Tender mercies

This morning I woke up early, 6:00 a.m.. I had to let Carl out to go potty and make Trevor his lunch. I decided to stay awake instead of going back to bed like I normally would. So I made my bed, made the kids lunches, and got on the treadmill. All things I wait to do until 7:20 a.m. 

I'm on the treadmill getting a good run going and I hear crying and think "not again"...I figured the kids were fighting or that Carl was bugging them (he does that sometimes to the boys). I looked behind me and see a familiar sight on Stephens face. The same look he had when Joshua got a hanger stuck in his eye. I knew immediately that something was wrong. 

Josh comes to me and his finger's bleeding and Stephen is freaking.out.seriously scared. I look at Joshys finger and finally realize through the chaos that his finger got shut in the door. I grab him and stick him on the counter, get a wet towel and hold it on his finger. I thought it was okay at first glance but when I took a closer look, I saw that the finger at the base of the fingernail was cut all the way through, at least almost all the way through since his finger was still attached. I took on that weird, freaking-out-but-not-quite-freaking-out voice where I'm really loud but somewhat calm. I tell the kids that I have to take Josh to the hospital and that they need to go to the neighbors house. Stephen was still very upset so we said a prayer (I said it in that weird voice~ but my prayer was still heard and answered). 

This all happened before 7:20, my usual waking up time. I was able to already have the kids prepared for school and was able to just send them to the neighbors house. If this had happened while I was still sleeping, I can't even imagine how much more difficult the whole thing would have been. 

And that is my tender mercy. I had no real reason to be up but I was because the Lord knew that I would need that extra hour and twenty minutes to be prepared for that awful 30 minutes. My kids were able to go to school calm and peaceful because I was able to be calm and peaceful. 

The drive to the hospital took forever not only because it seemed like I hit every red light ( I ran one) but because I was trying to keep both me and Josh calm. There is only one through lane to the hospital off of Main St. and I was behind someone that was going so slow. I honked several times until he finally pulled over and I sped past him. 

We got right in, had some x-rays taken, and the Doctor came in to tell us that his finger was broken and that it was lacerated (obviously). So he got some stitches, some prescriptions and a finger brace that will have to stay on for a few weeks. He's goes back to the Dr. tomorrow to make sure that all is okay. 

But he was such a brave boy. He cried when he got his pain numbing shots and when he saw the Dr. stitching him up. He didn't like seeing the needle go through his fingernail and he really doesn't like knowing that he's going to lose his fingernail. But really can you blame him? 

I however didn't mind watching the Dr. do his work. It would have bothered me if Joshy was in pain but he wasn't so I could watch and not worry about it hurting him. 

I am just so happy that he is okay. (major understatement)

The hospital gave him a stuffed polar bear that Josh has named Paws. He drank two 20 ounce bottles of sprite today and has had some candy. And we've all given him a lot of attention. 

So if you ask him,  it's been a pretty good day....

But certainly not one we ever want to relive!