I had my plans for the long weekend. My husband generously offered to take our children and the puppy to visit family out-of-state so I could work on a project. I didn’t expect the phone call Sunday morning that would forever change my life.
“Stefanie, I need you here! Come to Pennsylvania ASAP! She’s being life-flighted; they say she’s diabetic.”
What? Our ten-year-old has diabetes? And now she’s fighting for her life?
I immediately texted a friend for prayer support. She insisted she drive me across state lines, a blessing I would never have requested, but oh, was so welcome!
Upon my arrival, I spoke with the staff in the PICU. Then I went to meet my husband and see our little girl. My darling daughter I had kissed good-bye just two days earlier had lost ten pounds, her gaunt little face peaked, her eyes panicked, and voice pinched.
This is not happening!
“It’s ok, honey, we’re here. This is the best place for you.” God, thank you so much for saving her! If John had not left the family farm when he had… out in the middle of nowhere… with no cell service even… it would have been too late.
Over the following weeks, we learned to manage her diabetes, hopefully learning how to prevent her from ever experiencing diabetic ketoacidosis again.
The one verse that punctuated every breathe as I watched her struggle in the hospital, the words that whispered comfort the first time I left her at school knowing she was diabetic, and the promise that helped me leave her home alone with her older sister, plays over and over in my mind: “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11 (NIV)
That fateful, fearful day, as I rode to Children’s Hospital I saw first-hand how true that verse is.
God loves our children even more than we do. Maybe, like me, you always want to protect your child. Maybe like me, your child is one of the biggest parts of your life and you would certainly do anything for her.
But I wasn’t there that time!
Although I am a nurse, my training was no help to the little girl who needed her mom that moment. She desperately needed someone who realized her evasive symptoms resembling food poisoning or the flu really indicated something far more dangerous.
That is exactly where God came in. He commanded his angels concerning our daughter. Looking back, it was the perfect formula for disaster. Yet, God did not allow it. All the pieces for that saving of a precious girl’s life were meticulously placed and fit together by God Himself, with no help at all from a mom with a nursing degree.
God loves our children more than we do. We can’t fathom it. We can’t imagine it. There is no way we could ever comprehend it. Yet, He does. So much so, that He commands His angels concerning them.
Want to know something else amazing? He also loves their moms, you and me, with that same great love. He reassured me through my many tears and heartbreak that I was doing what He had for me. He knew my heart was with my girl and in serving Him. He took care of her when I was momentarily called to something else.
How easily I could have beat myself up for not being there. But that self-condemnation would not have helped my daughter. No, God had her. God held her. Through the race to the nearest hospital, through the flight to the Children’s Hospital, through each and every minute of every day and every night.
And He holds me. He holds my mother’s heart.
And, He protects each one of us, His children.
Maybe like me, you also need reminded of His great love for both you and your children. Maybe like me, you need to learn to let God handle everything. Maybe, you would join me in praying for His guidance over every aspect of this challenge called parenting.
Prayer:Dear Lord, You know the plans You have for me, for my children, today. Please help me trust that You know what each one of us needs. Thank You that You do command Your angels concerning me, and concerning my children, to guard us in all our ways. Thank You that being a parent doesn’t come with the prerequisite of knowing every little detail of life. You take care of all that! Thank You, In Jesus’ name. Amen
Power Verses: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)
Psalm 91:11 “For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.” (NIV)