Not So Tough

Katie is the cavity queen.

Long live the queen.

She had her 2nd appointment to finish with her new filings and it was awful.

As she lay on the chair, feeling the hurt and pleading with me with her big, blue eyes, I just wanted to cry.

This is the same thing that happened when she went in for her tubes.

Why is it that I can never remember that I am just not this tough?

But it got me to thinking about sacrifice and kids and love.

I felt so helpless as all I could do was watch her suffer. I held her hand. I tried to reassure her, but I had to let her have this experience, because in the end, it would be for her own good.

And isn't that so like life?

We go though trials. And sometimes they are really difficult experiences. But we are never alone. And most likely, these experiences will be for our own good.

And sitting with Katie today, I had a tiny glimpse of what our Heavenly Father must feel for us...as we suffer.

I would have gladly traded places with Katie today. I would have taken her pain and felt her suffering if it meant that she didn't have to. Because, surely it is a lot easier to do the suffering ourselves than it is to watch someone we love suffer -- especially our own child. But...I have to let her experience life, just like I am experiencing it. And hopefully, I (and Katie) will know the good and appreciate it more because we have had to have the bad.

I know what we experienced today is just such a small fraction of what others we know are going through, but I grateful for still for the remind that my Heavenly Father loves me.