Wednesday was the first day of "school" after a tremendous Christmas/summer holiday. It was hard to think of it, but we had a good book to start us back off with an interesting beginning.
You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice of men...our plans didn't work out. Proverbs 16:9 says, A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
First of all, Josh got sick during art class, while I was reading the first story of the new year. He stayed sick all day, and all my fine plans went out the window. Besides the usual interruptions, a lady came to get some DVD's to hand out to people. She was bursting with the news that she had seen a shark attack the day before in Fish Hoek, which is about 15 minutes from our house. The shark attacked in shallow water, at about 3:15 in the afternoon, a man who was just standing there. She said he was eaten in 2 bites, and it was horrible. This lady had a renewed vision for how any of us can lose our lives at any moment.
In the evening, Josh had now vomited 9 times. I was getting worried and went to Paul. He gathered the family for prayer, anointing with oil, confessing our sins, the works. From then on, Josh began to improve. He drank a little water and it stayed drunk. He asked for some grapes, and then went out on the porch where it was a little cooler, and fell asleep. I had to move him inside so the mosquitoes wouldn't get him, but otherwise he slept for about 12 hours.
So my school plans were something of a fizzle, but we were all very horrified and impressed by the shark attack. We were reminded of the urgency of spreading the gospel to people who are dying AND we were reminded of God's mercy to heal. Not a bad day of school after all, to learn two big life lessons.
