Helene Honduras

Helene Honduras
Northside Palm

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Caught by the Father

Just before our Bible study here at the clinic last Sunday, a neighbor girl came over to say they needed me to go up to the Northside to see about a boy that had fallen out of a tree onto a rotten stump, tearing open his leg. That was at least enough information for me to know that he had to come down to the clinic. I told her this, with the explanation that if I went up, it would only delay his treatment. A short time later I called a friend up there to make sure it was going to happen, and she said they were looking for a boat and driver to get him down to the clinic. He arrived a bit over an hour later, and his leg near his right knee was pretty torn open. It sure wasn't a clean cut; in fact I ended up pulling out about 25 pieces of rotten stump by the time I was through. It was deep, but thankfully no tendon was torn, and no major blood vessels lacerated. It took over an hour to clean it out good after numbing it up; even then I wasn't completely convinced everything was out. So rather than suture it up, I decided to pack it and dress it with a sterile dressing – which has meant that I must repeat this process daily by walking up to the Northside to his house. The first few days his calf was swollen and hot, but has since gone down and is no longer hot to touch. Praise God there has been no sign of infection, and every day the wound is smaller and cleaner! I am so grateful that he was not hurt any worse, and that the Lord was there to catch him when he fell! The story is that he asked his dad if he could go iguana hunting with a group of boys Sunday morning, and was told no, but to change his clothes and get to Children's church. He went around Dad, and asked Mom – who after getting tired of his whining, then believed the story that church was cancelled, so let him go. So you can imagine the rowing that ensued after his injury! Doesn't this sound like a story that could have happened in your neighborhood? Kids are kids the world over, even though the details may vary somewhat, the motivations and consequences remain the same. It's just another reminder that we are all so much the same no matter where we live in this world, or how we grew up, human beings are born in sin, and tend to gravitate to sin, yet the Father's hand is there over us all, just waiting to catch us and let us down safely into His hands. All we must do is trust in Him, and call upon His name!

1 comment:

Nanci said...

Poor kid...he was just doing what kids do...stretching the truth a bit. To say this was a sin sounds a bit harsh though; as many people do far worse things and never get caught!

His "punishment" will be that he must now really think about what his Dad had said, and realize his parents might know more than he gave them credit for. A wise lesson learned, and one that most kids learn sooner or later!