Music, Makeup & MRI's

this was my pensive girl on a windy summer afternoon {beautiful!}

Thursday evening I drove to Nemours/A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital with my daughter Isabel. She was scheduled for an MRI of her brain, a follow-up to her recent 23-hour EEG (and an update to her last MRI at barely age two!) We walked quietly hand in hand through the parking lot, into the main entrance, and down the "starfish" hallway to the imaging department. Isabel isn't our loudest child - except for frequent fits of the giggles when teasing and tormenting her siblings! - but when she is nervous, she becomes especially subdued.

As strange as it sounds, I cherish the many moments we have shared in hospital hallways and waiting rooms. Though certainly not the most desirable of circumstances, these experiences allow me to be needed by my daughter and a blessing to her. They also instill in me greater respect and admiration for a truly courageous young girl.

The winds of change are blowing through our household, and I sense them keenly as both Isabel and Eva draw closer and closer to the brink of young womanhood. Of the two, however, Isabel is certainly the more interested in all things grown up. She was delighted when Daddy surprised her with her own little iPod gadget with her favorite Christian music for her 10th birthday this year. Her other favorite gift was a purse and makeup from cousin Lindsey. On Sunday mornings she dresses carefully and when allowed, brushes the lightest of silvery eyeshadow and shiny pink lip gloss onto her face before church.

There are days when we go toe to toe on issues of pre-teen attitude. The hands on the hips, or more frequently the outflung arms with palms extended in loud but unspoken protest. Sometimes we hear the cry of injustice and see the pursed lips of stifled anger and frustration. 

But much MUCH more often, we experience the joy of parenting a loving, kind, easygoing and spiritually sensitive young girl.

Tonight when the MRI took place, even when she gripped my hand tensely while receiving a dye injection for the contrast imaging, Isabel lay still and patient and wide awake through it all. Afterwards she told me that she prayed as the test began (we also prayed together in the waiting room beforehand) and though at first she was scared, then she began pretending that she was on a space ship ... later driving a car ... and with faith and imagination she came through with flying colors.

Her bigger concern, though, was a family we had witnessed talking and crying in the waiting area prior to her test and whom we saw again as we left the building. We overheard the fact that their little girl was also having an MRI, and Isabel worried that she had started her test after the other child yet ended sooner. I explained that it appeared the little girl was hospitalized and the MRI was just one of the tests she was undergoing. Later, at home and over dinner, Isabel brought up the family again.

It is this sensitive heart that I love so much in our precious Isabel, and I pray she never loses that sense of concern and care for others. She and I had a sweet conversation in the car about loving Jesus most of all in life, and that is my heart's cry for her and for all of my children. By God's grace, right now she is certainly headed in that direction. What a sweet privilege it is to watch her take tender steps of faith, just as we watched her first trembling steps of life. 

Lord, protect and guide Isabel and each of our children in Your way, Your truth, and Your light! ... Amen and amen.