what i've learned from my kids: part 2

unfortunately, i can't seem to get my pictures to upload (and i have a lot of them). so this will just have to suffice for now.

10/16/06
This one I got from a movie. “Love Comes Softly.” Clark’s barn just burned down, and he said to Marty, “Everything’s going to be fine. I just keep praying for answers.” Marty replies, “Why do you think He’ll answer your prayers? … Did you pray for this? Did you pray for Ellen to be taken away from you? Did you pray that little Missy would grow up never knowing her real mother? I just don‘t understand why the God you pray to would let such unthinkable things happen to decent people.” Marty had recently lost her husband in a horse accident, and was still grieving over it. Clark then took her to “church,” which turned out to be a little wooden bench on a mountain top overlooking a beautiful river valley. It’s where he always went to talk to God.

He answered her questions: “Missy could fall down and hurt herself even if I’m walking right there beside her. But that doesn’t mean that I allowed it to happen. But she knows that with a father’s unconditional love, I’ll pick her up and I’ll carry her. I’ll try to heal her. I’ll cry when she cries. And I’ll rejoice when she is well. In all the moments of my life, God has been right there beside me. The truth of God’s love is not that he allows bad things to happen. It’s his promise that he’ll be there with us when they do.”

This reminds me of when I last took Sage to the doctor to get shots. I stood beside her, holding her hand while the nurse stabbed her legs in three different spots. At first Sage just startled, but after about 5 seconds the pain started to kick in. Her head whipped to the side as she turned to me, and she looked at me with that horrible “how-could-you-let-her-do-this-to-me?” look on her face, which gradually went from a horrified pout to an all out screaming cry. It made me cry to see my baby in pain. Not only was she physically hurt, but she was confused and probably scared because she didn’t understand what was happening or why I would allow it to happen. But I know, and she will eventually understand, that those shots are to protect her. Even though they hurt for a short time, they will prevent her from getting diseases that could cripple or even kill her later on. I know that getting vaccinated is the best thing for her, even though there is pain. After it was over I held her and tried to comfort her while the pain wore off. I even gave her Tylenol to help ease the pain later in the day. And I spoiled her a little bit that day because I knew it was a hard day for her and I wanted to help make it better.

There’s a lot of debate over God’s sovereign will vs. our free will, and there’s a lot of middle ground. I’m not trying to say whether God “allows” or “wills” bad things to happen, although I think sometimes He does (like Sage and her shots). I also think sometimes bad things that happen are the result of living in a broken world. The important thing is that God is right there to pick us up and carry us when we’re hurt. He cries when we cry. He’s always by our side, ready to help us and comfort us in our struggles and our pain. And maybe even give us something (like Tylenol) to help ease the pain and speed the recovery.