Turning on the "wee-wees"

Well, my daughter already knows what she wants to be when she grows up. An am-blue-yence driver. I keep telling her it's am-bu-lance but she likes her way of saying it better. Several weeks ago after church potluck we drove out to the main road and just to the right was a totaled car. "That's Rich and Eileen's car!" we recognized immediately. After a quick survey we saw them safely inside Janice and Byron's car being checked out by the paramedics. Ironically they were HIT by an ambulance driver. They were turning left into their mobile home park (just a mile from the church parking lot) and the ambulance driver behind them apparently looked down to turn his lights on while beginning to pass them on the left and T'd them just as they were turning. Reports say he must have been going at least 60 miles an hour. Thankfully they had guardian angels and they were driving a Subaru (well known for their safety) so after spending a night in the hospital, all they had were bruises and Rich needed some staples on top of his head.

We stayed there and watched the whole procedure. The kids absorbed everything. They stared intently while they strapped Rich onto the stretcher and slid him into the back of the ambulance vehicle (the one that hit them got the front right tire completely knocked off so it was on the side of the road.) Another one came to take care of things. They loved watching the tow truck driver lift the messed up car onto the back of his truck bed. They saw how Eileen had tubes in her nose to give her oxygen. All of this they took mental note of so they could act it out later. 

 I've told the kids time and time again that we put our seat belts on so that if we ever get into an accident, we would be more safe. We've driven by accidents before and we've said a prayer for those involved but this experience really left an impression upon them and now they are independently safety conscious.

They drew pictures for Rich and Eileen and we bought some flowers to take to them. It helped the kids see that it is our responsibility as Christians to find ways of providing comfort and support to people who have gone through something hard or discouraging. Orion was especially pleased with Eileen's response to his picture. He got some white paper and scribbled with a black marker. He gave it to her and said, "This is your car". Her face lit up and enthusiastically agreed, "This is EXACTLY what my car looks light! You are a fabulous artist! You drew it perfectly!" She held it to her chest as a type of souvenir of the experience. They really loved their car and had no idea what they were going to do without a vehicle. (So as it turned out, they had a friend who they had studied the Bible with off and on and he bought a $5,500 newer model Subaru with less mileage for them as a gift! The Lord provides, can I hear an amen?!)

This is the right side of the ambulance that hit them

So, for the last several weeks I've heard siren noises in our house as they rush to get to an accident so they can help people. They turn their "wee-wee's" on as they run around the house going "weee----weeee----weee----weeee" (sounding like sirens). As we drove into town one day Omega said to me "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to buy an ambulance." I tried to explain to her that she couldn't just buy it, she had to work for an ambulance company and go to EMT school. Her dream hasn't faded one bit and it's been more than a month later. The other day she said, "Mom, when I go to church I'm only going to bring my Bible and my water bottle because if someone calls and I have to leave quickly I don't want to take a long time gathering up all my stuff." I was pretty impressed with her forethought. She really wants to save lives!

The experience provided a great teaching moment regarding Sabbath observance too. As we stood there Orion judgmentally declared with a haughty voice intonation, "Mom, they are working on the Sabbath!" I gently reminded him that Jesus healed on the Sabbath and refreshed his memory with a Scripture song we had previously memorized "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day." It was neat to see the truth of that verse sink, his countenance softening as I asked, "If we had gotten into an accident today, wouldn't you want people to be available to help us?"

As Paul Tripp points out, we don't live life based on the bare facts, but upon our interpretation of those facts. It's neat to see their wheels turning and be able to help them interpret life through Scriptural lenses and to see them forming their own values and identity upon that platform.