Obedience

Naomi is growing and changing so much, it seems like every day she has learned something new. As she began to be more active it was natural to begin to give her instruction: helping put away toys and books, showing her the safe way to get up and down the stairs, not to play with plug ins, and how to hold a sippy cup, among many other things. Most of these things, I try to teach her for her safety. I know what can happen if she tries to stand while she walks up the stairs, she will fall (at least until she is bigger). Her legs simply can not reach to the next step, she needs to get down and crawl. Not only do I not want her to fail and get frustrated, I can see the cement floor at the bottom of the stairs and know that if she tried to go alone and I was not there to catch her, she would get seriously hurt. There are so many aspects that she can not yet process and understand.

Just recently she learned to say the word no. She has yet to say it in response when being told something to do (however I know that time is coming). She will walk around pointing at things that I had told her no to in the past, saying no repeatedly. This is most obvious when she comes into the bathroom as I am getting ready. She will walk in, go up to the trash can, point and say "no" then comes the toilet, "no" followed by the bathroom tissue and shower. A lot of the times once she has made her rounds, she will continue saying no as she goes back to the toilet paper and starts to unroll it. Trying to get as much on the floor as possible before mommy notices.

It is amazing to me how much this can remind me of my relationship with God. There have been many times in my life that I have struggled to trust God's leading. Where I haven't understood or been able to see the big picture. Sometimes it didn't make sense so I would fight against obedience and when I would finally give in, I was able to see more of what God had in mind and where He was working. Sometimes it would be difficult and I would want to give up and my loving Father would be there to encourage me down the narrow path. There have also been times where it has been so easy to focus on the "no". Where I dwell on the law, the rules, all the things that as a believer I am called not to be a part of. I would get so focused that I would completely loose sight of the freedom that I had in Christ. I would loose sight of the love that God poured out as He gave instruction, because He could see the big picture. He knew the consequences that would follow and didn't want that for me. he wanted me to prosper and grow. He didn't sit there making a list of rules to ruin our fun. He made rules because He loves us. Even though I am far from the perfect parent, I definitely identify with God in this area more since becoming a mom. He is not an absent father that only comes to make rules. He is a loving Father that wants to be there spending all the time He can with me. He wants to make me laugh and smile and be there for me when I cry. What a beautiful thing.