It's a Railey great life!: Every Rain Cloud Has a Silver Lining

It's funny how unfortunate things can happen in life, but God can help some aspect of it be a blessing. At some point on Friday, our sweet pea Savannah dislocated her right elbow. We aren't sure how it happened. We just noticed by Friday afternoon/evening she had stopped using her right arm. On Friday night, I just assumed that she had a booboo and we'd evaluate it the next day. Saturday, I kept her home from play school and happened to casually mention to a friend (who is a nurse) that Savannah had seemed to be favoring her arm. She encouraged us to go to the hopsital for an x-ray to make sure things were okay. So, Brent and I took her to the hospital on Saturday night and lo and behold, her elbow was dislocated. I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW BADLY I FELT! My poor baby went well over 24 hours with a dislocated elbow before we realized it!

I could write an entire post (or two or three) on what a doctor/hospital visit is like here in Saudi, but God totally provided for us on Saturday night. We were able to see the specific pediatrician we wanted and she is amazing! She personally took us to the orthopedist and stayed with us until Savannah's elbow was popped back into place (done without any pain killers, boo!). I was so thankful for her excellent care and interest in our Savy! Since the elbow was out of place for more than 24 hours they put a temporary cast on her entire arm to give the elbow rest and support.

I was concerned that the cast would drive her nuts, but she doesn't seem to mind it at all. It is heavy so she has a bit of a hard time moving it around, but other than that, she has handled it so well.

Tomorrow we go back to the doctor and are praying they will take off the cast and that it won't need to be braced again. We are set to leave for Thailand on Thursday and are hoping her arm will be free of the brace. More than anything, please join us in praying that her arm heals and is strengthened.

Now, did you notice the title of the post? Every rain cloud has a silver lining, and so does this one! We had an unexpected blessing arise from poor Savannah's injury. For the last two weeks we have been trying to encourage her to walk more. Our smart little stinker has figured out that she can crawl faster than she can walk at this point and generally prefers to do that. She has also had a few bad spills on the very hard tile floor and it has made her nervous. She's so funny though, because if you put her in a house/store with carpet she off and going. Anyway, with her arm out of commission, crawling is no longer a possible mode of locomotion! The first day in the cast she just kinda flopped around and did a lot of "knee walking." The second day, everything changed! She was off and going. Since then she's been walking all of the house, getting in her birthday chair from Pottery Barn Kids, and getting into everything! :) Tonight she even walked down our driveway, and past two other houses (a new personal distance record)! I am so proud of her! Never in a million years would I ever want her to have experienced this injury, but God has allowed it to be a time for developing a new skill as well! :) Thank you Lord for your silver linings!