Jacob - putting a little scare into our life.

I think about life a lot these days. Ri and Elizabeth remind me of how we take life for granted and all that we have for granted. Today, I ponder my chilrens lives and then sit in awe that God would allow us to raise them and would give them breath every moment. I was reminded, for a brief moment, what it might be like without one of my children. I didnt like it at all!

Well, for those of you who know us, we never do anything normally. Jacob just needed to remind us of that fact. Today, he added to our memories. I have shared with you that he has been in a great deal of pain. This morning, not much changed. He was still pretty miserable, so he and I stayed in the hotel while the others went for a walk. Mark is simply amazing, and so are the 3 older kids. They took Ri and Elizabeth. The walk was 4 hours long! When they got back, Mark had Jacob take a warm bath to try to help him feel a little better. Then he thought that going for a walk would do him some good. The two of them left for there walk. A few minutes later Emily heard Mark screaming for me. I ran to the door and found Mark walking very fast down the hall with Jacob on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Mark pointed to him and said that he passed out.

My first thought was "we're in China... what do we do now?". Just as Mark started to tell me, Jacob started moving and saying something. By the time he got into our room and laid on our bed, his eyes were somewhat focused. Still... what do we do? You realize how truly alone you are when your son has just passed out in a country in which you can't speak the language and you can't find your guides name or number! You also realize that God is the only one who can help. I started cooling him off and we stood by his side until he was completely back with us. We desparately wanted to check his heart rate, but had no idea how to. I remembered that one of our "neighbors" was some kind of a doctor. I knocked on his door (before realizing the do not disturb light was on) and discovered he was a physicians assistant. He came to the conclusion that Jacob passed out because of the heat and as a result of his small pinpoint hole in his heart. By the time my heart had slowed down, I had already thought it might have been because of the warm bath.

Rewind a little bit, back to Jacob passing out. Evidently, they had gotten to the lobby (we are on the 5th floor). Jacob got out of the elevator and started walking, but then said he felt light headed. Mark headed him back to the elevator because he was beginning to look like he was swaying. In the elevator, he passed out. All the way up to the 5th floor and down 2 hallways before he woke up. (Boy is Mark strong!!). We had debated all day about whether to get Jacob seen by someone here. We found out that there is a clinic at the White Swan. After Jacob passed out, he took an hour nap. We woke him up so we could decide whether to take himthere or not. I told Sam and he said that if we didn't, he would pay for it. What a great brother! The kids were very concerned.

So... Mark, Jacob and I headed to the White Swan. All the way, Jacob seeemed a little out of it. But by the time we gotthere, he was doing better. We got to the clinic and a wonderful older Chinese doctor opened the door. 40 RMB ($6.00) later, we discovered that he passed out because his blood pressure was so low (105/54)and we had medicine to help with his other problems. We were so very thankful to have gone. As of now, our son looks like a new boy. We are pumping fluids in him to help with the low blood pressure.

As always, please continue to pray for him.