In the blink of an eye.
A tiny steel ball that is just half an inch in diameter.
A five-year-old. A moment.
That was all it took for a nearly fatal disaster to occur.
In the blink of an eye, things can change.
I strongly believe that this tiny steel ball was meant to be a wake up call.
The memory of the event haunts me even now, weeks later.
Gasping, choking, screaming, crying.
Sticking his fingers down his throat.
Most importantly, his tiny body instinctively knows to try to expel the foreign object.
I hear the commotion, but I am entrenched in a school-girl conversation with my daughter. Someone on the playground has stolen an imaginary egg and “it’s not fair.” All at once, my son bursts through the door and says, “We need your help.”
Consequently, this is the moment I grasp the gravity of that tiny steel ball.
Is he breathing? Yes. He continues to scream. Therefore, I know his airway is not blocked.
We give him water and he passes three goldfish. Down they go.
The x-ray reveals the glistening, glossy globe in my child’s abdomen. That is to say, he will be fine. This too shall. Literally, it actually WILL pass.
As I pull into my garage, I reflect. To clarify, I allow myself a moment to process what just happened. This could have ended so much differently.
Life can change in the blink of an eye. When he swallowed that steel ball, all of the sudden NOTHING else mattered. Not work, obligations, emails, politics. As a result, this really got me thinking. It’s time to slow down. It’s time to snuggle, to listen, to breathe, and savor. Friends, there are many things that tug at our time. Things that demand to take our attention away from our children and family. So, I walked away having learned an important lesson. Those obligations and stressors are not the things that matter in the blink of an eye. To clarify, they are NOT the good stuff. The good stuff is the soul-filling, joyful, beautiful parts of life that fill us and give us purpose.
What gives you life? A friendly reminder, lean towards that.
