Have you ever dropped a piece of bread with Peanut butter on it? The other day I did. It slipped right out of my hands and all I could do was watch it fall. As it spun in the air all I could do was hope it would land peanut butter side up! You know what happens when it lands peanut butter side down; theres peanut butter everywhere, the breads no good, you just gotta throw it away and start all over. And then there's the Mess!!!
Peanut butter all over the floor, or worse, the Carpet!!!
Well as luck would have it, the bread landed Peanut Butter Side Up! Phew!! Pick it up, (5 second rule) and enjoy!
As I thought about it, I realized life can kind of be alot like my slice of bread covered in peanut butter. Sometimes things happen and we land flat on our Peanut Butter! Its a mess and all we can do is clean up the mess and start over. Then there are other times when we are blessed and its so obvious that some unseen angel (or many unseen angels in my case) intervened and turned that slice of life upside down just so you could pick it up and keep moving forward.
And then there are those times when you just have to decide for yourself whether it was a Peanut Butter Side Up day, or if you're gonna wallow and call it down! Sometimes its just a matter of Perspective!!!I had one of those days this week. While eating lunch on Wednesday, my phone rang. There was this strange muffled voice on the other end telling me he needed my help. I realized it was my husband but it sounded nothing like him. He explained to me that he had been removing a beam from a wall and it came out of the wall and smacked him right in the nose. He said it hit him so hard it knocked him to his knees, and he nearly passed out. Then his nose turned into a fountain of blood. He was in the emergency room waiting for the swelling to go down so they could get an X-ray. He asked me to come to town and help clean up the home where he was working before they came home and found blood all over their home and no contractor. I called my oldest son (Stephen) and told him to go to the hospital and get the truck and head over to the home and start cleaning up, and I would meet him there. My 2nd boy (Ben) offered to go and let me stay home but I decided to come anyhow and packed up the two youngest and we all went in. We got to the house to find blood trails through the house, in the sink, and on the doorknobs. My boys started cleaning up the drywall and worksite mess and I tore into the blood. Just in time for my girlfriend to return home, she walks up the sidewalk as I'm cleaning her door knobs and asks: "Are you cleaning my house?" My answer: "Yes, but not because I love you!" Now I love her and wish I could have just given her a clean house because she's a great friend, but my husband had just bled all over her house, and I didn't want her to have to clean that up. My boys cleaned up the work site and continued to work.
Stephen went to the hospital and picked up Milo. Now I know why I couldn't recognize his voice, cause his face was so swollen he was barely recognizable.
We worked for a while and I stayed and visited with my Friend. Milo and the big boys decided to call it a day and went home while I hung around town waiting for Rebekah to be done dance, and Michael to be finished at basketball practise. After a while the phone rang, it was for me. It was Milo explaining there had been a grease fire in our kitchen, they had gotten it out but Ben had been burned and they were now headed into town to take Ben to emergency. Milo said it wasn't too bad and any damage could be sanded and painted. Stephen would remain at home to make sure that there were no hot spots left in the kitchen.
I told him to be careful because it seemed we were seriously jinxed and we did not need any more accidents. Like Seriously, wrap yourself in bubble wrap and Drive slow!!
I went and picked up the others and headed to Emergency. AGAIN!!! I walk in and the Doctor looks at me (hair not finished because I'd had a shower and not had time to get my hair done before emergency trip #1!) and says: "Rough Day?" Ya Think???
I walk in and find my Benny with cold cloths on his legs and right arm. Poor guy!
I got to stay with the burn victim and Milo took the rest home to start cleaning the house.
As we walked to the car he asked me: "Why are you so Calm?" Hmmm... I don't know. The only reason I could find was that I had just spent the afternoon with my girlfriend who is so relaxed and calm you can't help but relax as well. Who needs Valium when you have Rachelle!
Plus, I had the easy job; I got to sit in the ER and make jokes while he had to clean the house.
I sat with Ben as they tried to clean him up and bandage him. It wasn't pretty. He was in alot of pain and he was shaking from the adrenaline coursing through his veins. But he still joked through the pain, and relief came when they coated him in Flamazine and gauze bandages.
Bens limbs, Pre flamazine and bandages
Finally it came time to go home and face my fears. I walked in the house to Milo and Stephen working hard. The stove was gone, Range hood gone, and the cupboards above also gone. The wainscotting had been removed revealing a charred wall. Ceiling was a lovely shade of Black fading to grey throughout the kitchen. Honestly, it wasn't quite how Milo had described it on the phone. He seriously downplayed the "Damage can be sanded and painted" part. I realized it had been so much more than he described.
After I heard the story of what had happened I had the realization of how blessed I really was.
Really, It was not good. Our house came within minutes from burning down.
When the fire happened, Ben came in the room and called dad and Stephen. Milo yelled: "Grab Water!" not realizing it was the pot of grease. Stephen yelled: "No, Its Grease!" they looked for something to put out the fire, Milo ran opening up all the doors and windows and Ben sprang into action. He grabbed the first thing he could (Amelias PJs) and grabbed the flaming pot. Then he took it to the patio doors, not realizing they were open he backed up and bumped into the wall. Milo guided him out the door and as he walked outside the grease splashed up onto his hand and arms and he dropped the pot splashing oil all over his bare legs! The hair on his arm had been burned black, his nostrils and face were streaked and burned from the flames and he had blisters all over.
So far, to some, it sounds like all peanut butter side down, but there are so many miracles strewn along the way I had to stop and take the time to say a prayer of sincere gratitude.
First of all, Milos accident could have been much worse. He was taking down walls. When I showed up to see the mess, every 2 X 4 had a series of nails sticking out of them. No nail hit him! With the force that the board hit him, had there have been a nail near where it hit his face, he would have had to have a nail and a board removed from his skull.
And the fire... Well, the boys thought they had turned the burner off. Stephen and Milo were in the basement and Ben went into the office on the main floor to watch a movie. As Ben sat watching the movie he heard a bang, which would have been the lightbulb on the range hood exploding. He just thought at first it was the cat, or something getting knocked off. But then a thought came to him to go check what happened. He kept watching his movie. The thought persisted. He listened and acted, very quickly! How grateful I am for that still small voice that influences us all if we choose to listen. Had Ben been downstairs he wouldn't have heard the noise and the main floor would have burned. The smoke detector had been moved and didn't sense the smoke until Ben had grabbed the pot and was almost outside. It would have been too late to alert the guys in the basement.
I had almost sent the two little ones home with Milo and the boys. Little Amelia loves to toddle around everywhere, and had she had been home she could have been caught in that horrible mess and could have been hurt badly!
As it stood, only Ben received burns, which may scar, but will heal! I have a home needing some repair but the stove is already replaced and we can fix the rest. It really wasn't as tragic as it could have been. I have all my pictures, my home, and all my family!! What could have been a tragedy made my family stronger. We all admire Ben for his ability to keep his wits about him while carrying a large pot of flaming oil. His ability to be stronger than the pain and to think of his home and family first. Stephen stayed home and sacrificed his basketball game to help his family. I saw good boys with good hearts willing to sacrifice and work for their family. I felt so blessed!! When I went to bed that night all I could do was offer a prayer of gratitude for the care that my family was given.
I scrubbed walls the next day, and in my busy-ness didn't have time to cook. So I made myself a piece of toast with Peanut Butter on it. Baby came up to me and grabbed my legs and my toast slipped out of my hands and began to spiral through the air ~ Landing on the floor ~ Peanut Butter Side Up!! My epiphany came!!
I asked Ben what he thought about the day before, had it landed Peanut Butter Side Up, or down?
His initial thought was definitely down, but after examining the blessings he agreed it had definitely landed
Peanut Butter Side Up!
Sometimes it's all about Perspective!!
