The First Of Many

I was in our bedroom getting ready for my night out with the girls.  Ryan was working on his computer in the living room.  Leo, I thought, was playing on the floor beside Ryan.  I heard Leo start to cough.  No big deal, he "fake coughs" all the time.  A couple seconds later I realized this wasn't his "fake cough."  This was the real deal & it was starting to sound a little desperate.  I decided to investigate.

I found Leo on our bathroom floor.  His cough had transformed into a gagging/choking sound.  I quickly picked him up and started patting him on the back, at this point my vitals were still under control.  As the seconds ticked by & Leo kept looking more & more distraught I realized that I might have to dust off my outdated and unused CPR skills.

This realization put me straight into panic mode. The slaps on the back were doing no good & Leo was still struggling with whatever was lodged in his throat.  In the back of my head, I knew he was still okay because he was breathing & coughing, but that didn't seem to ebb my rising alarm.  I was frantically asking Ryan what I should do, but we both knew there was nothing to be done at this point.  Leo was trying to handle the situation and we had to WAIT. IT. OUT!  One of three things was going to happen.  He was either going to stop breathing all together, swallow that stubborn object, or throw everything up.  I prayed that we wouldn't be faced with the first scenario & I wouldn't have to administer the child version of the Heimlich, which I've never had to do on a real child before!  I felt like everything was moving in slow motion.  Everything that is except my brain.  It was chugging along at about 100 thoughts per minutes it seemed!

As the seconds ticked by I realized how little control I have in this life.  I want to have all my ducks in a row, have everything planned out & and keep my family safe at all times; but in that moment, I realized that this is not reality.  In the real world, CRAZY things happen all the time, and that is why God has called me to TRUST!  I just needed to take a breath, release that anxiety and embrace God's hand in the situation.  And you know what happened when I finally let go of our impossible situation?  The thing that typically happens, God took care of the problem!

I've never been so happy to be covered in puke in all my life!  Our first scary situation of many, I'm sure!  My lesson was this, Leo is in God's hands.  He is only loaned to us for a season.  Then God will take him back.  How and when that happens I have no control over.  I just need to trust that God sees the Big Picture and knows what's best for our little family!

Are any of you wondering how Ryan would describe this event?  If so, here it is.

Something got lodged in Leo's throat.  We were scared.  He puked it up.  Jamy had to change outfits.  The End!  (And we wonder why we can't understand each other sometimes!!)