This morning I woke up to gorgeous white puffy overcast clouds as far as the eye can see. It was 53 degrees out with just the slightest breeze. I woke up before my precious four year old daughter and the weather was so perfectly irresistible that I made myself a caramel macchiato, reached for my bible, grabbed a fresh fuzzy blanket from the dryer and headed out to the patio for some sweet time with The Lord. This weather is my favorite. Sometimes The Lord speaks to me through nature. Waking up to this gorgeous day tugged directly at my heart strings. God was singing over me from the moment I woke up. He wanted to spend this special time with me. It was so precious!
As I sat outside snuggled up with my latte and my bible I read through the book of James. I was reminded how we are to bridle our tongues. Our words can speak life and death. I thought of my sweet daughter and the words I speak over her. She is so amazing. She is writing the word of God on her heart daily. The way she has picked up on her memory verses blows me away. Not only that, but she calls them back into her memory when she is uneasy or feeling anxious. She sees the power in those words. Just recently she expressed a desire that I pray with her each morning as well, not just at meals and at bed time. We used to do this when she was a baby and, of course, I gladly have begun praying over her first thing in the morning again. Such joy and thankfulness fills my heart when I think of Raelee’s love for Christ.
Then my mind drifted. Lately I have been having a few behavior issues with my sweet little princess. Once or twice daily she will blatantly disobey me. I have addressed the issue countless times. Sometimes I address it to the point that I feel I’m blue in the face; yet it continues. I’m at the end of my rope with this particular behavior and I’m out of effective ways to discipline. I was sitting on the porch all cuddled up on the couch with my coffee in one hand and my bible in the other now completely focused on my problems.
Suddenly, a light breeze blew the trees across the yard and came up onto the porch. It swirled some leaves up in the air and rustled the pages of my bible. Great! Now I had lost my place. I didn’t even remember what I had been reading. I closed my bible and just sat there as the tree branches across the yard gently swayed in the breeze. I thought, “How should I handle this with Raelee? Hmm.” The world was on my shoulders.
How ironic is that? I went to spend time WITH GOD and became distracted with my problems and decided to focus on them and take them on myself. Do you see anything wrong with that picture? It hit me soon enough. I picked my bible back up and it plopped open to Psalm 119. My eyes went to verse 165 which says, “Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” Three things instantly hit me when I read this verse. First off, I realized God was teaching me through this. I felt really silly for waiting this long to come to him with my parenting struggle. He’s the best parent there ever was, is, or will be. Secondly, my focus was on the word “stumble.” The Lord gave me this image of Raelee trying to run around the house in huge high heels. In the vision she falls and gets a booboo.
I realized something I already knew but I needed to reinforce with my daughter. Following God’s rules helps us to make fewer mistakes, and we no longer have to worry about “stumbling” or getting hurt because of bad decisions. God promises a giant helping of peace when we do what His Word says. I am not making up rules for Raelee just to frustrate her. The rules are to keep her safe and bring both of us peace! When we love God we want to do our best to honor Him and keep His commandments and follow Him and He will keep us safe. He is a good parent. This is the same thing. I love Raelee and made this rule to keep her safe. She loves me and should want to follow those rules with the understanding they help me keep her safe.
About an hour after Raelee woke up I sat her down and spoke with her about the behavior we had been struggling with and explained why I had the rule the way The Lord explained it to me above. Not only did Raelee understand it but she gave me more examples! She said that it would be bad to run in heels by the pool and explained what could happen if we did that! And together we made an official rule for that occasion to keep her safe. She also said she shouldn’t wear roller skates by the pool because she could get hurt. I agreed. She officially understands that the rules are to keep her safe and help her grow.
Isn't it amazing what peace comes when you surrender something to The Lord? He can resolve something in minutes that would take us months, years, or longer to fix. Every day I learn something new from Him. It’s so important to take quiet time with The Lord. Surrender your anxieties, struggles, frustrations, and fears to God. He’s the best parent there is and He always has the best solution.
Written by Whitney Wells
