Sunday 27 December 2015

In A Fraction Of A Second...

Life can change, in a fraction of a second.
Your whole world can turn upside down, in a fraction of a second.
You and yours and those who hold you dear are never the same again, in a fraction of a second.
This point was brought home to us last month after our personal harrowing, horrifying experience when the river burst its bank just as we were passing by. One minute we were safely ensconced in our  luxurious car, the next minute we were wading through thigh high rising water, fraught with known and unknown dangers. But we were very thankful to God to have escaped safely with life and limb intact. It did NOT matter that the car had to be written off.
The last two days have again brought home the point of just how precious human life is. I never log on to Face Book until after dinner, when I have finished just about every task for the day. I wish people, see and 'like' a few photos and updates and log off in ten minutes. Even if I have written my blog earlier in the day, I share it directly onto Face Book without actually going there. On 25th December, I was about to go down and join my husband for our evening walk when I suddenly had the inexplicable urge to log onto Face Book right then. I followed my instincts and the first update I saw was from my son's school friend's mother who said her second youngest daughter, just eight years old, had had a bad fall in the house and was in hospital in a critical state. She was asking people to pray for her daughter. She needed surgery for a clot in the brain and was not stable enough to be operated on. I knew then why I had urgently felt the need to check Face Book and I began praying then and there...
They stay two minutes driving distance from our house. My son spent last Saturday there and his friend was to come and spend a day in this coming week with us. His mother and I had planned this when we met during the Christmas concert in school exactly two weeks before this tragic accident. The little girl was sitting in the row right in front of me, swaying happily to the music.
They are American and Christians and she teaches in the children's school. The accident happened late in the afternoon on their big day of celebration. One minute the child was playing happily, the next minute she had fallen and had to be rushed to hospital. Life changes in a fraction of a second...
I took my son to their house the next day to see if we could help in any way at all, besides praying hard and mobilising the KenIndian Mothers group from our school to pray. My son's friend was up a tree in their compound, reading a book, the oldest daughter, a ninth grader was taking care of the youngest sister who is just three years old. The parents, of course, were in hospital with their injured baby who had finally had surgery that morning. By the grace of God, Kenya's top neurosurgeon was in Nairobi and had not left town, as is the norm for long weekends here. The kids were calm and collected. The oldest daughter was the epitome of graciousness when I brought them some dinner later in the evening. It was the least I could do and I did not even expect or want a thank you. They had had a terrible twenty four hours that one would not wish on one's worst enemy, their sibling's life was hanging by a thread and they still exhibited impeccable manners. Their parents must be very proud of these wonderful kids. I certainly was...
We are praying that the brain stem shows some activity. People are praying the world over for God's Grace and that this little second grader survives. May God give her family the strength to face whatever He has planned for them in the coming days. May my son be there for his friend in this hour of their need.
I request you all to pray for them, please. It is the only thing we can all do. Life can change for any of us, in just a fraction of a second...


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