Tragedy Strikes

There are moments in life when you realize with absolute certainty that everything you've been worrying about is completely insignificant. I cannot believe that yesterday I mumbled and complained to myself about all the poop I have to clean up on a regular basis.

This morning a missionary couple from outside of Mbale (that I don't know) was in a serious car accident. The mother broke both legs. The father's arm had a deep wound, it was also broken. They both required emergency surgery. The awful news is that the mother was holding their two week old baby, who was killed instantly.

This tragedy hits really close to home for me. I haven't been able to think of anything else today. All I can do is selfishly thank the Lord every moment that it wasn't me. You see, Uganda has no car seat laws. I know that this is tough to imagine, but it's very easy to become lax about using car seats. It's quite nice to catch a ride home with a friend instead of walking. Or nurse your baby in the car instead of pulling over. We've quite enjoyed it. Of course we use our car seats most of the time, but not all of the time. That's going to be different now.

I can't imagine how this fact will torture that mother. How she will think, every day for the rest of her life, "if I had taken the time to buckle our baby in, he may have lived." It would be unimaginably painful to live with this knowledge! 

And to constantly think: "our baby would be ____ age today. They would be enjoying this or that activity." I am so sad. I am so thankful. I praise Jesus that I am given the chance to clean up some poop today. I praise him that I received smiles and baby kisses today. I praise him that I sang and danced and clapped with my children today. I praise him that we watched 'Winnie the Pooh' together today. I praise him that I was given another day to do the one thing I have always wanted to do: be a mom.

Please pray for this family.