Advice from Winnie the Pooh

"One day Winnie the Pooh went to visit his friend Rabbit. Rabbit, always the consummate host, offered Pooh some honey which Pooh gladly accepted. Pooh, true to form, ate rather too much honey and as he was leaving got stuck in Rabbit's door. Pooh was stuck half in and half out. He couldn't go back in and he couldn't get out. He was stuck so tight he couldn't even sigh. (That is what grief feels like for many people) While Pooh was stuck there he asked simply, 'Is there someone who can sit with me and read a story or offer a word of comfort to a bear wedged in great tightness?' The important thing about this story to remember is what Pooh was asking for... and what he was not asking for. He didn't ask anyone to pull him out of the hole or push him back into Rabbit's house. He didn't ask for a theological discussion about how it was God's will that he was in the hole or that God wouldn't have put him in the hole unless God knew he could handle it. No, Pooh didn't ask for any advice or solutions. What he did ask, in essence is, 'Will someone be there for me? Will someone be there for me while I struggle in my painful experience?'"

During one of the parent education days at Anchor Center, they gave us this story. I found it particularly poignant in describing how I want people to respond to this new path we've ended up on. I'm not looking for people to have answers (well unless those people are Wesley's doctors), or to babysit, or to come up with the best alternative therapies. Although those things are all helpful in their own times and their own ways (and I really do appreciate tangible help sometimes), what I want more than anything else is for people to still be there through everything. I want people to not shy away because the situation is uncomfortable, or because they don't know how to respond. I want people to get to know my precious son for who he is right now and be with us on this journey. Experience the frustration, feel the sadness, and celebrate the victories as we do. (Romans 12:15)

We really truly have been blessed to have wonderful friends and family who have done just that. We are eternally grateful.

 

Our sweet boy is sound asleep... He's so precious.

 

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