Did you know that when the doctor prescribes a liquid steroid for your child to take, it comes in a form that is evidently the most awful tasting stuff in the world? We discovered this recently when my son (not quite four) was put on a round to help him get over a cough he'd developed from allergies. The first time we tried to give him a dose, he took a sip, wrinkled his nose, shoved it back at me, and said, "No! I don't want any more of that." Well, that wasn't going to fly because he had to take 8 ounces twice a day for ten days. And he'd barely drunk one or two. I tried bribery. I tried tricking him. I tried reasoning (although I don't know why). Finally, we simply had to hold him down and force the liquid down his throat for the first few times of taking it.
Well, he did not go quietly, let me tell you. He's a strong little bugger, and he put every bit of his strength into fending us off for as long as he possibly could, screaming and yelling and crying and shouting and kicking and wiggling. His older sister, who is super compassionate when she sees someone else upset for any reason, was bawling by this point. Which was not helpful at all, because it was taking both my husband and me to work with the boy. Finally, I heard through her brother's shouts what my daughter was asking. "Are you killing him?" Let me tell you straight up that my husband and I never do anything to hurt our children. Sure, we discipline, but we'd never leave them alone somewhere or get violent enough to truly harm them. So, I'm not sure why that was the conclusion she'd jumped to except for the GIGANTIC fit her brother was throwing. I assured her as soon as I could that we would never do anything to them that would cause them to die. We were giving him medicine to try and help him get better. Once she understood what was actually going on, she remembered that she did trust us and that we only wanted the best for them. It was that simple. She went from being upset and terrified to being fine and scolding her brother to take his medicine so he'd get better. Trust. Why can't we trust as easily? I'm not talking about other people, although we probably need to trust those more, too. I'm talking about God. He assures us over and over and over again that He can be trusted. He showers us with blessings upon blessings. But when the slightest thing goes wrong, doubt settles in once more to make us wonder, "Is He trying to kill me?" No. He's not. I need to remember to be more like my children. To trust easily and well. And to love fiercely so that I, too, get upset when someone else is having a hard time, so I can love them like God wants me to. How about you? Do you forget to trust?
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This is a place for me to share thoughts and ideas not just related to writing. Thoughts about what's going on in my life, about an idea I got that I thought shareworthy, or just a funny anecdote.
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