Can you think back on a day in your childhood when you were really sick? Maybe you remember being stuck in bed, coughing and sneezing (or barfing) all over the place, and how vulnerable that felt? Do you recall what you longed for more than anything in the world…maybe even MORE than getting well…?

Oftentimes it’s the comfort of a parent that a child craves during a sick spell. Maybe your Mom, Dad, Grandparent, or whoever raised you would hold you tight, stroke your hair, take your temperature, make you chicken noodle soup (whoever made that into a ‘healthy’ comfort food I’d like to know!) and stay with you until you drifted asleep. You needed that presence of comfort and safety. To know that you were cared for, and that everything would be “all right”.

Quite a few years have passed for me since I’ve experienced that kind of longing for my Mom to cuddle me as I lie there sick and debilitated. I’m grateful to God that I rarely get sick and have a strong immune system.

But this past week was an exception to the norm. I was REALLY sick: high fever, chills, cough, head throbbing, pain pulsating through my body; you get the idea. It caught me by surprise that I was taken back to that feeling of being a child again, longing for my mom, or someone, to hold me. To take care of me. To assure me that ‘everything is going to be OK.’

As a grown woman with two kiddos and a husband to refrain from transferring this awful virus to, I had to forgo the hugs and cuddles that sounded like sweet medicine to my soul.

And I survived.

Sadly enough, as I type this sitting at the foot of my youngest’s bed, she is sleeping soundly due to a high fever. She was awake in the night with a headache and stayed home from school (I’m PRAYING she doesn’t experience all that I had to!)

She’s also rarely ill and so I haven’t experienced the role of being ‘nurse mom’ to a sick child all that often, but it was a special revelation for me today.

She wanted breakfast in bed…she got it To see her face light up to the simple raw-honey-smothered whole grain toast and her chocolate nutrient shake (complete with a pink straw, I might add), it made me feel good inside. Furthermore, she hasn’t asked much of me at all, but she desires my presence. She looks up at me with those sweet eyes and pale sad face and says, “Mommy, please don’t leave.”

And I haven’t.

I’ve folded laundry in here, done some work, and now here I sit, typing away. Sure I’m uncomfortable as I occupy the only small empty space on her bed as her long body sprawls out all over the place, and yes, my days plans are severely disrupted, but I WANT to care for her and provide all she needs to be healthy and happy!

It has really made me think….isn’t this what God has given to us as a small example of how He wants to care for us?

Jesus picks up a child and tells us in tells us in Matthew 18:2-5 that, “unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.” He also tells us to come to Him when we are weary and carry heavy burdens and He will give us rest…that He is humble and gentle at heart and we will find rest for our souls in Him (Matthew 11:28,29.)

Well…Many other reminders come to mind of how Jesus wants to be the one we long for and run to in all circumstances (not just when we are sick or feeling on death’s door,) BUT…….my daughter has awakened and is asking for an orange.

I’m far from God the Father – I’m just a human mom – but I’m very thankful for the reminder of how to better relate with my God. He is The Father and we can choose to become His children. And that loving parent/child relationship is a way that we can begin to relate with Him.

OK, I must go now!
(Maybe I’ll post more in the comments later, and I invite you to do so, too!)

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