As a mom, it's fun watching your children and their individuality. I knew when we were expecting our second baby that our 1st and 2nd would probably be polar opposites. They were/are. When we had our 3rd, I assumed he would lean more toward our 1st child's personality or our 2nd. NOPE. He may have a few things that resemble something I've seen in his older sisters but he is a one and only!
Our middle child has mastered the middle child position. She walks the talk with her big sis and hangs with the older kids. She picks the fight in the cover of dark and then pulls out the Puss in Boots eyes {from Shrek} and works her way into your heart and out of trouble. One of her most common phrases lately that gets under my skin and grates on my nerves melts my heart and convinces me to sweep in to her aid every time is "I tan't do it!" {insert pout with giant brown eyes}. It helps her get out of clean up at night. Makes us late for everything by forcing someone to help her but on flip flops. This also means eating food she doesn't like all of a sudden just can't stay on the fork/spoon.
All in the same day my beautifully stuck in the sandwich of siblings can sit in the backseat and utter the words, "You can't dwive froo da red light!" I giggle because I'm not driving and because our light was not red. My sweet, helpful, peacemaking 2 and 1/2 year old knows nothing about driving! I think to myself, "You 'tan't' do it! You can't wipe your own tooshy. But Now you know how to Drive! You can't reach the peddles. You think all signs are "Top Signs" and all trucks are fire trucks." None of that will stop her from offering the how-to when she felt confident in her knowledge of the road.
Cachsssss!
The plank in my eye crashed straight through the windshield of reality as I was yanked to a stop with the realization that I am just a 2-year-old that pouts when I don't want to do something and who barks orders when I think I know best.
We know all to well what this is like. As soon as God ask us to do something we are uncomfortable doing by ourselves, we don't like, or we just plain don't want to, "we tan't do it." How does He respond? Love. Patience. Reassurance. Guidance. Right when we need it. When we want to throw in the towel, huff, cross our arms, and pout in a corner, he helps.
Lets parent like the perfect Father. She needs help. If she doesn't want to do something, patient help, reassurance, and guidance is what she needs.
Yet again, my child teaches me something in her innocence about our Father and the nature of our relationship. We have nothing to bring Him.
We knows nothing about driving! We literally 'tan't' do it! We can't wipe our own tooshies without His help. But Now you know how to Drive! We want to tell Him when to go, slow down, and stop. WHAT!?! We can't reach the peddles. We think all signs are "Top Signs" and all trucks are fire trucks. None of that stops us from offering our advise on how to run our lives. Because obviously we have a broad knowledge of how this world works, what's best for us, and how we want things to turn out.
I pray I begin responding the way my little girl would. I'm going to try and put on my big girl panties and do what God ask of me the 1st time knowing He knows me best along with what I can and can't handle. I'm going to zip my lips in the backseat and trust His knowledge of the road ahead.
