Hey baby! Would you please come pull an earring out of my foot?
Ugh! She just headbutted me in the face.
Malachi, do not bite me!
Everly, do not bite me!
Hadassah, your shoes have stickers in them and every time you hike yourself up further onto my back you are digging them into my legs!
Malachi, please stop pulling my hair.
Everly, how many times must you kick me while I’m (you’re) sleeping?
Maybe I have a low pain tolerance…or maybe my children (and all the children) are out to destroy me (us)!
MASTITIS IS A BEAST! My back hurts. Baby, I think I’m going to lose my foot. Stupid earring! So much Brooke whining from all the different things! 🙂
The kiddos and I spent some time at my mom’s a couple weeks ago. We planted in the garden, took adventures through fields and trees and dried up creek beds! Picked up nuts and let Hads whack them with a hammer. Best moment of the day…Oh thanks, MaHolley. Yeah, just hold it right there. As Hads was about to whack my mom’s finger off with a hammer in an attempt to crack another nut. Luckily my mom is smart enough not to trust a 5 year-old, hammer carrying, nut cracker.
So there are my own recent stories about pain.
Here’s more! My nephew, Zane-face, is three and has broken his arm twice now. The kid obviously runs way too fast! My little Beans (who turned three yesterday!!) fractured her arm after falling off a swing shortly after her first birthday. Hads dislocated her elbow and couldn’t move it for hours as I waited to try and see if I should take her to the doctor or not.
Pain in our own lives hurts, but pain in our kids lives hurts in a whole new way. Watching these little humans (who may cause us a lot of pain) experience pain sucks! It’s like…Man Zane-face! I’m sorry you broke your arm twice. Man Beans!! I’m sorry you fractured your tiny arm. Man Hads! I’m sorry your elbow is so out of whack!
But afterwards they have stories to tell! Picture on the left…pain. Ow! Zero fun. Look at my crooked left arm. 🙁 Picture on the right just a couple days later…look at my orange cast! I can hear Zane-face telling his little buddies someday…Oh yeah…I broke my arm 7 times by the time I was 14 (sorry sister…I hope that really doesn’t happen).
Everly, just a few days ago reminded me that she had a little bitty cast (I’m guessing she’s remembering the pictures). And I have lost count of the times Hads has reminded me of when she choked on the quarter.
They have stories to tell! How they broke that bone! How they got that scar. How bad it hurt! How they survived their pain! How their pain was healed.
No matter what type of pain you are dealing with, if you are a believer…you serve a God who is able to heal!! The one called the Ultimate Healer!
When I was in high school, one of my sister’s friends was told he had a brain tumor. I remember being with several others one night and praying for him. The next day…gone. I remember a couple being told they should consider aborting their baby because it wasn’t developing correctly. That kid is now grown! I remember people doused with depression coming out of it and being even more joyful than before.
Physical. Mental. Emotional! Whatever it be, run back to the Ultimate Healer.
I love this story from Luke 5!
17 One day as he [Jesus] was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. The healing power of God was on him.
18-20 Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, “Friend, I forgive your sins.”
21 That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins.”
22-26 Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, “Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . .” He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: “Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.” Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, “We’ve never seen anything like that!”
27-28 After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” And he did—walked away from everything and went with him.
29-30 Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and ‘sinners’?”
31-32 Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”
These people took off part of the roof.
Let’s just let that soak in for a moment.
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They took off part of the roof!!!
Obviously houses looked a bit differently back then, but seriously. When was the last time you (or I) made a stand like this? When was the last time you (or I) were flooded with brokenness and when someone asked how they could pray, you said, “For safe travels on my way home.” Come on! Let’s be real! Let’s surround ourselves with people who will boldly stand beside us and say…Yes! I will piggy-back you until you can walk again! Yes, I will bear this burden with you. Yes, I will get down in the muddy trenches beside you and army crawl until we get to the house where I can cut a whole in the roof and lower you down until you are at the feet of Jesus! We have a job to do. We were not called to sit on the sidelines in the back of a church and watch. You have been equipped with strength for the battle (Ps 18:39)! Go to battle!
But that’s not even the main point! Jesus says…your sins are forgiven! He was worried about the real issue…not that the man couldn’t walk, but that he needed to be forgiven! “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”
Jesus is able to heal our souls! To give new life! He is the Ultimate Healer of our ultimate brokenness!
I’m hoping this speaks to someone because this is definitely not where I thought this would end up!! Bye friends! 🙂