We pray for healing anyway, because that could happen to any of us

You think, never my child.

That could never happen to us.

But it happened to our friends, to people we don't even know.

First there's Julia. The sweetest little girl we have yet to meet whose mother I used to work with. She has Down syndrome and had heart surgery just this week. She was born with atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), a congenital heart defect common with Down babies.

Then there's the sudden death of a dear friend's unborn child recently. Only 20 weeks in the womb before complications arose.

Then there's a talented musician cousin who's battle with brain tumors have taken quite a toll on everyday life since childhood.

And then there are the children I watch as a child advocate at a local women's shelter. Physically healthy children from varied backgrounds and socioeconomic strata who live with domestic violence and the emotional and psychological toll it takes.

That could never happen to us.

On the other side of the sandwich you think, never my parents.

There is mine whose health has been compromised for decades, both mom and dad, and now while my mother still heals from back surgery last Thanksgiving, my father has to have heart surgery for a second time this decade, hundreds of miles away...

Mama and I love our friends and family. We pray for God's healing although we don't usually pray, or have faith that prayer or God's healing is real or viable.

We pray for healing anyway, because that could happen to any of us.

It puts many other worries into perspective, and one place to start the healing is to love each other and love your children.

Amen.