“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”–Elizabeth Stone
This week, I was again reminded of how deep those Mama Bear feelings run.
You carry a child for nine months, you nurse that baby, diaper that baby, bathe that baby. You watch the baby and keep him/her from sticking fingers in outlets or wandering into danger. You will, without one doubt, lay down your life for that child.
If one person lays one finger on that child in the wrong way, they are toast.
But the fact is, sometimes you have to release that child to people who might hurt him/her, temporarily, and for the greater good.
The baby has to get shots. Sometimes four at once! And as a Mama Bear, you sit there and have a strange feeling in the pit of your stomach.
That baby might have to get medical testing. That baby might have to get braces. That baby might have to get surgery, and you, as Mama Bear, sit there and watch.
Yesterday, one of my (now teenaged) babies had to get a toenail procedure done. This entails painful shots in the toe, not to mention blood. Now, I have no problem with blood except when it is coming out of my child. I didn’t hurl. I kept it together. But as a Mama Bear, I had the strange desire to…
Jump up and wrench those sharp instruments away from the doctor. Shove said *muscle-y* doctor off his rolling chair to the ground. Grab my child and run screaming from the building.
But…I knew the greater good. I knew this surgery would, in the long run, hopefully prevent further pain for my child. I was willing to watch my child go through hurt to increase his chances of happiness later.
I couldn’t help but make the connection with our Heavenly Father. How many times have we, His children, experienced hurt so incredible, we wonder if He’s watching? If He cares? Doesn’t He REALIZE how horrible it is?
And yet…the greater good. The bigger picture. He sees it all. Every one of these hurts He allows us to endure has a purpose. I know–easy to say, but it stinks to live it.
How many times does God remind us He is our Father? Abba Father. Daddy.
“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!'” Romans 8:15
Trust this. He sees the pain. He sees the greater good. And sometimes, He will be like a raging Mama Bear to protect us from harm. Sometimes, though, He has to watch as His children hurt. Just like His firstborn son, Jesus Christ.
And someday I believe we will thank Him, when we see how He has been working all things together for good.
****What about you? Have you had a Mama Bear moment? Or a moment when you recognized God let you go through pain for a reason?****
Awww, now I wanna go and have a good cry. I've had a few Mama Bear moments. They umm, usually involve hockey. When I would see our oldest son get checked or pounded on during a game. Or an unfair penalty, I *may* have yelled in Spanish. In a pre-dominantly English and French area of the country.But the real ones, when I realize my suffering is to teach someone else the power of God? WOW, those hurt, but I get it. It still pains me, but I get it.
I can just see you screaming in Spanish, my Canadian friend! I can only imagine seeing your kids get pounded in sports…AGH. And it's so hard to believe/accept our suffering might have a purpose. It's easier to rant at God and believe He doesn't care. Been there, done that, many times. But then, when we see things more clearly (which might not even happen on this earth, sometimes), we have to thank God. The hardest thing is thanking God when we can't see WHY on earth He's letting these things happen. And I will stop rambling on now!
I SO get this. I often wonder if the Lord has me feel this so I understand how He feels about me when I hurt. All part of the wonderful, though painful, tapestry He's weaving called my life.Thanks for continuing the conversation!
Bethany–so right–that TAPESTRY element. I often wonder how that tapestry is going to look when we get to heaven. So many things we couldn't understand…made clear. I can't wait for that day. But in the meantime–we walk through the pain!
Heather,When my son was 4, he decided that riding the big yellow lab would be a good idea. He did, and it wasn't. The dog, just trying to get out from under the kid, launched Chris into the frame of our sliding glass door, and Chris' forehead split open like a… anyway. Tried not to panic, got to the hospital, they handed him a cloth with topical anesthesia to hold over the wound. He complied, then he thought it was great fun when they rolled him up like a burrito in a bed sheet. They asked me to just keep a grip on his feet, just in case, as they injected more anesthesia into the site and started stitching him back together. Within moments, he started squirming and crying. When they asked him if he was in pain, could he feel that?, he sobbed, "My mom is squeezing my ankles too tightly and it hurts!"I learned to let go early on… quite literally. Sigh.Love this post today. Makes me think about how much I love my babies, too. 🙂
Becky–so funny that it was YOU that was causing him pain with your clinging to him! I can only imagine how horrid that would be to watch those shots and stitches. Amazing how resilient kids are. And yet, they still need protection–just like us!
Awww. Thankfully, I haven't had an ER or painful doctor trip with Micah yet, but I know what your talking about, Heather. 😉 I always hated seeing that needle stuck in my baby's leg.Yes, God does allow us to experience pain for our greater good. Its hard to see the good in the moment of pain, and in those times, we just have to cling to fiath in God's goodness and love. Great post. 😉
Beautiful post, Heather!
Gwen–SO hard to see any good in it. That's where thankfulness and trust come in (stuff I'm STILL LEARNING!). And Jill, thank you! Glad it spoke to you!
I don't even like to think about my son getting old enough to go places without me, to experience pain. I know it will happen, it has to, it's part of life, but the mama bear in me doesn't like it one little bit! Having kids really does help us to understand the love of God…at least it does me.
Oh yes – I do understand! Our boys have asthma and too many hospital visit over the years to count. I tend to bounce back and forth between MaMa Bear and weeping scared deer in headlights on a regular basis. What a beautiful post – you've captured our mother's hearts perfectly. Love!
Oh, Kristy–yes. As you know, my daughter has asthma, too. It's hard NOT to panic at the first sign of a cold! So many hospital trips….and yet God is right there with us. Summer's on its way–praying your boys will have a healthy rest of the year!
And TC–yes, it really does highlight HOW God loves us, right? Even at times we don't *see* Him moving or *feel* His closeness…doesn't mean He's not around.
Yes! I had one of these moments yesterday watching my six year old do gymnastics. She's in a very competitive program and they make them do a ton of work. She had rips on her hands from Monday's bar work and was complaining in the car that she didn't want to do the leg lifts because her hands would hurt holding onto the bar. Well, leg lift time came and I watched her do them, watched her hanging from the bar, sobbing her eyes out. And I just had to sit there! It was horrible! But I know she's going to be one tough girl by the end, the type who will be able to fall off the bar and land on her face and get up and keep going with the routine. Still….
Ah, yes, Amy–the greater good of toughening up for those things our kids want to pursue…like Jennifer's boys playing hockey above, and your daughter. It's SO HARD to sit still and watch, isn't it!?