I’d like you to meet the Mayer family. Chad and Kelly have four great boys. Just over a month ago, their youngest, Daniel, 4, was diagnosed with leukemia. Dealing with a tragedy like this, especially in a child so young, could tear families apart and usually doesn’t turn the family into an inspiration. Yet that’s exactly what has happened with the Mayers. Those on their prayer list get occasional updates and stories about Daniel’s treatment, each one an encouragement because of Chad and Kelly’s faith and determination to stay positive throughout this ordeal.
The last update sent out by the Mayers was, I think, the most powerful. Part of Daniel’s treatment involves a round of high does, powerful steroids. While some of the side effects of these steroids are comical, (like a 4 year old eating half a refrigerator’s worth of food… for breakfast) others are upsetting. Literally. It’s no secret that people who are exposed to steroids can be prone to emotional outbursts of anger often called “roid rage”, and little Daniel has been no exception. In this last update Kelly described a situation in which Daniel had been overcome by his anger for not getting his way. Daniel screamed and hit a way with his fist. This outburst hurt his hand and he went from screaming to crying. Kelly picked him up to hold him and comfort him but he responded with violence against her, beating her back with his fists and saying things that no mother ever wants to hear… “you’re a mean mommy”, and “I wish mean mommies would die” Instead of reacting with the same anger as she could have, and other others would have, for his disrespect, Kelly continued to hold Daniel, telling him he would be ok, all the while not being angry at her son but “weeping” for the “hateful monster” that had “come against” him.
What a powerful love! You might say that any mother would have done the same, and that might be true. But would I? Would you? Should we? What if it wasn’t our kids that we had to love this way, but each other? I believe that this kind of radical love, that doesn’t just see our actions but sees past them to the heart, is the kind of love that God has for us and expects us to lavish on the people around us. Christ said that the greatest expression of love was to give your life for a friend. Are we prepared to love each other that much? He did… isn’t He supposed to be our example?
Christ did in fact demonstrate for us the type of love that God wants out of us for each other. During the course of His ministry here on Earth, Jesus fed people he did not know, imparted wisdom to untold amounts of people and then bore the burdens of the whole world in His death. Did it cost Him? Yes. Was it worth it? You tell me once we’re several thousand years into eternity. After Christ had shown His disciples what love really look like and told them what he was about to do, He told them that he had a new commandment for them (John 13:34) Jesus told the men that He loved, to love each other, and everyone else, in the same way that He had loved the whole world: Giving Himself up for the needs of the people around him. That commandment applies to us too! We are commanded as Christians to identify ourselves as His children by loving other people, even complete strangers, the way that He did, sacrificially, bearing one another’s burdens.
Kelly Mayer said after this episode with Daniel (which ended, by the way, with dinner and an "I love you") that she counted it a privilege, that it felt good to share in Daniel’s pain. She even called the experience a “rich blessing”. Did radically loving another hurt her? On several levels, but it was worth it because of the bond that she shared with her son. You may get hurt in the process, you might have to share in someone else’s struggles by being open and honest about yourself, you may be required to give more of yourself than you ever have. But as Kelly shows us, loving in the way that we are supposed to be not always fun, but it is always worth it.
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