Reminded

Today I was reminded of why we're here.

The children and I went with our friends, the Welches, to visit some of the sick children at the hospital on Wednesday. We hadn't been in quite a while. But Jason had shared about one boy in particular that was weighing heavily on his heart. The 12-year-old son of a local family had climbed quite high in a tree and fallen. He sustained a C4/C5 fracture of his spine and was completely paralyzed. He was able to see and comprehend his surroundings, but he could not even breathe on his own. For several days, his family had sat and stood by his bedside "bagging" him - squeezing the ambu bag to give him oxygen since we have no ventilators for the wards. Jason agonized that they would be faced with the decision of how long to allow him to stay in the hospital like that - completely dependent yet able to think clearly and understand.

We went. We greeted. We smiled and asked a few questions. Nathan climbed up on a stool so he could see him high in the bed. We gave the boy a little toy that could sit by him. We prayed. We left. We wished there was something more we could do.

Jason is off this weekend, but this morning we heard that the little boy died yesterday. No one had a precise reason. It was during the night. Perhaps retained secretions, perhaps the one bagging him fell asleep, perhaps it was simply grace...

Today at lunch Jason shared with Nathan that we were sad. The little boy we had prayed for so earnestly, that God would heal him, had died. Tears immediately welled up in Nathan's eyes. He laid his forehead to the edge of the table. Why? Jason held him in his arms. We talked.

We don't know why. We can only see dimly. But we know that God loves that little one just as He loves us, and we know that is what we are to be about every day, no matter what, no matter where we are. We are glad that our children can wrestle even now with such tough questions. We know that God is working for our good. I was reminded.