If we could see what He sees...

In the midst of explaining my thought process to Mae I was able to connect another spiritual truth to parenthood. If we would just trust that God has a plan, a purpose, a reason for the situation we're in He would be able to bless us abundately. Mae is a typical 3-year-old. She wants what she wants, when she wants it, and how she wants it. She KNOWS what SHE wants and she will make a mess of things JUST to get whatever it is she desires. Of course her "messes" usually consist of physical tantrums or spilt paint, but mine are more mental and spiritual. If she could sometimes see and trust that I will grant her request as soon as I do this, or after we do that, she could just relax and know that Mommy's got it all under control (for the moment and with a lot of help, anyway). I find it exhausting to explain myself to Mae, but after the "mess" has been made due to her lack of trust and obedience I am forced to go into detail about what my plan was and how if she would just be patient and wait then whatever it is she wants will be rewarded. After my long and frustrated explaination of how if she had just waited for me to clear the table to make a spot for her "art class" instead of grabbing the open paint bottles from the counter, we would be painting right now instead of cleaning up paint from the floor. I told her that I know what I'm doing and I have a plan, and she just needs to trust me and wait. Without pause I said in a rather "unspiritual" tone, "How's that for spiritual, application?!" I'm not sure if she even understood or if I was the one who learned the lesson.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Sweet Reminder

Nate's favorite hobby besides playing with trains, cars, and anything with wheels is READING!  He LOVES books.  I'll catch him in his room, after wondering where he is since the house seems oddly quiet and calm, with a pile of books all around him as he sits and "reads" a book.  There are a few books that scare him such as "The monster at the End of the Book" and "Where's Spot?" or anything with peekaboo flaps.  Those are the books in particular he'll bring to us to read.  Sometimes he'll sit in my lap to read those books, but often he'll just watch nervously from a distance.  He'll become upset if I DON'T read the book, so I continue in hopes of him not being so scared of the book anymore.  Most of the time he'll just bring me a book, any book and insist that I stop whatever it is that I'm doing and sit down with him in my lap and read.  I'll be carrying a load of laundry as stands in front of me, almost in protest, and hold a book high for me to take from him.  He WILL not take a book back once it's given away to me.  He'll just stare at me with those big, blue hopeful eyes.  He waits for me to put down whatever is I'm doing and stop for a good read.  It's a sweet reminder of what's important, and how much he longs to spend time with me.  I'm glad he's here to remind me to slow down and take a break, an escape into a book with my little boy is one of my favorite parts of the day.