end of the story.

 

Three days later, Chris took Charlie to our orthopedic specialist. (I say “our” because it’s the same office where I’ve been going for my broken wrist.) 

The first thing the doctor did was show Chris the final emergency room x-ray. He said that it wasn’t quite right. That it was adequate, but not optimal. They would take another x-ray right then, but Charlie may have to go back to the hospital, get a general anesthesia and have the bones reset. 

Chris told me what was going on and said let’s pray that this would not be the case. Charlie had become a little nervous wondering if they were going to put him to sleep again and Chris assured him that everything was going to be alright no matter what the outcome, but he said, “Let’s pray instead that God would put everything in the right place so that it won’t be necessary.” 

So he and Charlie did just that putting it in God’s hands. 

The doctor returned and said, “Everything looks okay.” Chris pressed him saying, “We don’t want to settle, we want the best possible outcome.” 

He looked at Chris and said, “If it were my son, I wouldn’t touch it.” Chris replied, “That’s what I wanted to hear.” 

Did the bones shift in the two days from the ER x-ray or did God shift them right then and there? Does it even matter? 

All we know and all Charlie knows is that God did a miracle with his arm. You can’t convince us otherwise. 

Maybe it was to build Chris’ faith or mine... Maybe Charlie, the boy who thinks that all the bad stuff only happens to him, needed to see that God was on his side. 

(The night before the orthopedic specialist visit, Charlie repeated the same words over and over, “God’s gonna have to do something miraculous.”)

Maybe the ortho doctor in the ER or the respiratory technician or the nurses or the medical student present needed to hear a prayer to God in the resetting of a boy’s arm... Maybe. 

By the way, Charlie was doing jumping jacks with his team the other day at football practice and making one-armed interceptions with his cast on. 

He was reprimanded and asked if he wanted to visit the ER again. But deep down, we’re just glad to see the irrepressible spirit of a vibrant young boy.