Sunday, July 20, 2008

100 Days of Thankfulness #10/ Beach Day

I know this is a very long post...but I could not talk about the beach without mentioning why I am thankful. It could have turned out so very bad!!


We spent yesterday at Carlyle Lake. It is as close to a beach as you can get stuck in the middle of this great country. The day was planned by our Sunday School teachers. They have a boat and invited our class and their families to go tubing and skiing, and for a BBQ. We had a good time. The Man, TA, and AJ all went tubing. The boys were so excited and loved every minute of it.

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Sweet Pea and I played it conservative and stayed in the boat. The Man rode the tube by himself. He had a blast..and eventually fell off. I would have loved to have video, or pictures of his wipeout...but I was too busy hanging on to Sweet Pea and the boat and fearing for my life. The Man did a great job holding on. The driver had to do lots of close turns and high speeds to get the man loose. Oh how I wish I had a third hand to hold onto the camera...

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Then we played in the sand and in the water...

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The we walked to the dam....a very long walk...in the hot sun. The results were sunburns all around. It was a neat view though. The waters at the dam were churning and you could see fish jumping out of the water. I tried to take some pictures, but I am not sure if I was quick enough.

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Then back to the beach... Overall it was a great day ....with a few scary moments...

Even though the day was fun and we had a great time, there were a few circumstances that....if they would have turned out differently would have made yesterday the worse day of my life. The fact that didn't is what I am most thankful for. The fact that God in his mercy chose to watch over my children and place our attention where it was most needed at very specific times amazes me. He spared me and my family from the hardest road we would ever have to walk. I am more than eternally grateful.

1. We lost AJ for a period of 10 min. or so. He went to find his shoes so we could walk along the dam. We chose not to go with him since we were halfway up the hill. We watched him walk down to the picnic site, then over to the playground. In all this he still did not have his shoes. Then he was gone. We looked, tried to follow with our eyes the path he would have taken. I walked down to the picnic area. No sign of him (I did find his shoes..imagine that). I walked over to the playground...nope not there...motioned to the Man that I had no clue. A few minutes later he shows up by us. He says he couldn't find us or the shoes so he went to the car. He thought that was we would have to take the car to get to the walk. I will admit that when he showed up, I was not in panic mode.....but I was getting close. I am so thankful that it was only ten minutes. My heart goes out to those parents that haven't seen their children for much longer than that...for a multitude of reasons.


2. After the walk, we were beat, but, of course, the kids were not. They were more than ready for more fun in the sun. So The Man took the big kids and K and A and I stayed up under the shade with E and Sweet Pea. Soon A went to talk with the man and E and Sweet Pea followed. So A and the man were about four feet from the water watching the 5 kids and K and I were about 12 feet away watching too...just from the shade. Sue came by and we were talking about the men down watching the children and how we were staying in the shade. About that time, we realized that Sweet Pea was out in the water about chest deep with out her life jacket. At this time K was about 6 feet in front of me heading to the water and as we were watching the little ripple waves would come in and take Sweet Pea just a tad bit farther into the water. Soon it was too her chin, then it was covering her mouth. K is running to the water shouting for some one to get her. I was running behind her shouting for one of the kids that where close to her. By the time K pulled her out of the water it was at least an inch over her head. Sweet Pea grabbed on to K and held on for dear life. K passed her to me and she did the same. I just stood there and held my baby. Even now, I could cry just thinking about it. I came very close to losing one of my own. If we had not been looking that way at that precise time, she would have been lost, and we never would have found her. That water is dark, she would not have known how to keep bouncing up for air. I am so very thankful!!

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I have spent a day thinking about this on and off. What really amazes me is that she didn't breathe in any of that water. I don't know how long she was under there...I don't know how many times she was able to get above the water line while the water was at her face, but she didn't cough or sputter or gasp for air. The water was over her head when she was pulled out. Did God send his angels to plug her nose and mouth? Did she just instinctively know not to breathe? I don't know. I am just in awe of the mercy that was shown to me yesterday. I am so blessed!

1 comment:

Leighann said...

wow I don't know what to say... very scary but God is good and amazing... I am glad your kids are both alright

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