Boo-boos and Compassion

It seems to be the case that the older Ace gets, and the greater his agility and speed, the more he gets hurt. Not rocket science, right? He got his first skinned knee (so sad, but harder on us than the boy for sure) the day we got to Kentucky, and, for the most part he has had at least one ever since...kind of like wakeful nights, early mornings, superwoman multi-tasking, early dinners, Back at the Barnyard, balls, Cars, bugs, ear infections...well, you know(I adore being a mama and a wife), they're familiar now. We have gotten kind of used to them happening and being around.

Well, we all got a boo-boo or two while we were moving(note to self, bedside table has drawers and when you turn it toward you, gravity has ridiculous consistency and has a nasty follow-through on the shin). Up until this time, Ace has been a child alarmingly unmoved by the distress of others...except his mama's. Kids would cry and he would make fun...mimic them and laugh(Mace, Jr., people!!). After his skinned knee, I noticed him finding other people's boo-boos and becoming visibly concerned, compassionately "tending" to us, and loving on our boo-boos while making the connection between his hurts and ours. It makes me so proud to see his new response to other people's pain.

I have noticed that with every new boo-boo Ace gets, he becomes increasingly aware of the boo-boos other people have. His 18 month old compassion has grown leaps and bounds through his pain. He frequently "relates" to us through his pain and with ours.

It is excruciating to see him get hurt. We guide him and he has boundaries (which he likes to test, of course), but life happens. He falls down the stairs all the way from the top, trips over his new shoes, the stroller flips and I fall on top of it! I don't ever want him to experience pain, but he will. We all do. I just pray that if he must experience pain, it causes his compassion for others to grow immensely. In experiencing hurt (which, don't forget, because I love him, I wish he didn't have to experience, but we live in an imperfect world), I pray that he sees the pain of others more swiftly and feels more deeply the heartache in another's heart. So, I have been thinking a lot about God's love for us and how He feels when we get boo-boos. It doesn't answer why late (or any for that matter) miscarriages happen, or cancer rips a baby from her mother's arms, or storms destroy cities, or why someone we thought was better is still very sick. I know He hates seeing us get hurt, but I think it helps out healing process, though, when we see someone else's pain and have compassion for them and tend to their boo-boos and love on them. Even if it doesn't even make a dent in our hurt, it can bring a little healing, comfort, and peace. Here's hoping my boo-boos, our boo-boos, can help yours.