It was definitely one of my most terrifying moments as a mom! We had spent all day decorating my parents’ house for Christmas, and Hannah was being a “helper” by putting all of her dress-up clothes away (because she didn’t “want Grammy to come home to a messy house”). The stockings were hung by the chimney with care – great care, in fact, as there are now a total of 16 stockings complete with heavy stocking holders!
I had turned to put Ephraim’s shoes and socks on as we prepared to pack up our belongings and head home as soon as we saw Grammy’s reaction to our “present” when she came home from work. That’s when I heard the scream behind me and looked to see Hannah on the floor, holding her head, with her stocking and stocking holder next to her. Thinking she had merely received a bump on the head, I nestled her head in my shoulder – until my sister-in-law exclaimed that she thought Hannah was hurt more than that. At that moment, I saw the blood – on the floor, on my shoulder, and gushing down Hannah’s face. The stocking holder had left a nickel-size hole in her forehead.
My mother, who is a nurse, came in a few minutes later, assessed the situation, and urged us to the emergency room. So instead of heading home, we left Ephraim with his grandparents, and I climbed in the back of the car with Hannah in order to hold the ice and towel to her head. The whole time she was hysterical (as you can imagine), until I realized what she needed to hear.
“Hannah, you’re going to be okay because did you know that Jesus is called the Great Physician?”
The hysterical crying began to subside to mere sobs.
“Did you know that He has healed children who were hurt even more than you?”
The sobs turned into trickling tears.
“In fact, some of them even died, and He brought them back to life!”
Now I had Hannah’s attention. The 10-minute drive to the hospital was made a lot easier for my still-bleeding three-year-old because she had the peace of knowing that Jesus could heal her.
As I continued to try to keep her calm, I was amazed with how many times I could recall that Jesus had taken care of children in the Bible.
- In Mark 5:21-24, 35-43,a religious leader named Jairus came in search of Jesus to heal his 12-year-old daughter, who was dying. By the time Jesus reached Jairus’ house, the daughter was already dead. But Jesus told her to get up, and suddenly she got out of bed and started running around as though she were never sick!
- In John 4:43-54, Jesus was approached by an official, who pleaded with Jesus to heal his dying son. Jesus did not even go to his house but simply told the man to believe. When the man returned home, his son was alive and well!
- In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus came to the city of Nain just as the dead son of a widow of the city was being carried out of the gates. And when He commanded him to arise and walk, he did.
These are just a few examples of Jesus healing the sick. There are many other stories involving adults – from lowly servants to wealthy aristocrats. Isn’t it so wonderful that we can rely on our Great Physician to take care of our children? I had never dealt with a head injury prior to Hannah’s accident, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or how serious it was. (Thankfully, a little glue applied to keep the cut together is all that she needed.) But just a turn of her head at the wrong moment, and Hannah could have had a concussion or a more serious head injury! How easily a four-hour wait in the emergency room could have turned into four weeks or four months or longer in the hospital! But I had a peace as we headed to the hospital that my Great Physician – the same Person who created her and knew her inner most being – had already taken care of her and would continue to take care of her even when I couldn’t.
There are so many children I currently know who are either in the midst of a hospital stay, who have just come out of (yet another) surgery, or who are preparing for major surgery. There’s the newborn baby, who surpassed everyone’s expectations for his little life and is still alive a month later, despite his constant need to be hooked up to IV’s and monitors. Then there’s another infant, who was born with a rare condition, which has involved broken limbs and fluid build-up. There’s the little girl in our church who has undergone so many surgeries (including another one today) that she just takes them in stride as a part of her life. There’s our good friend, a four-year-old boy, who is awaiting a date to have brain surgery to alleviate the fluid build-up on his brain. And there’s the toddler I wrote about here , who is anticipating an experimental surgery next week to help alleviate the pressure creating an enlarged heart in such a little girl.
I only spent a few hours in the emergency room with my child, and I was scared to death! To you parents who are enduring the trial of a more serious illness with your children, don’t lose hope. I am praying for each one of you, but the hope isn’t in the fact that I’m praying for you. The hope is in the Person to whom I am praying. His name is Jesus, and He is the Great Physician.
“Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps. 103:1-5).
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