Winzig und Groß zur gleichen Zeit

Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to spend most of the day with our friends the Hübners. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand box in their back yard while we grilled and ate. Then they played most of the afternoon in one of the largest parks in Vienna (the largest I have ever seen). At some point during our day outside Carli got something in her eye. She didn't realize it until after Kim had put her to bed and she woke up with her eye hurting. Her eye continued to hurt throughout the next few days, but only off and on and without any redness. We could see nothing in the eye and thought whatever it was would simply go away with a few eye drops. When on Friday she came out of school with a wet paper towel against her eye, we thought she probably needed to go to the doctor.

Once we finally made it in to see the doctor (2 hours after signing in at the emergency room desk in the hospital), the eye doctor discovered "ein winziges Stück Eisen" (i.e., a tiny piece of steel/metal), which we could only see through a microscope. After numbing her eye and removing the piece of metal (after Carli eventually realized that the doctor was NOT going to give her a shot in her eye), he had to drill around the area where the metal was to remove the rust. With some ointment in her eye and a rather large patch, the doctor sent her home. Carli and I have had to return the last two mornings for the doctor to check the healing, and tomorrow she gets to take the patch off and should be completely healed.

During the two plus hours Carli and I spent in the waiting room, we noticed that many people were hurting much more than Carli was. I explained to her that we were having to wait longer because there were many people who had more serious problems that needed to be seen ahead of her. Carli had brought her backpack with a coloring book and crayons to pass the time. As she noticed the many people hurting more than her, her compassion motivated her to color pictures for a few of those hurting there. Those who received pictures were very grateful and may have had the first reason to smile that day.

Sometimes the opportunities God presents to impact the lives of those around us come at the most unexpected times and often require to look pass our own "needs".