A Little Boy's Pain

Somehow I got started looking at a CaringBridge site of a little boy out in Montana who is one of those unusual children with health issues that can't be diagnosed. He has serious vision difficulties - not only is his sight deteriorating, but he also has great pain in his eyes. Waking up is the hardest time - he spends the first hour of every day with his head buried on his mom or dad's chest because of the pain. Bright lights cause pain also, so he can't play outside like other children. He also can't swallow well or eat solid food, and he has hearing issues too.

So I think about how my left eye has been hurting again lately, for which the eye doctor could find no reason last spring, and realize how ridiculously minimal my mild eye pain is. And I think of my two healthy children, and how getting irritated over minor things is really foolish in the overall scheme of things.

And I think of how helpless little children affect those who know or even just hear about them, and how their pain softens the hearts of people to recognize the many things that they should be grateful for. Their plight shows people why all who live must throw themselves on the mercy of God with gratitude for anything He has done for any of us. And I think that, for these reasons and others, a child like this has a huge purpose in this life, whether the world thinks that he does or not.