Father Knows Best
When Josephine was about 2 years old I started a list called ‘What Josephine has Taught Me about God’. The list came about as I started reflecting on my daily interactions with her and what God was doing in my life.
Both of my children were born with a healthy dose of stubbornness and she has a bit more of an independent streak than her brother. As she was learning how to do new things she’d declare, with way more attitude than a toddler should have, that she could do it on her own. At first I tried to force myself on her; not ready to deal with her impending frustration. Then one day it hit me…if it got too hard and she just couldn’t figure it out on her own, she’d come and ask for my help. It was after one of these episodes that I had to LOL at myself.
I’m pretty stubborn and my Mom often says that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to the independent streak. However as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to learn the hard way that if I depend on God for all of my needs, I would save some time, energy, and frustration. Now let me be clear…I save some time, energy, and frustration. Because I’m human, the flesh still takes over sometimes and I attempt to go out on my own and ‘do it myself’. I CHOOSE not to consult God about my decisions or PRAY and ask Him for strength and end up falling out begging Him to fix it!
God gives us free will. He wants us to use it to make choices and He wants us to act on our faith. But he also knows we get ahead of ourselves sometimes. But like any good parent, He’s there to pick us up and help us out when we don’t figure it out; when we can’t do it alone…which we NEVER can because He gives us the strength to do it in the first place!
There’s so much I could tell you about what Josephine has taught me…but I’ll save that for another post.
Until next time…