Childlike Honesty

I was pediatric oncology nurse for 10 years and loved it. The hospital facility where I worked practiced primary care nursing so that whenever a patient was readmitted, they would have the same nurse for continuity of care. This was about the third admission for a little 5-6 yo girl diagnosed with cancer. Since she was diagnosed, she hadn't spoken much for months to anyone, even her mother. One night I came to work with my hair dyed brown when I usually had blond hair. I went into this little girl's room, did my assessment, made some small talk and of course didn't get a reply. Then as I was about to leave the room, she says, "Did you make your hair dark?" I said, "Yes, do you like it?" She says, "No, I think it’s really ugly!" Her mother was so embarrassed that this was her first words in months and tried to tell her that it wasn't nice to say that. I just thought she was telling it like it is! This is what I truly love about children; they will tell you exactly what they think. We all kept very straight faces and just kept right on talking- a little teary eyed. She talked from then on.



Just like children, we need to go to our spiritual Father to gain the knowledge we need to guide us in our spiritual lives. So how honest are we with God? Do we say what is in our heart? Or as we’ve grown older, have we lost the ability to be honest with Him and ourselves? I have found that when I’m not honest with God it shortens my “talks” with Him. Yet once I become like a small transparent child, the floodgates open.


One of my fondest memories is of an encounter with my oldest daughter when she was three and in pre-school. I arrived to pick her up and she was playing on the playground , so I decided to stay and play awhile. She came and sat on my lap and I asked her to tell me about her day. She replied with “You already know”. Confused I explored further, “why do you think I already know”. She looked at me and rolled her eyes stating simply” Mom , you always know everything I’m doing”.


She truly believed her mother was keeping watch on her even in my absence. While it seems the Lord gives an extra intuitive insight into our children’s lives, it is only the Father himself that has that ability. He knows our actions and innermost thoughts and is just waiting for us to come to Him and share with a childlike honesty. It’s only then can receive the answers we are looking for.


I went back to blond and have been ever since.


Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.Matthew 18:4-6

Fiarse De.

“ When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”- Corrie Ten Boom

My tunnel phase : I am comforted that I am moving… forward… but whether I’m going headlong towards a wall, or down a cliff, I still cannot say.



I choose to hold on for the journey and trust my engineer that He will deliver me and the light will come.



Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Exodus 14:13a,14)

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed." (Psalm 34:19)

I have seen people so crushed, so hurt, not only are their faces downcast, but their spirit is crushed. God will never crush your spirit; on the contrary, He only wants to build you up. I have seen people who have lost children to cancer , to accidents , to drugs and more. I believe this type of loss may be one of the worst types, yet I have seen families that have risen above their loss and been a conqueror. Their spirits were restored by leaning on God .

While nothing can compare to the pain and suffering of loosing children to death on earth , it can be tremendously difficult to witness your children’s spirit to be crushed by another person , especially Christians in whom they placed their trust. It can be difficult to explain and the loss is real. A spirit that has been crushed by family, friends and those you trusted , especially other Christians can be extremely painful and may have everlasting consequences.. Because , in the flesh there is no prosthetic for an amputated spirit.

I have always reminded my children that man no matter who they are ; whether a professing Christian or not, all mankind possesses a sin nature and if you put all your hope in people it will fail you. While in my head I have this knowledge, I have a heart that tends to want to extend grace and place my hope in the goodness of others. We have a tendency to trust the seen ( people) rather than the unseen (God). We seem to want to lean on other Christians that we unfairly categorize as extensions of our Savior.

I find myself once again in this familiar scenario of one of my children feeling crushed and brokenhearted by people she trusted , to people she had seen as a brother or sister in Christ. To watch her cry , question God and her faith , is painful and provokes anger and desire to protect. I can understand why when new believers are hurt by fellow Christians they tend to walk away wounded or worse yet loose faith.

It is inevitable that these things will happen and you will need to seek answers and healing. Using the examples of those who have face insurmountable loss and pain like the mother who looses her child , it is only by going to God, leaning on Him will you find true healing. He can heal the crushed spirit. He and He alone, can bring you restoration. He alone can lift you up. He can take your crushed spirit and rebuild you into a better, stronger person. If you feel you have lost something in your spirit life, then turn to the Lord, He can and will make you whole again.

When we need someone to lean on, when we need someone to trust in, someone who is mighty to save, tender to heal, someone who will help us, then look no further, turn to the Lord, in all circumstances. The Bible says in Psalm 25:2 , “O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You.”

I am confident as she leans on you my Lord, she will find all that she needs to lift her up, heal her heart and give her the strength to go on, with a new positive attitude.