A month or so ago my oldest (she's 6.5) got a stomach bug. It was pretty tough on her. And the after effects lasted a week. This morning, the effects reared their ugly little heads in her and brought me back to my little kid years. This morning, my strong, confident girl had a bit of a stomach ache. That bit turned into tears as we approached school. The anxiety of going through the horribleness of that stomach bug again multiplied that little tummy ache into a gigantic monster of fear growing in her belly.
So what did I do? I took her home. Yes, I pay good money for my daughter to go to her school. I love and adore her teacher. I don't want her to miss a single thing at school. But I took her home because she was me. Anxiety and fears lived rampant in my little heart as a child. Probably stemming from my shyness. These anxieties showed themselves as stomach problems often through my elementary years. To the point where my parents took me took the doctors for tests and x-rays and such. I remember drinking chalky drinks and awful medicines. It was awful (and followed me up into my high school and college years - for many years I relied on Di-gel to cure all my stomach ailments).
So rather than force the issue with my little girl, I took her home. I fed her a couple cooked eggs (comfort food after sickness) and her very conscientious Daddy had a gentle little talk with her through her tears. Half an hour later, we hopped in the truck and drove back to school to have a belated start to a great Friday at school.
Today's gift of survival: Because of all that I went through as a child, I'm hoping that I can help my daughter avoid or at least learn how to cope with her fears. I wouldn't say that we ran away from her fears today. But we listened to them and gave them validity. I'm sure there are some who would disagree with how I handled this morning, but I can tell you this: my little girl walked into school confident and feeling good rather than nervous and sick to her stomach. And you know what? I feel okay with that decision.
There's a verse in the Bible that tells us that God is not going to give us more than we can handle here on this crazy, sometimes scary planet we live on. I think the best part is knowing that whatever it is that life throws at us, no matter how hard it is thrown at us, we don't have to handle it by ourselves. We have a heavenly Father standing right next to us with a catcher's mitt. He'll help us catch it instead of letting it hit us smack in the face (another fear as a kid playing catcher... another story).
So how, exactly, does He do that? Well, in my toughest of times, I have found myself immersed in His word. And our conversations are much more frequent. Almost constant. Even little prayers here while I'm driving and there when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes, in the evening, through my toughest trials I would step outside, stare at the stars and cry. He saw me, He knew what I was asking for, and I didn't have to say a word. And on the back side of things, my relationship with my Father has grown because we have spent so much time together walking and talking.
It has been said that wisdom is gained when you walk through the trials of this life. It's no wonder because of the amount of time spent with the Lord. So be careful when you ask for wisdom because often times you've got to walk through trials to gain it. But I guarantee that it'll be worth it on the backside.
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