So, this afternoon, for the umpteenth time, Caleb went outside and we called him back in. A minute later (which was apparently too long), Rachel got him inside. All of a sudden, we are asking if the gas is on in the kitchen. Rachel said that it smells like gas outside. We realized, no, Caleb smells like gasoline.

I bolted to Caleb, tore his little shirt off, ran him into the bathroom, turned on the tub, grabbed the organic shampoo and started rubbing it onto his face. At this time, I realize he is rubbing his eyes, so I keep his hands away from his eyes and wash them too. I had Amanda call 911, because I didn’t know if we needed to do something besides flush his eyes. Frankly, I wasn’t sure I should put water into his eyes. I think my children stood there in disbelief, because I really was not sure what to do beyond washing the gasoline off of him.

Rinse. That’s what the 911 operator said to do. Flush water into his eyes, and she was sending an ambulance. And, I needed to do it until the ambulance arrived. Caleb was really ok as I did it. I had already asked him if his eyes burned. He said no. I asked if there was something in his eyes; he said no. I asked if he drank it or if his mouth burned. No. This was all good, and I kept flushing his eyes and drying his face and hair every so often. I seriously had no time to think about what happened up until this time. I could only worry about rinsing his eyes, praying that his eyes would be ok, thinking about the worst.

As I stood there, rinsing his eyes out for 15 minutes, I thought about how there was not a thing I could do but what I was doing. I truly understood that there is an end to my capability as a mother and protector of my little guy. It was my end, but, it didn’t end there. I knew in that instant, also, that he truly was in God’s hands. That our children are truly His, and there is nothing more than that. At the moment all my children had a look of dread and wondering if Caleb’s eyesight would be affected, I knew it did not matter what I did, that God was the true caretaker, not me. I was just physically helping in my own limited way, but God was there to heal and save him.

I had flushed his eyes for the 15m before the EMTs got here. The EMT’s finally arrived. Two ambulances. Not sure why. Four people (they were all exceptionally nice) coming into the bathroom, looking at Caleb. They asked what had happened. From what I had gathered, from what was on his shirt, and the fact he was rubbing his eyes (and the fact that the gas can was laying down in the yard), Caleb had picked up the gas can and it spilled on his shirt. I am sure, *if* it splashed into his eyes, it was more what was on his hands that he rubbed into his eyes than anything else. Maybe the fumes had gotten into his eyes from what was on his shirt, and then he rubbed his eyes. They wanted him to identify a favorite toy from a distance, which he doesn’t, which he doesn’t really have. Outside. That’s his favorite toy. I finally got him to tell me that Isaac’s shirt was red and had a ball on it.

They said he looked good. His eyes were not red. He saw colors correctly and identified objects. The outside of his left eye was red from rubbing. He had a Dr. appointment – influenza check-up that afternoon, but they wanted me to take him to the ER, which was fine. Everything went well at the hospital. The first thing Matt said to Caleb when we got to a room was, “Do you like being here?”. Of course, the answer was no to that and all the similar questions. So, he let Caleb know that this was where we go when he disobeys and is hurt. : )) I hope the Lord will instill that into his little 2 year-old heart.

The Dr. put drops in his eyes and also something that illuminated it under a fluorescent light. She was looking for chemical burns. Matt and I were in the ER with him when she put the liquid and coloring into his eyes. He was crying, and we had to restrain him while she shined the fluorescent light into his eyes. Within five seconds, the fluorescent liquid was leaking out of his nose. It was quite the realization of how the sinuses are all so closely intertwined. The ER doctor said that, surprisingly, gasoline isn’t very caustic and didn’t expect any burns – which there weren’t, Praise GOD! So, thank God he is fine. We are believing that his eyes will continue to be healthy.

As I said before, we are so very thankful to be a part of the Body of Christ and to have friends like you all who prayed when we emailed!
((((HUGS)))

Oh, and LucyLillie took four real steps yesterday! : ))

blessings~