Difficult Details

Even though we choose to see the unique blessing in every day moments, most days are rather normal. The routines that help to get things accomplished keep the daily details in a fairly moderate range of intensity. We have 'hard' mornings, 'fun' lunches, 'great' afternoons, 'restful' nights, 'sad' days. There are slight ups and downs, but life goes on.

Then, there are extremes. The moments that seem to stop time and change everything. Its these extreme details, whether good or bad, that always seem to take us by surprise.

We just lived through one of those extremely difficult details.

Last week, on October 18, there was an accident on the farm.

Some friends were visiting for the weekend, so Brent and our friend took all of the kids out to do chores. They hitched a trailer to the ranger and loaded it full of hay (20 bales).

Naturally, a hay ride is big fun and all 5 of the kids wanted to ride. When they stopped at the gate, everyone jumped off and helped open the electric fence. Everyone was told to get back in and they pull into the cow pasture. Abigail screams. Brent stops, runs to the back...

Ethan was trapped under the trailer's tire!

The tire was actually stopped right on his stomach. Praise God that those 2 men could lift the trailer, hay and all, and pull Ethan out. Praise God that his mother wasn't standing there to see him or hear his screaming. Praise God that he was alive!

We called 911 and almost immediately had volunteers from the local fire department respond. Details! Those were moments when details mattered so much: how old is he, what did the trailer weigh, who is his doctor, when did this happen, who will ride in the ambulance? Two years old until tomorrow, about 800 pounds, um...he is in AZ, about 12 noon, his mother!

Then, Ethan and I shared our first ride in an ambulance, a green ambulance. They said that his pulse was strong, his heart rate sounded good...no lights, no siren! As he laid on the gurney, I sat next to him and Brent followed in our truck. Ethan's color wasn't good, he was swollen, he cried off and on. My heart hurt.

The local hospital started his IV, but decided that he should be taken to a pediatric trauma center about 45 minutes away. Then, Ethan and I shared our second ride in an ambulance, a white ambulance. This time he had to be fastened to a papoose board, but he was calmer and even joked with the kind girl who made elephant toys out of rubber gloves.

We finally arrived at the pediatric ER at about 4:00. He was examined by several nurses and doctors and we explained over and over what had happened. His right leg was very tender to touch and it caused him to limp, his tummy hurt when he tried to bend over, and then there was his skin. His face, scalp, neck and upper chest were covered with broken blood vessels. They explained that this was caused by the intense pressure.

They ordered X-Rays and a CAT SCAN. We waited...

(Meanwhile, back at the farm... our kind friends stayed with Abigail and Samuel. Can we ever thank them enough for being there and loving so much? Can we ever thank God enough for providing friends (from AZ) who were there at just the right moment? Amazing GRACE)

Between the hours of 4:00 and 12:00, Ethan got to wear a hospital gown, watch cartoons, drink 'special' juice, smile while the x-ray techs 'took his picture', play with Mommy's camera, have blood drawn, cry and ride through a CT, and have Mommy and Daddy all to himself!

Guess what they found? He is fine!

His leg was just bruised, his swelling would go down, the broken blood vessels would fade... They had no medical reasons, although a couple people did comment that God must have protected him. Yes, we agreed, God protected him alright... and us too!

So, at 12:30am, they told us that we could take him home. The only problem was that he had not been able to eat anything during this adventure. Breakfast had been 14 hours earlier and our boy was super hungry. Before driving the hour back to the farm, we walked down to the hospital's 24 hour cafe.

Can you guess what they had?

Cake...with rainbow sprinkles!

It was officially October 19th, Ethan's 3rd birthday!

We love a God that always provides for the details.

Even though, we were caught by surprise, He was not. Even though God allowed us to walk through a difficult day, He never left us. He chose to protect Ethan's internal organs, his bones, his head. He chose to provide friends and support. God knew that He was going to give Ethan another day, another birthday...and He even provided the birthday cake.