The Frailty of Life

Last night, there was an accident at my house. A couple of Americans arrived to spend the week here - one is a mechanic and the other is a doctor. The doctor was on the roof, taking in the beauty of the mountains all lit up at night. As he want to get down from the roof, he slipped and fell about 10 feet. Nothing like this has ever happened while I've been at Ninos and it was scary for me. The only staff at home were Lee, Ruthie, and myself. I felt pretty powerless. Finally, an ambulance was called and the paramedics were able to take him to a private clinic. X-rays were done and he broke his hip in 2 places. Because the clinic didn't have the necessary technology to perform surgery, he was transported by ambulance to the best hospital in Mexico City. This morning, he had hip surgery.
To be honest, this whole thing has me a little shaken up. It made me realize how fragile human life is. How at any second, something can happen that will dramatically change our plans. This doctor came here to spend the week serving and only 2 hours after arriving, was being put into an ambulance. What if it were someone close to me - a family member or a friend? What if it were me? We make our plans, but at any time, those plans can be deterred. Thankfully, we have a God who works everything according to His purpose. I trust that even in this unfortunate accident, God has a bigger plan. My thoughts and emotions are still running a little wild today. Our lives really are just a mist. We need to use the time we have well, because we never know when things will change. It is a blessing to have a healthy body and we should take full advantage of it. How great will it be when we are all in heaven and there is no more pain or suffering? When we have perfect bodies that don't break?
In my 23 years of life, I have really experienced little 'tragedy.' And I am so thankful for that! But, when things like this happen, I realize how much I need to work on my response to 'tragedy' or scary situations. When the accident happened, I was on the phone with our Ninos doctor, on the phone with our director, being asked to fill out paperwork for the ambulance, being asked questions by the paramedics, being asked to translate, trying to address the kids' concerns, and feeling completely useless and overwhelmed at the same time. It is so easy to overreact in the moment and just plain freak out, but it's incredibly important to stay calm and able to think rationally, despite what else is going on. In these kinds of circumstances, I need to learn how to better trust that God is in control and that He will give me strength when I feel weak.