Children are definitely innocent instruments used by God.

I have a four year old son, whose name is Max.

Well last week we picked him up from my mom’s house to start, what we thought would be a nice long vacation.

Max met us as we pulled into the driveway and as usual he was excited to see us. As he jumped and ran down the driveway I admired his energy and the smile that seemed to be painted on his round face.

My little blessing from the Lord was indeed growing up to be a rough and tumbling little boy with dirt and bugs on his mind.

He became more than a little excited, as a neighborhood youngster asked him to help spread grass seeds to my mom’s lawn. He ran back to tell me what a great job he had done and in the process he tripped and fell to the concrete.

I rushed to pick him up and he truly was hurt and very shaken up from the blood he saw. As I held him in my arms, I said I know this is going to be one of many scrapes that I must go through as a Mom.

Well the bleeding didn’t stop right away and we rushed Max to the ER. The nurses and doctors assured us that he was going be just fine. Once our paperwork was filled out and we proceeded to the waiting room, entered a young mother with a child.

The child seemed to be very uncomfortable when touched and his cries really made you take notice that something was seriously wrong. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle in a hospital waiting room – Max managed to eat some chips and read a book. His face and forehead was scared and swollen from his fall, yet his spirit was high.

As we read the book with him, the child across the way started to cry even louder. Max looked at me and his Dad and said, "I know I fell, but we should be praying for that baby over there."

Without hesitation my husband and I looked at each other and proceeded to do so.

Max’s scars have healed over now and yes he is still running and jumping, but I took away this thought from that evening, "always acknowledge the fact that we may have faults and falls in life, but in the time of your trouble always acknowledge someone else’s pain or hurt, it may be a lot worse than your own."

-"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate."

– Psalm 127, 3-5

Copyright Sheila Jackson