Broken

A first for us last Sunday... Nate broke his arm! He was on the playground at Awana and fell off the top. Mark & I were at home and got the phone call no one wants to get! But we were so thankful he was in good hands while we rushed to get him!

After a looooooong night in the emergency room (actually 2 emergency rooms as we were told to leave and go to the pediatric ER at another hospital) and a few days of pain/discomfort, we are now in the new normal of having a one-handed child!

He has done really well with it all although gets a little frustrated and forgetful at his new limitations. Every time I have told him that he won't be able to play on the playground, he looks at me incredulously like, "What? Why not?". Today he told me, "Guess what, Mom? My arm is all better now." I said that was great and he said, "So we can take this cast off now!" Oh, poor baby, if only it worked that way. We are looking at 6-8 weeks in the cast and then a brace afterwards.

In the end of a not fun situation, there is so much to be thankful for.

1. The break, although bad and full, was not on the growth plates and will heal easily.

2. It's not his leg! As cumbersome as a broken arm is, I can't imagine dealing with a leg.

3. It will heal. At the ER, they put him under to set his arm back in place and it was so awful seeing him with oxygen in his nose and an IV in his arm. But you know what, it was temporary. We left the ER and will have a healed boy in no time. I couldn't help but think of the families in that building that wouldn't have it so easy.

4. It happened in a public place. In this day and age, it's nice there were witnesses to his accident. Sad to even have to consider that.

5. At the church where it happened, there happened to be a pediatric nurse in the lobby who helped wrap his arm. Also, the care of his teachers was above and beyond.

6. Wonderful support and care since. Nate has gotten care packages, cards with stickers and lots of lovin' from friends and family. (I think it has made Lucy wish she broke her arm!)

7. The time of year. Summer is over so he won't miss out on swimming and winter is yet to come so we won't have to worry about fitting a big, heavy coat on.

I could go on...in the end, it was just another life situation where we experienced God's faithfulness, care, provision and mercy. And besides a few alterations to his Halloween costume, life will go on as usual and we can certainly count our many blessings!