And How Was Your New Year?

Our son has had a fever off and on for about 10 days. Last night around 7:30 I was giving him a bath and noticed that his rib cage was retracting when he breathed. This suggested to us that he was having a difficult time breathing. My oldest daughter and I brought him to the ER to find out how serious his situation had become.  We anticipated that he had pneumonia, and wanted to have him on antibiotics if it was a bacterial infection. 

After our initial checks, the doctor ordered a white blood cell count and an X-ray. We have had our kids get X-rays before, and they needed to be strapped down to this torture device to keep them still. The man who was going to take the X-ray asked me if our son Sammy would sit still for a picture. I prayed he would. 

As my son was in my arms the entire time up to that point, content and calm as ever; this was the first time I had let him out of my arms. It really was sweet to be next to him, holding his hands to the top of the X-ray board and press his little hips flat. He squirmed quite a bit, all the while I was saying to him, "say cheese son." All he really wanted to do was two things, see the camera, and be back in his Daddy's arms. 

It is a precious thing to grasp the role we have in our children's lives. Although Sammy knew my arms to be enforcers of punishment when he disobeys, he more so knows my arms to be comforting and protecting arms. 

My arms are merely a dim shadow of my Heavenly Fathers, yet they still function on some level like His. I am a small picture of God to my children. Like a Pastor is a small picture of God to their flock, my children are sheep in my pasture. I pray O Lord Jesus that I will rightly and justly represent you to the children you have entrusted to my care. 

I thank the Lord for skilled individuals that are able to diagnose a body in the same way I can diagnose a heat/cool roof top unit, or a boiler. 

Sammy is on antibiotics, and I trust those nasty little critters that are plugging up my son's airways will soon be triumphed over.