“No! That didn’t just happen. How?” Was the self-talk I heard from my son as he cut his fingernails in the bathroom.
I quickly got up to see what was happening and I saw him looking in the mirror at his eye as he held a nail clipper.
“Hunter, what happened?”
“I was cutting my nails and a piece of my nail shot up and landed in my eye. Now I can’t get it out.”
Sure enough, there it was.
It was sitting in between his eye and the bottom lid. Everytime I would hold his bottom lid down, the nail clipping would scoot farther under his eye. He was beginning to cry from the pain of it scratching his eye. He no longer let me near it.
Unsure of what to do next, I called the nurse’s line at our clinic. She asked me the proverbial questions and then wanted to know the reason for my call. She listened and told me to immediately hang up the phone and go to the emergency room. I asked her what the urgency was, trying to understand the situation. She said because the nail is jagged, it could puncture the eye. It had to be taken out before that happened.
I thanked her for her time, hung up the phone, and walked quickly to another room where my husband and I could discuss our next steps. We agreed I would take him and that we would not share the full scale of why we were going to the ER to keep Hunter calm.
I held Hunter’s hand and said the two of us would be driving to the Children’s Hospital so that a doctor could take a look at his eye.
He began to cry.
I asked him what he was thinking and he told me he was scared of what might happen to his eye.
I told him that Jesus sees this situation and is here with us right now. I reminded him that prayer is a way to talk to God to let him know what is happening in our hearts.
By having a conversation with Jesus, we can hear His heart and get His perspective.
I suggested that he ask Jesus any questions he has. He agreed and we began praying. I asked Hunter to tell me what he heard in his head from Jesus.
Hunter prayed and asked, “Jesus, what do you want me to know about this situation?” (This is one of the first questions I teach my kids to ask Jesus when they are unsure of what is happening around them.) Soon Hunter responded, “He said that I am not alone and I do not need to be afraid.”
“Hunter, if you want to, you can ask Him why you do not need to be afraid. He sees the outcome because He is outside of time.”
“He said that the doctor will get it out and my eye will be fine.”
Hunter squeezed my hand tighter and began to cry.
ON OUR WAY TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM
He didn’t let go of my hand all the way to the hospital. It was really sweet. My heart was breaking for him as I watched him sit there patiently as we navigated the roads and the emergency drop off together.
We were not the only ones in the ER that day. At least 4 or 5 other families were waiting to be seen who arrived before us. They took his vitals, checked him in and asked us to take a seat. Ten minutes later we were ushered into a room. In less than a minute, an ER doctor came into the room with an emergency eye kit in hand.
The doctor was in high spirits, which eased the tension level in the room DRAMATICALLY. He asked Hunter what happened and took a look.
A big smile on his face and asked me if I had a camera on hand. He told us we would want to take a picture after he gets the clipping out of his eye.
Hunter and I were both very confused. The doctor could see that on our faces. He proceeded to tell us that the liquid he will need to put in his eye to check for scratching after he gets the nail out will make his eye glow green. It would light up like a Christmas tree and we would want a picture of it. It did!
At that moment I was so thankful that we went to Children’s Hospital where they know how to work with kids of all ages AND their parents. This was just what Hunter and I needed.
TAKING CARE OF HIS EYE
After the doctor numbed his lower eyelid, he was able to slowly take the nail out with a Q-tip. Then gently put the liquid in to make the eye illuminate where it was scratched. The doctor turned off the lights, turned on the black light and, YUP, it lit up like a Christmas tree.
In the picture you can see two green boomerang shaped lines on his eye. That is where the nail scratched his eye.
He prescribed some drops to ward off infection and we were out of there in 40 minutes.
ON THE WAY HOME
In the car, Hunter texted those pictures to his grandparents, dad, sisters and friends to show them what had just happened to him. He was smiling and happy to be going home.
As we talked about the events of the night, I brought up the conversation he had with Jesus before we left for the emergency room. We talked about what Jesus told him when he asked Him what He wanted Hunter to know about the situation.
He remembered Jesus told him that He is with him, he does not have to be afraid, the doctor would get the nail clipping out and his eye would be okay.
I told him that this is a testimony of God’s faithfulness and love towards him. He did hear the voice of the Lord. What he heard is in line with God’s character because it brought peace and not fear. (1 John 4:18) Now Hunter has a testimony to trust for future times when the Lord wants to tell him things about his future because the Lord can and will do it again. (Rev 19:10)
We also talked about how important it is to thank God for all He has done and will continue to do in our lives.
Then Hunter all on his own began praying and thanking Jesus for being with him and for the testimony he has from that night. It was a very sweet moment. (See this post on how Jesus taught Hunter about being thankful to the Lord)
CONNECT
Have you prayed and asked Jesus what He wants you to know about a situation you are in? Did He share something with you that helped carry you through it? What did He tell you? I would love to hear about it.
Let’s keep the conversation going. You can write about it in the comments below or reach out and connect on my contact page.
Prayer is all about connecting to the Father. Sometimes asking a simple question can get the conversation going. Don’t be afraid to ask. He is ALWAYS speaking to you. I mean, His name is the “Word.” (John 1:1)
Powerful and emotional story of God’s faithfulness! Thank you for sharing Hunter’s journey and your queries on how to interact to keep him calm.