Happy Presidents Day! Curiosity got the best of me, so I did a little research on Presidents Day, which by the way, can be written either as I have done or as President's or Presidents'. Presidents Day actually began in 1880 as Washington's Day to celebrate George Washington's birthday on February 22.. But, in 1971, the holiday was moved to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Some of you young moms don't even know there was such a thing as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, right? I do remember it. It was designed to put all holiday celebrations on Monday giving us, and particularly, government offices, three day weekends. Cool, huh? Well, the date changed in 1971, it wasn't until the mid 80's that the title, Presidents Day, began to stick as a result of advertisers such as car dealerships and furniture stores. The power of shopping seems to have won the battle that began for the name change as far back as 1951 through traditional channels of legislation. All of this has nothing to do with the blog today, just some interesting facts. Now to the blog!
I don't think this can be proven scientifically, but I believe the odds of winning the lottery are better than the odds of keeping grandkids for a week and all of them staying well. Recently, our oldest daughter, Korie, had to be out of town, leaving her four kids in our care. This isn't new to us. We keep them a few times a year while Korie and her husband travel for their business, so I'm no stranger to wheezing, strep throat, flu and an assortment of bumps and bruises. BUT, this time the kids were having a good week. A great week. No fever, no sore throat, no coughing to keep us up all night, not even a runny nose. Life had been good.
The last night, the night before the parents were to return, I sent the kids off to shower or bathe, an innocent enough activity, one would think. After all, the youngest is now seven, the oldest fourteen. We're way past my having to monitor the whole bathing process. I relaxed in the kitchen, talking to a friend, silently patting myself on the back for such a smooth week. When out of nowhere, I heard the most blood curdling scream (whatever blood curdling is) from the hall bathroom. Running with the speed of an aging Olympian wanna-be, I hurdled the living room chair and threw open the door to the bathroom. Will, the eight year old, was standing outside the shower holding a towel to his mouth. Now, as a former child myself, former mom of young kids, former camp director, AND former school teacher, I know that when a kid holds a towel to his mouth, and is screaming, what's under there isn't going to be pretty. My first order of business was to calm Will and then to access the damage.
I quickly noticed there was no blood on the towel—good sign—but it was clear Will was in considerable pain, so something bad had happened. With some soft talking and calm reassurance, I was finally able to get Will to release his death-grip on the towel and let me take a look at the damage. Sure enough, the bad news was Will's permanent front tooth was now half its former self. The good news -- a fairly bad slip in shower didn't do more damage than a chipped tooth. I helped Will dry off and put on some pajamas, and then I guided him to the couch. Of course, all the while I'm asking him, "What happened?" It's always a mom's job to find out exactly how a kid damaged themselves, right? For some reason we think it will help if we know how it happened. Oh, well! Next, I got an ice pack and some Tylenol to give him some relief from the pain and turned on his favorite TV show. Soon, he went on to sleep with no trouble. The next morning, he didn't complain one time, but as I gave him his breakfast, I noticed he took small bites and to the side of this mouth. I hurt for him. The accident was over, but the pain, and even disfigurement, was still there.
Do you think God winces as He watches us struggle to recover following the heartaches, painful situations, and tragedies in our life? I know he does. Just as we, as parents and grandparents, hurt for our children, He hurts for us. More than that, He understands our losses and grief, our pain and brokenness, because He has been there too. Isaiah 43 tells us this, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God." How comforting it is to know that we are not alone in our pain.
God, our father, is not sitting in His living room, patting Himself on the back for a job well done. No, He is carefully watching every move we make, ready to leap over the couch to our rescue. He doesn't even hound us with "What happened?" He just quietly offers us His loving ice pack to ease our pain—no questions asked.
As for Will's tooth, the pain has subsided, but the tooth is still half its normal size. We still haven't made it to the dentist who has the technology to make it whole again. You can bet that God is capable of making your broken heart whole again. It may take some time, but it can be done. If you're hurting over events that have happened in your life, whether out of your decisions or the decisions of others, ask God to help you heal from those hurts. He is sitting on ready to help you!
Have a great week. Give someone you love a big hug today!
Hugs, Chrys
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