Terror in the Park

Tonight, my wife had the women of our church over for a Bible study. So I took my three kids and met two of the other dads at Roger Williams Park. The park has a fairly large playground with lots of climbing equipment. Per my wife's suggestion, I put bright yellow shirts on my two boys so that they would be easy to spot. I kept my 11 month old daughter with me, but the boys, 2^1/2 and 4, just roamed the whole area with their friends. The two other fathers and I stood together most of the time, talking, all the while trying to keep one eye on the kids.

Well, about an hour and a half into our time at the playground, I realized that I had not seen my 2^1/2 year old in a few minutes. I looked around but could not spot his bright yellow shirt or his blond head. I got a little concerned but tried not to over-react. I strapped my daughter into the stroller and wheeled her down toward the playground entrance, where the play equipment I had last seen him on was. He was not there. The concern mounted, pushing up towards the panic line.

I wheeled the stroller back to where the other two dads were and hastily asked if they had seen my son. They had not. So I left the stroller in the care of one of the dads while the other dad and I went to look. I ran back towards the entrance and out of it, looking around, fearful thoughts of abduction pushing me to the brink of panic. These are the things that nightmares are made of for parents. I sent a quick prayer to God that my son would be safe. Not seeing him, I ran back into the playground, my mind racing. The only area I had not looked was the back corner, on the opposite side of one of the big climbing structures.

It was at that moment I saw the other dad waving to me, indicating to me that he had located my son, in the back corner. Relief swept over me and I said a prayer of thanks to God.

In the end, everything was all right. In fact, there was never anything wrong other than not being in sight of my son. But for a couple of minutes, I was terrified that something had happened to one of the people I cared for most in the world.

Thank you God for protecting my family so much better than I ever could.