Double Elbow Fractures!

Wet bicycle tires. Cycling with dogs on a leash. Oncoming car. Moment of panic. Squeezes front brakes by mistake.... Lifa went flying. Poor Lifa took a big, hard hit yesterday when he flew over his bicycle handlebars and fractured BOTH elbows. 

We spent the day with doctors and radiologists while Benjamin “helped” Chris work.  We celebrated when the orthopedic surgeon told us it was a “stable injury”, and he should have a full and quick recovery. Yippee! For now, we’ve got a double sling setup, and a bed made out of camping pads under his loft bed. 

Lifa had a VERY hard night last night, and my heart broke when he told me about it. I hate the pain he’s in, and, even more than that, the fear, panic and anxiety he felt from the accident. It’s hard to see our kids suffer. We calculated how many nights he’s been alive while we waited for x-rays and decided that last night was probably his all-time worst so far. 

But Lifa suffered in our house last night, and I’m asking God to let good come out of it. 

He’s in a funky stage of life. He’s a pre-teen that is the size of a full-grown man. He’s got emotions he doesn’t know how to identify and all kinds of body things going on. Like all kids his age, he’s trying to figure out who he is and who he’s going to be. Unlike most kids his age, he’s got a lot more family, culture, and experiences to filter through - a lot of unasked and unanswered questions. I think we all wrestle through a season of trying to find our fit in our own family, and some will have to wrestle harder than others. 

Lifa was so sad and in such shock today. Face mask to face mask, in our short, baby-free drive to the hospital, I got to pour out compassion, empathy and all the mama love I have for him. I got to spend money for his good. I got to tell him how happy I was to help him. Chris was unbelievable. He cleaned up an entire room full of vomit (super, super bad night guys), cared for Benjamin while I was away, fitted Lifa into his slings, and completely reorganized his room so we could make a bed for him on the floor. I folded his laundry, got him a drink with a straw, made his meals, and made up a super comfy bed for him. Before we go to bed tonight, we will all pray over him and tell him how thankful we are that we get to take care of him. 

Broken bodies are bad. But I think God can use them to fuse families and heal hearts, even when they don’t know they need it. I am so excited to lavish Lifa with care for the next few days until the pain subsides. And then I’m very sure I will be so excited when he can get back to helping me with chores and the baby!