Life Out of Darkness
Beatrice, 1st Congregation
Beatrice
We stopped everything we were doing—mid-sentence—and our faces turned from smiles to horror. All I could see was my three-year-old’s red Lightning McQueen swimsuit on his still body at the bottom of the pool. Guilt-stricken, shocked, panicking, and helpless, I stood there carrying my one-year-old son as I watched the scene unfold.
We were having a nice afternoon pool play-date at our friends, Alex and Keri Mitchell’s home. While having our lunch break, Keri suddenly interrupted our light-hearted conversation with, “Joshua is at the bottom of the pool!” Everything seemed to move slow-motion the moment I heard those words. Alex and my husband, Stephen, jumped into the pool. Alex got to Joshua first and pulled him out. Stephen started CPR on our son immediately. I wish I had as clear of a mind as all the others seemed to have, but I was like a deer in the headlights. I froze. I was carrying my one-year-old son, Jonas, when Keri shouted, “Call the ambulance!” I ran to my stroller, ran to my bag, but I just couldn’t remember where my phone was. I finally found it deep in my bag, but Keri had already grabbed hers and dialled “995.” She stayed on the line next to Stephen the entire time until paramedics arrived, occasionally shouting, “He has a pulse!”
So there I stood. Jonas was in my arms, while my five-year-old daughter, Joy, stood next to me crying and asking, “What’s wrong with Joshua?” I wanted to be touching Joshua, I wanted him to know I was there, but I did not want my other kids to be in such close proximity to the traumatic scene. Tears fell down my face. I reached for my phone and the first person I thought of calling was my mom.
“Hello?”
My voice trembled as I said, “Mom?”
“What’s wrong?!!?”
“Joshua drowned! I think he died!” I shouted dramatically into the phone. I feared the worse, and that was the first thing my poor mom heard. There was a slight pause, and a calm voice on the other end of the phone said, “Beatrice, stay calm. I’m going to pray right now.”
When we hung up, I reached my hands out towards the pool and started shouting out my prayer. I prayed for Joshua to be revived and for God’s will to be done. I blurted out whatever was on my mind at that moment. I could not stand being so far away from Joshua, and I decided to walk over with my one-year-old in my arm — my daughter, Joy, following close by — stood right next to Stephen and Joshua and shouted, “I’m right here son. Mommy is here! I love you!” I said it over and over in hopes that he could hear me.
About 6 minutes later, the ambulance came. The paramedics loaded Joshua onto the ambulance. He was still pretty limp when I saw him in a distance, and I had no idea what the outcome would be. Stephen went with him while I went up with the Mitchell’s to their place with my other two kids. It felt surreal. I had my phone close by waiting for a text message from Stephen with hopeful news. It only took a few short minutes when I heard the alert on my phone. I looked at it nervously, and it said, “Joshua is crying! Praise the Lord!” My son was breathing again, on his own! Alex, Keri, and I huddled together and praised the Lord.
Joshua was given an MRI, X-ray, and a blood test once he was admitted into the hospital. The MRI and X-ray showed no brain damage or broken bones. Unfortunately, the blood test results showed that he had some cell damage in his liver and kidneys due to the incident. The doctor told me that it should not get worse—it might get better, but she did not know how long it would take for them to heal. At that point, just knowing he was alive took away most of the concerns I had with that news. Joshua stayed in the hospital for two nights. He was very lethargic and coughing a lot due to his lungs dispelling the left-over water in them. Stephen had informed me that Joshua had an oxygen mask on during his first few hours to help him with oxygen intake, but he was having really good oxygen count by the time I got to the hospital. As we talked to Joshua and asked him questions, we were certain that Joshua’s brain had no negative impact from the drowning. We thanked the Lord once again.
The next day, Joshua was so much more alert compared to the previous night and we were hopeful he could be discharged. The doctors recommended one more night of observation to make sure he was getting in 100% of oxygen and to check on his liver and kidneys before discharge. By that night, oxygen was stable at 100% and the doctor returned with the second blood-test results. Stephen was at the hospital that night, and he received the good news that the results were all good. There was no indication of damage to his organs. The doctor said that Joshua was a very lucky boy. But we know better. We know that God healed our son. He used Stephen’s knowledge in CPR to save Joshua — definitely — but he also took away any possibility of brain damage and organ failure! What a miracle!
Our God is Omnipotent (All-Powerful), Omniscient (All-knowing), and Omnipresent (All-present). He not only gave our son breath again, He healed him completely with no residual effects from the drowning! We thank the Lord for his grace and his mercy to Joshua and to us.
As a mom, I always wished that I could be the perfect mom; that I could watch over my kids every second of their lives; protect them from anyone or anything; be kind, patient, and loving no matter what. No matter how hard I try, I find myself lacking. I get distracted, I get angry and impatient, I get selfish. I can’t do this mom-gig all on my own. I need God! God has shown me over and over that he is the only one who can watch over my kids 24/7. If not for him, I will fail.
As my mom reminded me that day, pray! I am still learning and remembering to do this daily, but I believe the most important thing we can do for our kids is to surrender their lives to God daily; To let go of all our fears and concerns to him because he can and will watch over them every step of their lives. We have to trust him entirely. Ultimately, God is the Heavenly Father, and we are just tools on this earth for his glory.