl4 into the bathtub for me - what a blessing she can be when she wants to!

Ultimately, after such a long fall we came to the conclusion that our boy's guardian angels were working overtime to keep him safe and that children's bodies are just a lot more flexible than an adults'.  He still doesn't have a clear explanation as to what happened just before he fell and I'm done trying to figure out how he fell all that way and his only injuries were two cuts on his fingers and an abrasion on his chin, realizing that it was just God's grace and protection

Of course, the next night as I am doing dishes I glance out to see my son - back in the same tree! though not nearly as high as he has usually been.  

Praising God for protecting my boy and for keeping us all semi-calm during a draining evening that will not soon be forgotten.

Grace & peace,

-J