Shine On Shiner!

As many of you know, we have moved to Louisville, KY and settled in to our town house. What you may not know is that we have already had our first casualty. Our town house is a three-bedroom apartment with an upstairs and downstairs. The kids’ room is upstairs with a bathroom, while the master bedroom is downstairs with a bathroom. This is the first time we have lived in a two-story home. Stacy was a little leery of the stairs, especially with Ethan. His energy levels have tripled in the last six months. However, it was Naomi who underestimated the combination of gravity, wood, and not paying attention.

Playing is paying…

Paul and Peggy, Stacy’s parents, came to help us get settled in. My dad had just left on his way back to Wisconsin. Naomi was running up and down the stairs playing. We told her to stop playing or else she was going to hurt herself, which is exactly what she did. As Naomi was going down the stairs (playing), Paul asked her to help him carry something. I think this was his way of getting her to stop going up and down the stairs. With her momentum going down she turned and slipped off the step. She then fell down and caught the corner of the stairs with her eye.

Of course, this happened on daddy’s watch. Stacy was gone with her mother to the store. I was in the kitchen washing my hands when I heard Naomi cry. It is a funny thing being a parent. I have learned the distinctiveness of my children cries. When Naomi is hurt, she cries from her stomach. It is almost as if all of her energy just focuses in her diaphragm. She does not bellar out with a tremendous cry or scream. It is more inside and makes its way out in the sound of one choking or something. As soon as I heard it, I knew something was wrong. Paul scurried down the stairs to pick her up. I came into the living room and took her from Paul’s arms. By then, the side of her left eye, near the temple, was starting to swell. She had a little bruising and a small cut in the shape of an L.

Black-eyed peas

I held her for a while softly scolding her for playing on the stairs. We had no ice pack at the time so we had to venture over to the neighbors. Another funny thing about being a parent is your deep concern for truth. In the house, I picked with Naomi about her eye. I told her that if she got out of line again I would bruise the other one. It did not occur to me that she might repeat that word for word to the neighbors; whom we just met for the first time. So I made sure she understood I was kidding and that she is to tell the truth about what happened.

We knocked on the door and Naomi was still whimpering a bit. I told the neighbor what happened and asked if she had something cold for the swelling. She said in a kind of question like manner, “We use frozen peas in this house. I could give you some of those?” She was very kind and understanding. She has four small children of her own; two of them are boys. I took the peas and put them on Naomi’s eye. By this time, the bruising was starting to show underneath her eye in a deep purple. It looked like a storm was brewing on the left side of her check. She looked pitiful.

His eye is on the sparrow

As we walked across the street, back to our home, I took advantage of an opportunity. I began to talk to her about God’s grace in this manner. Though he allowed her to fall and get hurt, He only let it go so far. There was mercy. She could have easily broke her neck and been paralyzed. On the other hand, she could hit her temple hard enough to kill her. There was grace given to her on the stairs. I wanted her to see and acknowledge His grace and give thanks to Him for His mercy.

The bible says that God never ceases to be involved with His creation. “The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man (Psalm 33:13).” In Job 28:24, it says, “For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under heaven.” Psalm 11:4 speaks of God on His throne looking down from heaven testing the children of men. Jesus spoke of His Fathers intimate involvement in the world, especially His people, when he encouraged his disciples not to fear men in Matthew 10:29-30. He said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” The LORD was present on the stairs with Naomi. He allowed her to fall and get hurt. Moreover, He loved her in doing so.

A natural question may come to mind, “Why would God allow her to get hurt? If he is able to stop it, why not intervene? And how is it loving?” My first response to that question is Romans 11:34-36, “For who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has been His counselor? Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid? For from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (cf 1 Corinthians 8:6)”

Essentially, I cannot tell you exactly why he allowed her to get hurt. I am not God and my wisdom does not even appear on his radar screen. The scripture is clear. Everything we endure in this life, good or bad, minute or tragic, comes from Him; even a black eye from falling down the stairs (“…for from him and through him and to him are all things…”). Furthermore, his sovereign control over every detail in the universe, even black eyes, brings him glory. We saw some of this glory on the stairs.

Three glorious things to consider

1. There was glory in his mercy.

As I said before, the situation could have been a lot worse. He was faithful to keep her from greater harm.

2. There was glory in his comfort.

He was faithful to make sure her papa and daddy were there to care for her. Paul scooped her up in his arms and comforted her. He gave her to me to hold and to care for her. There is something very special between a girl and her daddy and I would even say her grandpa. God allowed us to show her a perspective of his care for us.

3. There was glory in his revelation.

God opened my eyes to seize an opportunity to share with her His sovereignty over all things, even falling down the stairs, and his careful hand in the matter. God allowed us to build cornerstones in her faith. By recognizing His hand in this relatively small matters, we will be able to better recognize His hand in the bigger matters.

How was it loving?

Before Jesus encouraged His disciples not to fear, he gave them the basis for the promise. He told them not to fear those who can only kill the body, but fear the one who can destroy both body and soul (Matthew 10: 28). Man can only do so much. The very worst man can do is kill our body. Our souls however, are forever in the hands of God. God is the only one who can give life (Jesus) to a soul or destroy it (Hell). Therefore, we need to have a healthy fear of Him as the maker of our souls.

God allowed her body to be bruised in order that her soul might live. If we would have left the accident to mere coincidence, her body would be bruised and her soul would be no better. However, because God in His mercy, allowed us the opportunity to examine his word and see His hand in the matter, her faith was watered and her eyes were opened a little more to His power, might, mercy, and salvation. This in turn created a better awareness and respect for God; namely to fear Him. Therefore, letting her suffer a black eye was loving because He revealed more of Himself to her.

Word of advice

We make it a point in our family to see God in our everyday experiences. I would encourage you to do the same. Children who only see glimpses of God on Sundays and Wednesdays suffer greatly in their faith. God is not seen as supreme or intimate in small doses. Strive to apply scripture to everyday events as much as possible. This helps them to see the world through biblical eyeglasses. This in turn will help them to taste and see that the LORD is good, no matter the circumstance. In addition, with much prayer and pleading, they will put their trust in Him (Psalm 34:10).