Have you ever had an allergic reaction to something? This weekend as we were watching football, my daughter wanted to try my cashew, dairy free ice cream. She took 1 small bite and with a look of disgust said,
“That’s gross!”
Well, more for Mommy! I thought to myself.
Before a minute went by, she started complaining about her throat and tummy hurting. We looked at her, what once was a petite face, to completely swollen! It was clear she was having an allergic reaction. We immediately gave her Benadryl, hoping that would help the swelling go down.
I wish I could say I started praying over her – but I didn’t. Instead, I let my mind worry.
I opened up WebMD and started Googling “What to do if your child has an allergic reaction.”
If you have ever tried to self-diagnose you know that never helps the situation.
If I could self diagnose myself it would be “WORRIER.”
I started reading about how symptoms can be life threatening – difficulty breathing, problems swallowing, wheezing, uncontrollable coughing.
“Should we be taking her to the ER?!” I asked my husband.
It was almost bedtime, and she seemed to get worse. We can’t let her go to bed, I thought. I just read in some cases; symptoms can show up 2 hours after. What if she couldn’t breathe!
I knew my mind was spinning out of control. Obviously I couldn’t control the situation and if I have learned anything with my walk with God, it was that I needed to pray. We went into our son’s room to put him to bed. Saying our bedtime prayers, we started praying over our daughter. Immediately I could feel my mind slowing down.
Luke 12:25-26 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
Stop worrying. Start worshiping.
She then started scratching all over – she had broken out in hives EVERYWHERE. Holding our daughter close, we told her, “We are so sorry you are feeling like this.”
Please God, help this pass soon.
We knew it would be uncomfortable for her for a few hours, but thankfully she was breathing ok. So, we ran a cold bath for her and just sat there on the bathroom floor – meeting her at eye level, telling her she would be ok.
Finally, around midnight we got back into bed. This time I put on worship music and within minutes, she fell asleep.
I think when we are frantically worrying about something, God just wants us to meet him at eye level too. He wants us to take a deep breath and see that he is REALLY taking care of us.
This week may we all mediate on the ways God has taken care of us.
