More than a Band Aid

"Owie, Mommy!" Becky cried after she'd skinned her knee roller skating on our front sidewalk.  

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. Let's get you fixed up," I unlashed her skates, then led her by the hand to the bathroom, sat her down, and retrieved first aid supplies from the cabinet. 

We'll need to cleanse the 'owie' first, Honey," I said, dabbing at the slightly bleeding wound as tears trailed down my five-year-old's cheeks. "Now, we'll put a little bit of this antibacterial ointment on the band-aid, and now we'll place it on your knee," I said and "threw a kiss" on it for good measure.  

Becky looked down at her bandaged knee, stopped crying, and then looked up at me, her large blue eyes intent as if she was waiting for something more. I knew that look—my child's anticipation, the longing, the want for all that love can supply—more than what a band-aid can provide.  
 
My daughter smiled as I gave her a big hug and held her close. "Is your knee feeling better now, Sweetie?" I asked. She nodded.

"You're not going to let that bad old sidewalk hurt you anymore, are you?" I said with a smile as Becky giggled. "Nope!" she exclaimed, sliding down from my lap. She'd had enough of roller skating for the day and opted to play school with her dolls.  

I was happy that my little girl's "owie" was better. But only if the hurts she'd experience later on in her life could be so easily remedied!    

It takes more than a band-aid to heal some of the things that lie deep within our hearts. However, there is an answer. What about love? Just as the way "love is applied" to a skinned knee, so, too, we can apply love to other hurts in our lives.  

Sometimes we tend to make things more complicated than they should be. However, the answer to the ills that befall us is really quite simple. Might we look up—to the One who created us in His image, to the One who created love. Yes—the immense love God has for us, the love He freely gives to us without condition. All we need to do is ask. The Lord is compassionate, ready, and waiting to comfort us and sooth our hurts and sorrows.  
  
Love—it's so much more than a band aid! 
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"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever should believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16 

​Photo: N. Johnson

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