Thursday, December 30, 2010

A Little Perspective

As we teased and argued during a lively game of Apples 2 Apples on Christmas night, my son periodically grabbed his abdomen and complained that his stomach hurt.

"So does everyone else's, Charlie," I told him, slightly irritated that he thought his pain from overeating was any more special than anyone else's.

He woke my husband, Bret, and me at 8 the next morning to tell us he had vomited several times during the night. I grabbed my copy of the Boston Children’s Hospital’s All New Child Health Encyclopedia while my husband pulled up WebMD. In less than a minute, we'd both reached the same conclusion: appendicitis.


The ER agreed with us, and Charlie had surgery a few hours later.


I'm thankful his appendix hadn't ruptured. I'm thankful he wasn't five hours away at college. I'm thankful he has three weeks to recuperate before he returns from school. I'm thankful we live five minutes from a terrific hospital.


This crisis, though relatively small, was enough to give us a little perspective on the holiday. Christmas is about Jesus's birth and giving gifts to commemorate that. But I never mind when a little extra thanksgiving gets thrown in.


I hope you have gained perspective as well--perhaps even without the crisis. What has God shown you this Christmas season?

4 comments:

Kathryn Frazier said...

Thank God that everything turned out OK. A little perspective is a good thing.

Mandie said...

I am glad you got him to the hospital on time. My daughter had the same thing happen 3 years ago in December. Hers had started to leak and she was out of school for a month. When I see her scars I can't help but be thankful she is still with us. God is good for sure. Jesus is the real reason for the season. And we are truly blessed!

fer said...

Great that in the end he was ok. It was very lucky it happen on those circumstances

Maryjane-The Beehive Cottage said...

Oh my heavens! Glad all is well now! Happy New Year! Count your blessings!