a knee in need...

needs a band-aid indeed.

We always have a science and art co-op every Friday at my friend's house. We had some snow Thursday, but the sun had come out and melted some of it by Friday afternoon. The day had been beautiful. As I was going out to my car, my arms loaded with the usual parting gifts co-op brings, I took a spill onto the driveway. I was so busy going about my business, I failed to notice that the temperature had dropped and the blacktop was icy, not just wet. Down I went on one knee. What a sting. It really hurt and I wanted to run back in and tell everyone to be careful. But pride took over. I had fallen on the driveway. How silly I must have looked. I silently took the pain of a skinned knee and drove home. (Not before my 4 year old pulled out 2 of her own emergency band-aides and patched me up.) I quickly forgot about my fall. The sting still remained though easily ignored. It's amazing how much such a little thing like a skinned knee can hurt.

Tonight as I was slipping away from reality into my bathtub, I was reminded of my fall. I started to think how a skinned knee relates so much to life. A skinned knee seems so minuscule, but can still cause pain. It's not the kind of pain that hits you in the face. No, it's the kind of pain that stings silently nagging and gnawing at you until the skin heals back over. Many things in life are that way. They happen and seem so small that they aren't even worth mentioning. It stings and burns but we keep it to ourselves. One day we're walking along, our hands full of everyday things, and without noticing we fall on the ice and skin our knees. We want to run for help, yell "OH! I've fallen," but instead we steady ourselves and move on. We don't even bother to warn our friends it's icy. Later though the sting of it all remains. We suffer on in silence. We don't wanna be a crybaby, crying about our skinned knees. What exactly are we so afraid of? Yes, someone may think it's funny that we've lost our balance and slipped, but more often the people that love us will have a band aid waiting for us.

What if our humility helps another not to fall on the same icy patch in the driveway?

Our children aren't afraid to tell us when they've fallen. NO! They come running, "Mommy, Daddy, kiss it. I need a band-aid." It's just one more reminder to become like a child to enter the kingdom. Maybe we don't feel like we have someplace to run. No one to kiss it to make it better. It's easy to forget that Christ cares about our boo-boos. He wants to pick us up, kiss it better, and carry us home.

Lord, Teach me to be like a child.