Words to Grow On

Archive Devotions

2005

June 6, 2005

"A Fierce, Everlasting Love" 

    By:

Caroline Stanzyck

It had been two miserable weeks since Sofia 's tonsil surgery. "Just a routine procedure, one or two days of recuperation, and she'll be feeling better than she has in months," the doctor had told us.

It turned out to be anything but routine when our precious five-year-old daughter suffered a reaction to the anesthesia, became dehydrated, and had to be hospitalized again. After what must have seemed like hundreds of needle sticks, she came home, only to become severely constipated from the medication she was taking.

I dreaded having to use even one more suppository, but I knew I had no choice. Her body had to be relieved of its burden of waste if she was to return to health. Her eyes opened wide with fear as I approached her, weapon in hand, and she began to sob uncontrollably.

As I picked her up for the hated ordeal, she looked at me, raised her fragile fist to my face, and said, "If you do that to me again, I won't be your kid anymore." I knew that I must continue, and so I completed the procedure as quickly and as gently as I could, and then took her again in my arms.

As I sat there, holding my beloved daughter, the veil parted and I saw a glimpse of the Father's heart toward me. In my stubborn desire for self-preservation, I rail against my Father's arms, shaking my fist at Him in my fear and my demand to control my own life. And yet, He continues to hold me, He continues to minister His healing touch, and He offers me His life-sustaining power and strength. As I watched my dear child slowly drop her meager defenses and find comfort once again in my arms, I, too, knew what it was to be loved with a fierce, everlasting love.

Caroline is a counselor at North Coast Family Foundation in Parma Heights, OH.