Who can Help Me?

Last Updated on March 20, 2018

I was sleeping soundly (yes, that does happen again once your children get a little older) and I heard a faint,”Mom? … Mom?” I sprang out of bed and stumbled toward my children’s rooms, not quite sure if I was dreaming or what. Alas, it was no dream and my deep sleep quickly became a distant memory.

I know you’ve been there—sick child with confusing symptoms, a mind that’s racing with all the “what ifs,” and the ability to half sleep so that even if he moves you are instantly awake and by his side.

It started with a couple of days of him complaining off and on about his stomach hurting. I thought the stomach was churning because he had been playing outside non-stop with his buddies. Football, air soft wars, swimming in a pond—you know, guy stuff—I just figured he had played and/or eaten a little too much.

So, when he called out to me and I got a good look at him, I could see that he was sick, really sick. I ended up on his floor with the “puke bucket” (as we affectionately call it), sitting right next to his bed.  He started rolling and moaning in his sleep, as I anxiously stared and wondered what to do.

When he seemed quiet I went to my husband and told him what was going on and asked him what we should do.

“I trust your judgement,” he said.

No help.

Back to my spot on the floor. More moaning and then when he was a bit awake, I asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever felt in your entire life—how bad do you hurt?”  I got a blank stare, a little more rolling around and a quiet, “Seven.” Then he drifted back into a restless sleep.

Wow, my tough guy who never has an issue with pain is telling me “seven”!  This is not good.

I went to the Internet and searched “stomach ache” and found out his symptoms could mean anything from a simple upset stomach to apendecitis, to several words I couldn’t pronounce and everything in between.

No help.

As I settled back into my uncomfortable, cramped spot on the floor I stared at my son and realized that in all my searching for answers I failed to go to my main source for answers. Duh! I then began to fervently pray for my son and asked God to protect and comfort him … and me.

Yes, we had a long night after that, but I recognized and recalled that the only other time I had seen such symptoms was when my husband had a case of food poisoning. God brought this to mind after I settled into His care and stopped running to all the wrong places for answers. I then loved my son and cared for him, as best I could, through the next few hours.

I also spent a lot of time just praying for him, his life, his future, how God would use him in this world as he grew to be a man. I ended up having a sweet time with the Lord as we both loved our son well, through an uncomfortable night.

The next morning my husband said when he came to check on us he could not believe how peaceful I looked even though I was huddled into a little ball between my son and the shelves.

Let’s face it, there’s no where else I would have wanted to be that night.

Yes, I’ve spent many nights loving my children through illness. Once for my daughter it did include an emergency trip to the hospital. But, I must always remember to go to the Lord first, so that He may keep me calm and direct me to make wise decisions and hear his promptings.

He provides much help … and that’s the help we all need.