by Aaron Farnham
Matthew 18:3
… And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Nora had a fever last night, so we gave her some infant Tylenol and off to bed we went. At around 10 p.m. she woke up, and shuttled me to the futon with her. She fell asleep again, this time to the sound of my voice as I prayed the Anglican Prayer Beads.
Again she awoke at midnight, but this was different. She wasn’t burning up again, but was warm. She screamed. I thought she was uncomfortable because of a rash that seems to be coming. Then her small, fragile body began to convulse. The first episode lasted around two minutes, but seemed like an eternity. We missed two calls from the nurse practitioner on call.
Nora had a short, less intense episode. The four of us were ready to go to the emergency room.
By 1:20 a.m. I had spoken with the nurse practitioner and the on-call pediatrician. That was when my heart stopped racing. By this time Nora was falling asleep on the futon with Andrea by her side, and Gaby came up to me, “Papá, ¿puedo acostarme en la cama contigo?” (Daddy, may I lay down in the bed with you?).
In bed she rolled over, gave me a hug, and said in Spanish, “Daddy, Nora’s sick, and we have to take her to the doctor tomorrow morning. Let’s pray for her.”
In trying times we can be quick to rely on our own means. God did equip us with the fight or flight mechanism for a reason. I did not realize that Gaby had overheard me talking with the doctor from the other room. I did not realize that she knew ‘the plan’. I did not know she would note that it was an appropriate time to pray.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please pour over us with the faith of a child. Please pour over us with a faith that falls back on You before the dust has completely settled. Please pour over us with Your grace, mercy, peace and love so we may be more childlike in our time on Your created world. We ask these blessings so long as they are within God’s will, and in the name of our Liberator, Jesus Christ. Amen.