Courage and Earrings

Lynen wanted earrings for a long time. We decided not to pierce her ears as a baby, that way when she got older 'she' could make the choice to put holes her ears. Many times we would be at Claires or Walmart and she would talk about getting them pierced, but would get scared and back out. One morning I asked her if she wanted to get her ears pierced. She thought about it for a while and then said, "Yes, I do". So on February 18, I made a short trip up the street to Walmart to see if she'd really go through with it. To my amazement, she actually went up to the counter and asked about the piercing with me. The lady at the counter said they could do ear piercings from 2-4pm. It was only 11:00, so we got a few groceries and went home. I doubted she would want to go back later, but as 2:00 rolled around, she was ready to go. I could tell she was much more nervous this trip to Walmart. We talked about being nervous. I told her that being scared was ok, and she needed to accept the fact that it was going to hurt. Then it would be over and she would have pierced ears forever. We talked about the bible verse where it says that, "for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross" I told Lynen of how Jesus was in agony because of what he would endure, but he did it to save his children. The joy of saving his children helped him endure the cross. Now I know that getting ears pierced and dying on the cross are no where near the same, but Lynen took it to heart and began to think of the good things like getting to wear pretty earrings whenever she wanted. When we got there, Lynen sat in the seat, and as the ladies put the guns on her ears, I saw her take a deep breathe and close her eyes. I know God was giving her strength. My eyes welled up in tears watching her choose to go through pain for something she longed to have. The guns pierced and she laughed and cried with joy, saying, "Mommy, I did it, I did it!"