I had just put Josh down for a nap in the middle of our double bed. He was several months old by now, but because of his 2 heart surgeries, he was considerably behind developmentally. By now, most babies could flip over, but I’d not seen any sign of this from Josh yet. So, off I went to another part of the house, leaving him sleeping in the middle of the bed. Chip was in the living room reading.
It was not long, when I was indisposed, when I heard a soft thump, a short cry, then silence. It was the silence I found most terrifying. When on earth did this kid suddenly learn to turn over? And how did he manage to do it sufficient times to roll off a double bed? I yelled out for Chip to check on Josh, but I didn’t need to, as he had heard the thump and cry too and was already running to the bedroom. I hastily got myself together and ran in too, to find Chip holding our limp son, not breathing. Panic! What to do? He quickly handed me Joshua and ran for the phone to call 911, while I tried to get Joshua to breathe, desperately searching my brain for any memory from the First Aid course I had taken as a teen…nothing.
Chip was on the phone with a dispatcher who asked interminable annoying questions. Why can’t they just come?! Meanwhile, I was desperately asking God what to do. Immediately, a small voice in my head said, “Check his tongue”. So, I pried Joshua’s mouth open and sure enough, his tongue was blocking his airway. Just as Chip repeated the dispatcher’s question as to whether Joshua was breathing, I managed to grasp that slippery, wet tongue and tug it out. Immediately, Joshua gasped a deep breath and let loose the loudest, most wonderful wail I had ever heard from him before and after. I heard Chip’s relieved voice reply to the dispatcher “Well, I guess he is breathing now. I just heard him cry!” The dispatcher gave us instructions of things to watch for in case he had a concussion. But after careful inspection, nothing appeared to be hurt or wrong, not even a bump on the head. After the initial outraged cry, and a short comforting session, Josh was quickly back to his normal smiling, happy self.
I had been thinking how ironic and awful it would have been for Joshua to have survived 2 heart surgeries only to perish from a fall off the bed! (You know, new mother and all that). I was to continue to struggle with worry over not only Joshua’s health and safety from time to time, but all my children. Learning to trust God for their safety and protection from diseases and harm seemed to be a continuous struggle and area of growth for me. But as the years passed and God proved Himself faithful time after time (and my kids managed to survive childhood and actually become adults), I began to trust God more and more and worry less. It is not easy for a professional worrier to learn a new trade! But it is a lesson well worth learning.
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