Heavy Burdens

Rowan walked out of his bedroom and rubbed his eyes. He was surprised to see Mom sitting at their small kitchen table. Usually she was in bed by the time he woke up for school, but this morning she sat, still in her uniform, looking weary."Hey, Mom," he greeted her. "What are you still doing awake? Aren't you tired?" Rowan's mom was a paramedic, and she worked the night shift driving an ambulance.She gave him half a smile. "I wasn't ready to go to sleep," she said. "A lot of things happened while I was at work tonight, and I just needed a little time to…process all of them."Rowan nodded. Ever since his family had moved into the city, Mom's job had gotten a lot more difficult. She saw scary things every day. Sometimes he'd overhear his parents talking about his mom's job. Her ambulance was called to help people who were hurt from drugs or gunshot wounds or car accidents. He knew his mom had to feel scared or sad a lot of the time. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Mom." He wasn't sure how to comfort her. He hated seeing his mom so discouraged. When Rowan finally pulled away to grab himself some cereal, he thought about what might encourage him if he were in Mom's position, and then he smiled. "You know, Mom, Mr. Rob from church read us a cool passage from Revelation on Sunday. It was all about how when Jesus comes back there will be no more death or crying or pain. Mr. Rob told us that Jesus is going to make everything new."He watched his mom's eyes get misty, like she was right on the edge of crying."He also told us," Rowan went on, "that even though the world can be dark and scary and unfair sometimes, we have hope that Jesus will make everything perfect again someday because we trust in Him."Mom swiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform. "I think the Holy Spirit brought the perfect encouragement to me this morning," she said with a shaky voice. "Thank you."Rowan smiled, and Mom hugged him again. "Maybe we can read that passage over breakfast, and then I think I'll get some rest." -Emily Tenter