By these scars

About a month ago I was playing with one of our kids with CHD (congenital heart defect). I was tickling her and as I went for her neck, she pulled down on her sweater exposing part of a scar that runs down the middle top half of her torso. As I caught a quick glimpse of it, my heart crumbled. This little girl, not even two years old, has experienced more physical pain than I probably have in my 29 years. It broke my heart for her.  Later on as I thought about it, I was reminded that it was through this pain and through this scar that healing was brought to her heart. Literally. If she didn’t bear the scar, she wouldn’t bear the healing that came through receiving that scar.

I was again reminded of that last week. We had a surgical group from California come and operate on 11 of our children. Several times each day, I would go into the post-op room to see the children. As I stood by their cribs, most slept, while some cried or whimpered in discomfort and pain. As I held their small hands or stroked their heads, the emotion of it all overwhelmed me time and time again. To see these children in pain was so difficult. As difficult as it was, I was again reminded that the pain they were presently experiencing was a part of the healing they would hopefully receive.

I guess that is how it is in our own lives. Sometimes we don’t understand why we have to go through times of pain (not necessarily physical), but it is often during those times of pain that our Father can bring healing into our lives and into our hearts.