Sick babies want to be held even after they are on the mend. The comfort of their mother’s arms soothes much of what they cannot control, making the effects of the germ at least bearable. Ezra introduced the stomach bug to his family last week on Thursday. By Sunday night, his dad succumbed and Amelia on Monday. I should have seen it coming.
My son, Jacob follows up with his neurologist annually since his brain surgeries a little over eight years ago. The office is three and a half hours away so Amelia and now Ezra have a standing Lolly and Poppy sleepover. When they dropped off the kids on Monday morning, Valentina warned me that Ezra had been clingy for a few days. Extra snuggles suit me fine so I scooped him up and we all waved goodbye as mom and dad drove away.
After Bible stories and prayers that evening, I rocked Ezra, singing our usual round of hymns. If I get off track, he quickly reminds me by loudly repeating a key word from the song I was supposed to be singing. I had not realized I was so predictable. He went down easily and I made my way to kneel by Amelia’s bed to whisper good night. She listened intently and when I finished speaking, she leaned in and said, “It’s fine for me to come to your bed anytime I need to.” “Certainly, baby girl.” I replied offhandedly, swiping back her hair to kiss her forehead. The warning bells should have been sounding in my head at that point.
Ezra slept a little more fitfully than usual for the first few hours. He moves constantly and moans in his sleep. I’m used to that. I was a little restless myself. I had just gotten comfortable after a second trip to the bathroom when Amelia moaned then started to cry. I climbed out of my warm spot, hoping to settle her quickly. She quieted as I tucked her fleece blanket around her shoulders so I ambled back to my bed. Only a few minutes passed before I heard Amelia’s little footfalls, then I felt her crawl up by my feet and flop onto my pillow and my back simultaneously. She flipped and rolled, unsuccessfully trying to find a comfortable position. I tried several times to help, even offering an extra pillow before saying, “Baby girl, if you’re going to be this wiggly all night, you’ll need to climb back into your bed.” “I want to go back to my bed,” she half sobbed. Three steps later, the stomach bug hit.
Needless to say, Ezra was not the only clingy baby by morning. Missing mom and dad only amplified their neediness. Amelia, who is not yet four, handled her sickness very maturely. She sat in her tiny chair in the bathroom just in case while I cleaned the floor. She sipped Gatorade and changed into clean pajamas and we even stopped to look at the big beautiful moon as we passed the porch on the way back to bed. She slept well the remainder of the night once she settled in, and thankfully Ezra, in the same room, slept through it all. I fell asleep praying to be spared the bug, at least until after the babies go home.
Only minutes before heading up to bed, I had been reading in my favorite read through the Bible plan from The Gospel Coalition in Hebrews twelve about clingy sins. (Read the Bible: Numbers 15, Psalm 51, Isaiah 5, Hebrews 12 A Devotional Bible Commentary in Partnership with ::Crossway) I’m very rarely in line with the proper date. The daily readings themselves take only about twenty minutes with available audio. The sometimes daily Related Resources links available grow the content each year and those articles lead to others and I find myself reading sometimes past an hour. Much of the material is written by pastors who are also professors. I glean from their experience much to chew on as I meditate on the holy scriptures.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.12.1-2.ESV
Translators personify sin that clings so closely as something that entangles or easily ensnares us, easily tripping us up. Sin has a hold on us so tightly that one translation calls sin parasitic. My reading came back to me as I worked to remove the traces of sickness from the bedroom floor. Paper towels, wet wipes and even disinfectant wipes could not entirely erase the evidence. I was now thankful I had invested in washable rugs. As I cradled Amelia in my arms on our way back to bed, I saw myself earlier, restless, tossing and turning as I prayed over several situations weighing heavily on my heart. Could I learn to cling to my Heavenly Father the way my precious granddaughter clung to me in that moment, relieved, resting, trusting? Could I say with the Psalmist, Isaiah, or Peter?
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.”
Psalm 4:8 AMPC
https://bible.com/bible/8/psa.4.8.AMPC
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.26.3-4.NLT
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.5.7.NLT
Mary stood weeping outside Jesus’s empty tomb. She had run for Peter and John when she first discovered the stone rolled away. They raced to see the place where Jesus’s body had been and seeing, they believed and returned to their homes. Mary stayed. Angels addressed her inquiry and Jesus Himself, though she presumed Him to be the gardener. Her shocked and sorrowful heart could only muster one refrain. “They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have taken Him.”
“Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’””
John 20:16-17 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.20.17.ESV
Jesus’s words always read as incongruous with the Son of Man. Don’t cling to me. It feels insensitive, like me pushing away a clingy baby who just wants to be held. I get it. We’ve all reached our limit when the whining and clinginess seems unbearable but Jesus never has. His words to Mary were a promise of more than all she could have asked for or imagined. You have followed me faithfully, child, but now you will follow by faith not by sight. The promise is not just for you. Do not hold onto me in this form any longer because My Father will send His Spirit and I will be with you always. Now go! Tell the others!
“He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.
John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts of the Apostles 1:4-5, 8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.1.4-8.NLT
“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.28.18-20.NLT
“For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.””
Hebrews 13:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.13.5.NLT
“So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.
Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.
Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai.
For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking.
No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.
You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven.
You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things.
You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect.
You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.
For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!
When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”
This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
For our God is a devouring fire.”
Hebrews 12:12-15, 18-19, 22-29 NLT
A Fitting Reply 