Tonight soon after, and I mean soon after, we walked in the door for AWANA and Bible study, I was viciously hit on the elbow with a young boy’s head. I was hit hard enough I had a good zinger. I found it hard to believe he suffered no ill affects of ramming his head into my elbow, maybe it’s too soft? (my elbow…not his head) But he did suffer no ill affects, how do I know this?

Because he simply turned around and ran right over the top, trampled with his own feet, Beanie. He knocked her down and ran over her. I was…well…to put it mildly….livid. I was ready to ram the kids head into the cement floor a few million times.

Yes, I am so much an adult. So mature. And yes oh so godly.  Yeah that’s me. The epitome of graciousness in the face of being wronged.

I shared with my Bible study ladies why I had on my war face. I didn’t do it as a prayer request cloaked gossip. Nope, I spilled it out and asked them to pray I’d get my hands on the kid and let him know just how much I appreciated his actions.

After getting Beanie situated, “No it won’t happen again and if it does, Mr. H will take care of it and you.”  and I was back in Bible study, I could not concentrate at all on the lesson. My mind kept harping on the ill and just how I was going exact justice on the 5 year old perpetrator.  He was going to be sorry he ever messed with my child by the time I was finished with him. Shoot he would be able to comfortably wear his chonies sideways. Yes, indeed this Momma was on the warpath.

I’m sitting there not able to concentrate, not able to learn when I realize the enemy of my soul planned the whole stinkin’ thing. Why? Because he knew I would be instanteously livid and would stew and plot and plan and connive the whole thing and learn nothing from Bible study.  So while I stewed, he celebrated. Maybe even sent out for pizza, I don’t know but he was pleased.

And I was ineffective.

But as they say “knowledge is power” and now that I knew who was behind it all and the probable reason for it, I could pray that God would “Shut him up good.” I prayed also that He would focus and settle my mind. You would be amazed at how quickly that happened. It happened so quickly your head would spin…literally.

Wanna know what we studied?

Jehovah Rapha. The LORD who Heals.

Oddly appropriate don’t you think? I did take one little side trail and ended up in John 10:3-17. In these verses Jesus is telling us He is the gate to the sheep fold. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him because they know Him. Then He makes this statement, “My Father loves me when I lay down My life….” (v. 17) I realized my Father is glorified and loves me when I lay down my life in sacrifice. To lay down my life means not getting livid when people do evil against me or knock my daughter down. It means I choose not to use my power as an adult to get revenge on a 5 year old juvenile delinquent child of God. It means I rest in the all knowing eye of God and know He saw and He will not remain silent. He will act on my daughter’s behalf but first I have to get myself out of the way.