of bravery & tiny teeth....

Saturday was momentous in the household of us. It had been generally a lazy kind of day...sleeping late, for some of us... reading a novel, the girls playing well together. When we finally decided to have lunch we were all very hungry as we had put it off for a very long time. We sat down to our sandwiches and Love Bug couldn't eat. She has been in the process of loosing a lower front tooth for 2 months. The adult tooth is already through the gum behind the baby tooth. There has been large amounts of discussion as when it would come out? and Will it hurt? and Mama won't there be a hole?. In fact we had tried Friday evening to get the tenacious tooth to come out. It was to the point where it was flopping enough to make eating uncomfortable but still tightly attached to the gum. Friday night we aborted the mission because... those little teeth are small and incredibly hard to get a hold on! Plus it  was scary for Love Bug and she wasn't ready. But now it is Saturday lunch and the tooth at loosened some more so that the lower edge is loose and scraping. Love bug tries to munch her sandwich around it and is miserable.

The Admiral says " want to try to get it out again?"
"ummmm yes Daddy will you get it?"

I put some orajel on her gum and her Daddy with his huge hands tries to get a hold of this little tooth. Love Bug is squeezing my hand with nerves, I think. The Admiral tries but simply cannot get a grip on the tooth... meanwhile Bright One has a running commentary going on the entire process.

We switch places and Little girl takes 3 or 4 deep breaths and says "ok Momma you can try." "Do you want to get it Love bug? "
"No I think this is a big person job."
" OK, here we go..."

"POP!"

Little tiny tooth in my hand. Love Bug shaking like a leaf.

" Are you ok Love Bug? You did a great job!"
" IS it out?  Did you get it?"
" Yes" Showing her the tooth which is so small ... I am amazed.
"That really didn't hurt Momma."

After this we dove into a spirited conversation about the existence of the tooth fairy.  Love Bug called her grand parents and left messages and The Admiral took pictures for posterity.

Through this all I was struck by my girl's bravery. I am so proud of her being willing to have us help the tooth out after weeks of "DON"T TOUCH IT!"  So brave.

How often do we tell God "DON"T TOUCH IT" when we have a sore spot, an irritant of sin or painful pride? When the cure could be so simple.  I don't want to be brave. I don't want Father God to work on me because it might hurt.  hmmmmmm. But it might not hurt. The recovery could be so much better.

Father  God, Help me to be brave. Help me to say to you "go ahead pull that thorn out so I might be better."  Teach me Father to give over my stubborn pride and sins. I want to be so much more.