What A Day.....

The other day while at work , I wasn't really concentrating and distracted in many ways. I guess, when you are tired or when you have something on your mind, you tend to be less attentive and less sensitive to the surroundings around you. In all honesty, I wasn't alert nor sharp as I would like to be on that particular day and that's dangerous in my line of work. In many ways, it didn't help me one bit as I went to a massive fire site that day.  I knew I had many things to do that day but I somehow doesn't seemed to know my bearings that morning. In fact,  for the first time after months of spiritual drought, I actually stopped everything I did on my desk and just say a little prayer before I started my work again. Somehow, I was pretty uncomfortable on the inside of me  but I managed to get my preliminary work done before I headed out to the work site.

It was a pretty insane massive work site. The suffocating fumes, the massive debris and precariously hanging metal claddings and beams were a daunting site for any sane man. The first thing that came to my mind was, " Gosh! SLing is going to have a tough time cleaning my pants today! Poor SLing! ". So, I went into my work site and I was actually overwhelmed by the massive site I had to work on. A job is a job - irrespective whether I like it or not, right?  Immediately I sought a prayer that the Good One above would grant me the strength, wisdom and protection as I worked along the ruins of the worksite amidst the dangling wires, claddings and burnt items. That day, I had completely forgotten to bring along my standardised safety gears which included my gloves, safety helmet, mask and a host of smaller items like pincers, short blades, LED flashlight  and other items. Somehow, I had taken these items out from the back trunk of the car the other day and I had forgotten to put them back in. So, I had to improvised which was actually nothing. Armed with a pen, a  notebook, camera , a cloth , a surgical mask I found from the front compartment and a bottle of water, I started work at the site. The floor was easily covered with fallen ceiling and concrete slab debris, broken glasses, lubricant oil, nails, screws of all sizes and shapes plus the intoxicating fumes. My shoes and pants were soaked with lubricant oil debris as I walked in the first section on my work site. Each time, it was the same as I went on to the next section of work. I continued working but I really struggled a lot from the fumes which were filling up my nostril each time I moved from one place to another. It was very strong fumes and I had to get out once in a while to get fresh air. It was simply choking my breathing but I soon got used to it.

I worked on for about an hour and a half until the arrival of another colleague of mine. I had informed him of the hazards at this place and also, the sections he would work on. The good part was that he had all his safety gears on and that was good. With all the protective gears, a 2" cap screw punctured through his safety shoes but luckily, it missed his foot. It was good to have another partner at site and a welcomed relief too. At least, if anything were to happen to me, I could shout out for help. I doubt I could have made a noise or even my cries will be heard if I am working alone at the site. Anyway, for hours, we poured out buckets of sweats in the sweltering heat but interestingly, there was a strong gush of wind that morning which continued to the afternoons. That was dangerous, as far as I was concerned, as the strong winds rocked forth the pieces of loosened wall claddings and both my colleague and I had to be very careful and see where we are constantly. Thinking nothing of it, my colleague and I worked on as we keep reminding ourselves to be careful. At one walled area where we worked together after my camera battery was exhausted, my right palm was punctured by a small piece of glass as I carelessly leveraged my hand to climb over a wall. My palm started to bleed a little. I prayed hard it would stop amidst the dirty surroundings and I applied pressure on the wound. I then cleaned up the wound with the use of the clean side of my pants. Thank God, the bleeding stopped and I was really really glad. My colleague thought I was crazy to do such thing and I think, he is right but I have to do what I need to do to stop the bleeding first. Once the bleeding stopped I could do first aid as I go to my car later on.   

As we neared our end of work after about 5hours at site, we exited near the front section. Suddenly, there was a strong gush of wind and one portion of the metal wall cladding ( about 5-6 pieces stuck together  )  come off the rail support and started to fall on me. It was as though in slow-mo that I could see the metal wall cladding raining down on me. Honestly, I had no time escape or maneuver out of it whatsoever. I just stood there in terror and put my left arm up to protect myself. All the while I was thinking, " Lord, don't let my face be scarred!" Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa... No!No! That wasn't what I said really. What I said was ," O Lord! O Lord! O Lord! ". Then I just mustered my strength and just push the metal claddings away and I really felt as though I was pushing a pile of leaves away. YES! I could have sworn to you that the metal claddings were as light as leaves from the tree. They just propelled off just as I raised my left hand to push them away. Then I heard it crashed to the ground with a big crash sound. My colleague immediately asked me if I was okay and I confirmed that I was okay. In every corner of my heart, I thanked the Lord above for keeping me safe. I believe with all my heart that  God had cushioned that impact and preserved my life on that day. I give all glory to Him for keeping me safe and well. I was relieved and really happy to be unhurt. I know deep in my heart, the Lord had kept me safe from harm and saved this wretched life of mine. That night during the bilingual service in church, I just kept giving thanks to the Lord and thankful that He had preserved me from harm. I am so glad to have Him as my Protector and my Guide.

I am just glad to have my body in one piece. Sure am glad that I have my guardian angel keeping watch over me - in good days and in trying days. Thank you, Lord!