When It Rains, It POURS...And I Don't Mean Just The Wet Stuff!

Although the week began with pouring rain, thunderstorms and tornadoes swirling around us, it was only a precursor to the storm that was to come.  I suppose that Ryan's broken tooth incident was only the beginning to what would prove to be a very eventful Monday around our house.

Monday is generally my "catch-up day".  I clean, do laundry and basically piddle around the house most of the day.  This Monday, however, would start with a BANG.  Not being able to sleep well, I woke up around 2 am and headed for the couch.  Stopping off in the kitchen for something to drink, I noticed that I had several text messages on my phone from Caitlin; this couldn't be good.  It appeared that after her plane had landed in D.C., she began to feel ill.  I thought that perhaps it was the rough weather and subsequent bad landing she had just experienced; apparently not.  By 8 o'clock, it was clear the she was very sick with some sort of stomach virus and had to be taken to the emergency room...in Washington, D.C....by herself!  THIS was not something that set well with me.  I am her mother and I could not get to her to take care of her.  They started her on IV fluids and the texting and calling began (this was before Ash Wednesday...I was still texting then).  As the day wore on, the doctors believed that perhaps her problem could be her appendix; this REALLY worried me.  I had David call and speak to her doctor there and it was decided that she should have a CAT SCAN to determine if indeed her appendix was the problem.  Between saying my prayers, I called Robby.  He immediately began looking for flights out, knowing that I would be hopping on the next plane out if her test results came back indicating that she needed an appendectomy; I felt helpless.  I didn't like this long distance between us and her illness seemed to make it more intense.  After hours of praying,waiting and 5 bags of IV fluid, we found that it was not her appendix.  Praise God!  I was still not there, but I was definitely relieved that Caitlin did not have to have surgery.  Sending her home, the doctor instructed her to stay in bed for an additional day to recuperate.

Barely recovering from Caitlin's eventful day, I received a very frightening phone call from Ryan.  Being off from school for the Mardi Gras holiday, he had decided to get all of his "To Do List" done on Monday.  He had driven to Shreveport to meet with someone and then on to Marshall, Texas to meet with some other people.  Around 6 pm, he was on his way home.  When I spoke to him, I told him to call again when he got close to home and I would have him pick up dinner for us.  When he called back, he said, "I won't be home any time soon."  I thought that perhaps he had, had a flat tire.  Instead, what he told me had me taken aback.  He was driving his small 2-seater car, when an 18 wheeler threw off a tire tread, which flew back and hit his car.  The car began to skid off of the interstate and directly toward a steel light pole.  He related to me that at that point he closed his eyes because he thought that he would not be walking away from the accident alive.  Seconds later, he found that the car had missed the pole and was still moving; heading toward a wooded area.  Quickly pulling his emergency brake, he was able to stop the car...and walk away without a scratch.  My hear dropped to my feet when I heard this news.  A wrecker had to be called and friends came to wait with him while Robby made his way to the scene of the accident to pick Ryan up; he was 2 hours away from me. 

This had not been a good start to a new week.  But as I thought more about my day, I actually became very thankful.  When I awake each day, I ask God to cover my family with His protection and to send our guardian angels to watch over each of us as well.  All the while I had been anxious and worried, God had protected and taken care of us.  I wasn't sure how individuals who did not believe in God survived, for His grace is always sufficient.  He provides for us and cares for us although we do nothing to deserve it.  As the day came to a close, I thanked God for protecting my loved ones...and determined that I would continue to begin each day with my "Prayer of Protection" because some days "When It Rains, It Pours...And I Don't Mean Just The Wet Stuff!"