Fear

Despite the name Sugar Princess, my seven-year old daughter is fearless.  She can walk into a field of horses up at the family cabin, neigh so they know she is coming, and join the herd.  They run to her.  She jumps into swimming pools, swordfights with my sons' friends, sings in front of groups, knocks boys down who give her grief, and dances in concerts in front of hundreds.  Imagine my surprise when at 1:30 am my husband woke me up and said that he needed help with our daughter.  He went to check on the kids and she was awake saying her feet itched.  He checked and her cream skin was covered with hives and red blotches from her back to her toes.

I sleepily started running the bath water explaining to her that she was allergic to something and we needed to wash it off while she stood before me trembling.  Her little white body looked so tiny.

"Are you cold?" I asked.

"No."

"Are you hurting?"

"No."

"Then why are you shaking?"

"I'm scared."  she whimpered. 

Suddenly, the sleepy world of 1:30 am became crystal clear.  I wrapped my daughter in a towel and pulled her to my lap.  I rocked her and whispered that everything was going to be okay and that I was going to take care of her. God, I thought, how marvelous You are.  The one thing in the world I am not afraid of is skin rashes.  I've had hundreds.  My daughter, who is not afraid of anything, is given a skin rash, just so you can teach her to be humble and vulnerable and maybe to let me comfort and alleviate her fears - just once.  Thank you, Lord.  

I washed her down, sprayed her with Benadryl spray, put her in clean pjs, and nestled her in the bed between my husband and myself.  How could a skin rash be so sweet?  It was gone in the morning.  Is it wrong to pray for it to come again?