Asking is Easier!

“Dr. Waldron, there is something wrong with my son!”

The son in question was sixteen months old and playing on the floor, oblivious to the expressed maternal concern. I asked a series of questions to figure out what was going on, only to have all answered in the negative.

“He’s just so fussy.” His mother told me, anguish seeping from her words like water from a sponge.

I resorted to performing a physical examination of the child, not very impressive, but hopefully it would give me an idea of what was wrong. His ears were OK, throat looked fine, but when I looked in his nose, I discovered the source of his problem.

There was a little blue object looking at me from within Chad’s nasal cavity. Upon retrieval, I found two baby M & M’s.

Unfortunately, Chad was unable to talk – at least enough to tell me what his problem was. His mother didn’t know how to help him, because she didn’t know what was wrong.

This is one of the great things about being human. We can communicate. We can tell others stories about ourselves, we can explain who we are with words. More importantly, we can pray, opening our hearts to one who listens to all requests.

Too often, we act like 16-month-old Chad with M & M s in his nose. We act cranky and difficult to get along with and still do not make an attempt to communicate our needs to God.

Prayer is the question that holds within it all answers. As we open our souls to communicate to God, He hears and provides for us.

God knows our needs, but he wants us to ask. He wants us to tell Him what to make better, even if it is so simple as M & M’s in our nose.