Breanne's Smile

     She was crying. That's unusual for little 'Breanne'.
     She's a little slip of a thing with long, straight red hair and freckles that cover her tiny face. Her eyes are large and round as saucers; almost too large for her face. But my how those eyes sparkle when she smiles-and she always smiles. I sometimes suspect that she has invisible wings, and is really a little fairy or elf from a magical forest.
     But today my little sprite-friend was crying.
     "Whats the matter honey?" I asked.
     "My finger hurts real bad".
      Huge teardrops were rolling down her freckled face. She showed me the injured finger, but there wasn't much to see...it was covered with a bandaid.
     "When did you get this bandaid?" ( I asked this because often our poorer students' families can't afford bandaids. They try to keep them on as long as possible, and I've seen some putrid sores hidden under dirty old bandages.)
     "Today."
    I examined the finger closely and noticed that the bandaid was on way too tight. Her little finger was white and puffy from the pressure. I'm sure her finger was throbbing in pain. Whoever had bandaged it must have been in a hurry.
    I could sympathize with her situation. Just this week I'd had a minor procedure done in the doctor's office. It didn't work as well as they hoped, so they decided to refer me to a surgeon. But the surgeon isn't available for 2 weeks. When I called to ask the nurse if it was OK to postpone taking care of the problem for two weeks, she hurriedly said, "Yeah, as long as it doesn't get unbearably painful or start bleeding profusely." Not terribly encouraging.  So I called my insurance's on-line nurse for some reassurance. (This feature of my insurance plan has been a God-send.) She told me just what to do and how to get along until the surgery. It's going to be fine... I just needed someone to tell me that.
     That's what Breanne needed. Some assurance. So despite the fact that at that moment I really needed to be somewhere else; I took her to the school sick room and removed the bandaid. Whoa! Now I could see why it hurt! Her little 'fake' fingernail had bent back and broken right in the middle of the nail, causing the real nail to crack also. But the fake nail wouldn't come off. So we ran cold water over it for awhile and daubed it dry. Then I loosely appled a new bandaid. A little smile was returning to her face.
     In the meantime; the person who'd put the first bandage on her came in.
     "I TOLD YOU that those fake nails are NO GOOD!" she lectured, then walked out in a hurried huff.   
     The smile faded.
     So I told her a silly joke and gave her a hug. The smile returned. Like the sun coming out from behind the clouds.
     Now I'm not bragging or trying to compare myself to the other 'bandaging lady'. I get hurried and huffy too. But today I remembered to slow down; and to stop and think about how someone else might be feeling.
      And I thought I'd tell you this little story to remind you. There are lots of important things competing for your attention. Most of them aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things. Don't let the clock or your day planner become your dictator.  Let your heart dictate your actions.      
     That's what I did today. I put a bandaid on a little girl's finger. I did some other stuff too; grown up, important stuff. But that best thing I did today was to get Breanne's smile back.

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones...will certainly not lose his reward."  Matthew 10:22