The things I do for my child!

For those of you with a weak stomach - you might want to skip this post.

I have never been labeled as a person who denied a challenge. So, when the following ocurred this week - it seemed like the only possible thing I could do.
Jacob and I were eating dinner together Tuesday evening. Frank was working at the farm, so it was just the two of us. I had prepared corn-on-the-cob, one of Jacob's favorites and one of the few vegetables that he will eat without me begging, pleading or otherwise negotiating the terms.
He had only taken a few bites when he suddenly started spitting the corn back onto the plate and screaming, "my tooth, my tooth." I, first, attempted to calm him down so I could get a grasp on exactly what had happened, but at that moment he could not be consoled.
When I realized what had happened, I checked his mouth and sure enough he had lost a bottom front tooth. The drama was because he couldn't find it. He just wailed "I swallowed my tooth."
So, as any calm and rational mother would do, I tried soothing him by explaining that this kind of thing happens all the time and it will be o.k. He was worried, not only that the Tooth Fairy wouldn't come, but that the tooth would be in his tummy forever.
I then proceeded to explain "no, your tooth will not be in your tummy forever" which then led to a nutshell explanation of the digestive system. I also told him that the Tooth Fairy would completely understand; we could write a note and tell her what had happened.
That wasn't good enough. He wanted his tooth.
So, the next morning, I foolishly thought the whole matter had been forgotten until . . . Jacob had to go to the bathroom. He came to me with tears in those big blue eyes worried that when he went to the bathroom all hope of finding his tooth would be lost. What was a mother do to? My child wanted his tooth and I was going to get it.
So, we pulled out the old potty chair and Jacob did his part - then I took over to finish the race.
Yes, I did!! I donned the rubber gloves, found an old sifter and went on an archeological dig right there in the bathroom.
About half an hour later, when I had gone through, er, uh, everything, I was very disappointed to find nothing - well, not a tooth, anyway. I set my resolve to try again next time and went to take a long, hot shower.
About an hour later, something ocurred to me - I didn't check the corn cob to see if the tooth was stuck in it. So, I found another pair of rubber gloves and headed for the garbage. When I finally found the cob, there was the tooth, still stuck in it, right where Jacob had taken his last bite.
Needless to say, Jacob was thrilled and I was "the bestest Mommy in the whole, wide world." The look on that sweet little face was worth anything I had to do to find that tooth.
But, the story doesn't end there. I am almost positive I heard God chuckle. You see, I make an effort to pray over everything - especially the little things. I pray when I can't find something, when I need a new idea for dinner, or when I'm looking for a parking space at WalMart. So, why didn't I pray to find the tooth? It might have saved me some, uh, digging. But, I didn't - I just dove right in. SuperMom to the rescue.
Now that it is all over, I am convinced that if I had simply gone to God, He would have given me the thought to check the corn cob first.
But, then again, maybe He wanted to remind me of all the times He has had to put on the rubber gloves to clean up one of my messes. I'm sure that when He was digging through the stuff, He was shaking His head saying, "the things I do for My child."