Jesus Loves the Little Children

I’ve spent much of this morning in tears, weeping for a friend I worked with at RVA who is rocking her five-week-old son for what may be the last time. Little Elijah was born with Hemophilia B, and after a month in the NICU the doctors have finally figured out that his tiny body reacts negatively to the very medication that would otherwise help him cope with this disease. Instead of helping, it’s making everything worse. The sad news is, Elijah won’t get better. Fed up with watching him suffer, Saca and Joel have decided to take him off the meds. So they wait. They hold him close. And pray. And cry. And wait. I can’t imagine the agony they’re going through.

Whenever one of our friends has a baby, Jack gets really excited. He loves to look at the pictures sent over e-mail, and we always say a prayer to thank Jesus for the baby’s safe arrival. We’ve been praying for Baby Elijah every day since he was born. When we found out he was so sick, Jack drew a picture to send to Elijah -- a funny little stick-figured self-portrait and a train, traced from stencils. Jack doesn’t have a long attention span when it comes to drawing, but he really worked hard on this picture. I had to tape two pieces of paper together, the train was so long. Every night at bedtime, Jack has been reminding me that we need to pray for Baby Elijah, for his Mommy and Daddy and for the doctors and nurses who are taking care of him. When this morning’s e-mail came, I told Jack that the doctors had done everything they could but that Baby Elijah is going to be with Jesus soon. We continue to pray, but now we’re asking that he’ll go swiftly, without much pain. His parents are going to need our prayers for a long time to come.

I’m constantly amazed at how much Truth is packed into the Bible stories and songs handed down to Matt and me by our parents that we’re now sharing with Jack and Sophie. Consider this one:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Every nation, every race
They are covered by His grace
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

At times like this, it’s comforting to be reminded that Jesus is especially concerned for children. The God of the Universe has a special soft spot in His heart for the littlest ones among us. Although I don’t always understand the way He works, I do know that He is a loving Father. So I thank Him for covering Baby Elijah by His grace, and I pray for Saca and Joel to rely on that same grace to get through this excruciating time.

I’ve been mulling over some other things and I’ll try to post again soon, but right now I need to go hug my kids.