I was away from home tending to my youngest daughter who was in the hospital last week. The doctors discovered she has an aortic aneurysm. We were taken off guard – it was a shock to us – especially her.  Her biggest fear was that she would not live to see “her babies” grow up. She has 4 children – two of them quite young and one of them with special needs. This puts a huge strain on their nerves,  peace of mind, finances – the economy being what it is…. A lot going is on in her life. She is a remarkably strong, young woman.

At the same time she was in the hospital, her youngest son had surgery on his head at another hospital. It was not serious surgery but when a little guy is on a ventilator and feeding tube, it is all serious. He is a resilient boy – I have lost count of his surgeries and procedures. We pray that he will outgrow these issues someday – sooner rather than later…

But I learned that I never quit being a mother. The kids are grown with children of their own but their needs weigh heavily on my heart. I want to figure out how I can ”fix it”. What can I do to help…but I want to do more than help – I want to make it all go away.

I know I cannot fix everything or make the hard stuff to go away. And it would not be wise.  We grow strong in the struggle. – they do too.

It takes discipline for me to quit trying.  My job is to pray. Be loving and helpful when I can be. Be available as I can be. Advice can be given when asked for… But my role is a supportive one. I had to laugh at myself when I was visiting her in the hospital room and the doctors came in – I was tempted to butt in to ask questions or tell what I knew of the situation. But that is not my role.  I am no longer the “next of kin” – her husband is. Unfortunately, during those days his role was also “breadwinner” so he was not available to her as they both would have liked.

For those of you who have children, you know what I am talking about. We want our children to be “healthy, wealthy and wise”. We want their lives to be trouble free. But that is unrealistic and they would not mature fully or grow to be strong. They would not learn how to trust God. Their prayer life would be undeveloped. They would not experience the depths of His grace.

Does the pain and heartache hurt? You betcha. Are you tempted to quit? Undoubtedly. God wanted us to have a perfect life. He created us perfectly, breathed life into us, provided the companionship of a mate and all the animals, and placed us in a perfectly beautiful environment. That was His original plan… We blew it! You know the story…

We have been struggling with the affects of that for millennia. We nor our children live  perfect lives and never will. But God was not content to leave it that way…He wanted to “fix it”. He sent His only son, Jesus, to come in human form to experience life as we do. Can you imagine the Almighty Creator being a created one? He subjected Himself to the laws of the universe He himself created. Amazing.

He did that to “fix it” for us.  He made a way for us to have a life with Him for eternity. No, it isn’t perfect here and now – it will be one day and until then we can have His Spirit living in us. We can have a peace that passes our understanding, when things go terribly wrong.  We can have joy in the midst of pain and heartache.

He has made a way.