Yesterday was a day full of happy moments--from our church having a service at a local camp, followed by baptisms in the river and a meal together, to a reunion here in our home last evening of most of the group who traveled to Nazareth this past July with Jeff (and an overnight stay of two of the team members from Pennsylvania).
Smack dab in the middle of it all, however, was the most terrifying moment of my life.
Josiah almost drowned.
I can hardly write about it. The events and emotions are still so vivid in my mind, and the processing of it and coming to grips with it is only partially done. For now, all I can say is that it involved the pool at the campground, a couple of girls that we trusted to take care of him who got distracted after a while, a lifeguard who apparently wasn't paying attention, miraculous timing of God bringing me to the fence of the pool and alerting me to Josiah's situation, and Jeff jumping in the pool to rescue him. For memory's sake, I want to fill in the details later, but I can't write more about it now.
I can't write...but I can think. And all day yesterday after the incident, and all night during my broken sleep, and all day today...any moment that isn't filled with something else demanding my attention becomes an instant replay of seeing him in the water. My thoughts go crazy, and I have to very consciously work at reeling them back to reality and the awareness of God's presence and power. The fear and pain are inexpressibly deep.
Last night, as Jeff and I lay in bed and talked (and talked and talked) about this and many other things, he reminded me of a verse from the story of the Prodigal Son. In Luke 15:24, the father says, "This son of mine was dead and is alive again." That's exactly how we feel: not that Josiah was literally dead, but so easily could have been.
I will never stop thanking God for giving us our son again. Never...never...
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16 comments:
Oh, thank God for saving him, how terrifying this must have been for you! I feel absolutely terrified just THINKING about it--my heart literally started pounding as soon as I read what had nearly occurred.
I am so, so, so, so glad that he is okay.
Wow. How incredibly scary. But how good God is. I'm thanking God with you.
Wow... Praise God that he's ok!
I'm so thankful that Josiah is okay--Praise God!
Take Care
Michelle
I am sweating (like I'm having a panic attack just thinking about that) after reading about your child. PRAISE THE LORD! Like you site. Thanks for visiting mine, I love M is for Mommy
Oh wow...I am so sorry you had to go through that but praise God your son is OK. I can't imagine the fear you must feel...thank God that He is in control.
Carrie
Yikes! Moments like those sure must be terrifying. Praise he Lord hat Josiah is safe!
Oh Davene. It must be the heart of a mother...because as I read your "half" description of it, I could feel my own heart seize up.
I'm so thankful that you have a husband who obviously is letting you cry (I read between the lines of your "and talked and talked") and process it.
May God, in his infinite creativity, bring you a deeper peace than you ever thought possible.
I love you. and am soooooo thankful that yesterday's end included tucking that little boy safely in bed.
Davene--my heart sank when I read about Josiah — it gave me chills. I'm so glad you were at the fence when you were.
I will pray for you to be able to sleep tonight. I bet you keep checking on that sweet little boy of yours. All. The. Time. And hugging him.
~hugs~ I will call you soon. Much love!
Oh, Davene, that was terrible, but had a blessed ending. I can start crying just to think of the possibility of one of our children dying. I cannot imagine the anguish of an actual near-death of one of your own children. I am sorry this happened. Praise the Lord he is well now!
Oh my. Oh my. Oh my.
I will thank God for for saving Josiah, too.
Hi Davene, God is good and best instructor we can ever have. We had a similar experience with Aidan in the pool. It really shook Shabrail and I to the core...and exposed to us how precious each second of life with our children are. For me, this is the hardest area of trusting God for me. We just started with a new homeschool group (classical conversations) down here, and the Durham group had a kick-off a few weeks ago. A 19-yr old boy jumps into the lake to catch a frisbee, hits his head and about week later he is with the Lord. God is just as good, just harder for us to deal with. (as my eyes tear up) Heaven is home.
Hug and kiss them!!!!
Love & miss you guys, Kip
Hello Davene,
As a mother and as a friend, my deepest heart goes out to you! Like Kip mentioned, we too had a similar experience and there's really no words to truly explain what goes on in the heart and mind of a parent when you see your child in the water. At this moment, it brings tears to my eyes to think of Aidan in that way and it happened almost a year ago. Our God is an Awesome God! It was not Aidan's or Josiah's time. Praise God that we get to spend more time with our children. The memories that you will make with Josiah will be all the more precious. I'm sure that you will treasure each and every one!
Please give Jeff and the kids a big hug from me. I Love and Miss you all!!
Love,
Shabrail
I have chills.
I am so thankful that the Lord
protected you son!
Just reading this gave me such a flood of emotions... We've had a scare just like that with our son William, and I tell you, the thoughts are relentless... I am so thankful that Josiah is ok! God is wonderful!!
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