A sunny summer day in Orem, Utah ca. 1986. One minute she was just sitting on her front porch all innocent and smiles. The next minute she became a victim! But a victim of what? Her environment? The tendency she had to laugh out loud when her friends were around? Her open mouth? The answer was "all of the above"! No sooner had she opened her mouth than she was invaded by a Kamikaze fly!! The little beast flew straight into her mouth, hit the back of her throat and was gone as she gasped, "aack!" Her big blue eyes grew round and startled, they welled up with tears (as her eyes tended to do) and she cried for her mother/protector to help her.
Enter mother/protector...now, I ask you...what is a mother supposed to do when her child exclaims, "I swallowed a fly!" ?
Of course she wants to fix it, to make her little girl smile again, but short of reaching down said child's throat and pulling the insect out with her bare hand what else can be done? Syrup of ipecac? Too violent. E.R. stomach pump? Too dramatic and expensive. (What a laugh that would give the staff!) Do you other mother/protectors talk to yourselves in situations like this? "Stay calm. Reassure her that she won't die...it's just a little protein! Yes, I know we say flies are germ infested, dirty little bugs but...but..."
Fast forward to spring 2001, American Fork, Utah. Phone rings...(different blue-eyed blonde daughter is calling) Mother/protector exclaims, "You swallowed WHAT?!".In the E.R. the young, cute doctor enters the room, looks at his pretty 17 year-old patient, and laughs!
"Sorry, it's just that usually when I read on the chart "swallowed a pin" I assume it will be a 3 year-old on the other side of the door". (Thanks a lot, Doc.) She explains she was in sewing class, holding a pin in her mouth, listening to another student tell a funny story, "I just opened my mouth to laugh and it got sucked in! It hit the back of my throat and was gone...aack!" $50.00 later mother and daughter leave the E.R. having been told not to worry, "It will pass!".
What is all of this about? Well, I have not slept well lately and the other night when I actually did fall asleep I had a dream which brought to my memory these two incidents. I thought about them for the next two hours and wondered why I had dreamed them. Finally a few thoughts became clear. First of all, mother/protectors are certainly called upon to deal with strange situations anytime, night or day! Next, I tried to draw similarities between the two "aack!" invasions of my girls' mouths. Not to get too deep, but think about all of the sin & temptation that is around us. If we give it just a little bit of an opening...aack! In one case a daughter was blindsided with the attack. In the other, she put the danger just on the outskirts of herself and in it went. Either way, once it's in there it's not coming out anytime soon unless we take drastic measures. Weird, I know! Just a thought...from a woman who hasn't slept much lately!
Enter mother/protector...now, I ask you...what is a mother supposed to do when her child exclaims, "I swallowed a fly!" ?
Of course she wants to fix it, to make her little girl smile again, but short of reaching down said child's throat and pulling the insect out with her bare hand what else can be done? Syrup of ipecac? Too violent. E.R. stomach pump? Too dramatic and expensive. (What a laugh that would give the staff!) Do you other mother/protectors talk to yourselves in situations like this? "Stay calm. Reassure her that she won't die...it's just a little protein! Yes, I know we say flies are germ infested, dirty little bugs but...but..."
Fast forward to spring 2001, American Fork, Utah. Phone rings...(different blue-eyed blonde daughter is calling) Mother/protector exclaims, "You swallowed WHAT?!".In the E.R. the young, cute doctor enters the room, looks at his pretty 17 year-old patient, and laughs!
"Sorry, it's just that usually when I read on the chart "swallowed a pin" I assume it will be a 3 year-old on the other side of the door". (Thanks a lot, Doc.) She explains she was in sewing class, holding a pin in her mouth, listening to another student tell a funny story, "I just opened my mouth to laugh and it got sucked in! It hit the back of my throat and was gone...aack!" $50.00 later mother and daughter leave the E.R. having been told not to worry, "It will pass!".
What is all of this about? Well, I have not slept well lately and the other night when I actually did fall asleep I had a dream which brought to my memory these two incidents. I thought about them for the next two hours and wondered why I had dreamed them. Finally a few thoughts became clear. First of all, mother/protectors are certainly called upon to deal with strange situations anytime, night or day! Next, I tried to draw similarities between the two "aack!" invasions of my girls' mouths. Not to get too deep, but think about all of the sin & temptation that is around us. If we give it just a little bit of an opening...aack! In one case a daughter was blindsided with the attack. In the other, she put the danger just on the outskirts of herself and in it went. Either way, once it's in there it's not coming out anytime soon unless we take drastic measures. Weird, I know! Just a thought...from a woman who hasn't slept much lately!
...I dOn'T knOw wHY ShE sWAllOweD thAt fLY...!
2 comments:
That's a good metaphor! I'll have to remember it. :)
Wow that was really deep and a very good metaphor there. What an inspiring little metaphor and thought. Thanks for sharing!
JoLynn
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