If you have ever had a child hospitalized you know how hard it is. You may also know how during those long lonely hours in the hospital chair God reveals Himself in ways we might have never imagined. Our youngest son was 11-1/2 months old and was in DKA when we took him to the ER on January 17th. Before we knew what the cause of his stomach virus-like symptoms were, we sat beside his bed and prayed. I prayed for peace and for comfort for our baby. I prayed that God would make His presence known in that ER room.
It wasn’t long before it became evident that our baby was very thirsty. I didn’t have a sippy cup with me and wasn’t allowed to nurse him. One of the medical staff asked if he could have ice chips and I realized that a washcloth would be the easiest way to give him some relief from the severe dry mouth. For the next 48 hours my husband and I would sit beside his bed and dip that washcloth into the cup of water and place it into his mouth. The nurses and staff swirled all around and we wet his mouth with that cloth over and over and over again. During that first 48 hours my prayer for God’s presence to be known was answered. As I gave those drops of water one by one to our baby’s mouth, it wasn’t his face I saw, but Christ’s. Somehow I knew that my actions were for Christ himself and not just for our child.
We are home now and our youngest turned one last Wednesday. He is a strong baby boy that now has a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis that will be with him for the rest of his life. Although our son won’t remember any other ‘normal’ than one that includes T1D, we as caregivers have been thrust into college level courses at warp speed in order to understand how to care for our child’s medical needs. The lack of sleep being thrown in on top of everything else has brought us to the foot of the cross and we know that He is carrying us through these days.
I often wonder why us? Why our son? Why anyone? But God didn’t choose to send something ‘bad’ to us. Instead He is giving us an opportunity to walk closer to Him. A small way of perpetual sanctification here on earth. My hearts sings praises to our Lord for the opportunity to serve our son by caring for him in an intensive way. My prayers are for those of you that are facing the medical care of a loved one 24/7 that you too might see this as an opportunity for baby steps towards sainthood here on earth.
“Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” -Matthew 25:40
