eyes are important

we've had another injury in our house. it isn't life-threatening or terribly painful, but my is it an opportunity for us to all grow in patience. the kids have been playing a lot in leaves and the wooded part of our yard...mountain lion dens i think. graham woke up with a very red eye and we wondered if it was conjunctivitis or something. a closer look by my handy er doc revealed something on the cornea. adam called a friend and took him to the weekend eye clinic at work. it turns out there is an ulcer on the cornea, meaning something deeply scratched his eye without him even realizing it. apparently the cornea can get badly infected and the eye can be threatened because it does not benefit from the body's immune system like the rest of us. we are so grateful that the stick or branch missed the visual axis, so as long as we can keep infection at bay, graham should not lose vision. the treatment? two sets of drops every hour, ten minutes apart and daily visits to the eye doctor. this is a simple treatment, except for the nighttime ones. owen has been sick and coughing himself awake a lot too, so tiredness is just our new normal (isn't that parenthood?). adam just started an elective, so he is able to help more, but he will have to head to work at some point. and our Christmas travel plans may have to be cancelled if it is not much improved. we have promised not to be irritable with each other, to allow God to use the little inconveniences of life to work on our hearts. i'm reminded of something i heard kathy keller say about a time in her life when she was limited by illness...something about how God is glorified by the little responses of our hearts to suffering small and great. pray with us that our hearts would be teachable. i wonder why my most patient child is given this little trial, but i do not know how God will use it in his life one day.

owen likes the shades g has been wearing, as the meds make him super light-sensitive