Helplessness

God is not waiting to show us strong in his behalf, but himself strong in our behalf. That makes a lot of difference. He is not out to demonstrate what we can do but what he can do. VANCE HAVNER

My poor little peanut was stung by a bee today in the toe. Now you may be thinking- all children get stung at least once in their life- big deal. But for me today, this was a very big deal. Helplessness. This is the word that comes to mind to describe how I felt as my 4 year old cried in my arms. Everything that I tried wouldn't stop the crying, shaking, and pleading for the pain to go away. After a 1/2 hr. of crying, I called my mother. "What should I do? She won't stop crying? Is this normal for a child to cry so long after a sting?" The advice my mother gave, I already found on the Internet and tried! After 45 minutes, I called the nurse at our pediatrician's office. Again, I asked if this was normal. She exclaimed, "Bee stings hurt." Well, I knew that because I had been stung before; I just couldn't remember it hurting for such a long time. She suggested a baking soda paste, more time on ice, and a cold rag. I pleaded for her to please keep the ice or the cold towel on her sore toe. After about an hour of crying, tears welled in my eyes and I started praying over her for God to please, please take the pain away. Next, I went upstairs to find my older daughter. She was too stressed out by the whole scene and spent most of the hour in my bedroom watching TV. I asked her if she would pray with me. She said that she had been praying for her little sis', but that she would really like it if I would pray with her. So my six year old and I prayed as we heard the cries from below. I came back down stairs and held her as she fussed. Gradually, her crying subsided and I tried to encourage her by letting her know that it would continue to get better. Was it our prayers or was it the medicine kicking into her system? Whether God chose to comfort her or not, he was there for us when we were feeling helpless. He cared that she was hurt and he is there to listen when we feel like there is nothing we can do to help our children. We are his children and he wants to help and love us always.