July?

Wow. Where did July go? I had a goal of blogging 20 times this month...the days were just incredibly jam-packed. I'm trying to be intentional about not being on the computer in the evening hours when the kids are still awake. I don't like it when they always see my back hunched over the computer.

Well, let me at least write one thing about today. When Lily reached about 3 1/2 years, I felt I didn't need to be so hyper-vigilant about where she was every time she went outside. We live in a walled, secure compound. It was a relief that I could finally do something inside the house without having to go check on her every five minutes.

We have tried to make sure our compound is a safe place for young children. Sometimes this means just walking throughout the entire compound and trying to have the eyes and thoughts of a child in order to ascertain what may constitute danger.

Today something very unexpected happened. Lily had a friend over and they were playing under some bushes, perhaps jumping or dancing or stamping--and the ground collapsed below Lily. She nearly fell into an old septic tank. Thankfully some strong roots kept her from going down. This septic tank was completely off our radar screen. It never would have crossed our minds to look for potential danger here. I suppose with all the heavy rains we've been having, the ground above became very spongy.

A few years ago, a 4-year-old child of missionaries drown in his backyard while his parents and siblings were home. There was an old pit that had somehow filled with water. This was a tragic wake-up call for all of us. We checked our compound then--and now we've been reminded to do it again.