What God Taught Me While Putting on My Make-up This Morning

Nearly every morning we all wake up about 7:00 or so.  Well, I say that, but what I really mean is Lily wakes up, then wakes the rest of us up at 7:00 or so…  Anyway, while Chris is getting ready for work, I take the kids downstairs and we eat breakfast and hang out awhile until Caleb is ready to take his morning nap.  As soon as he goes down, I rush to jump in the shower and get myself and Lily ready for the day before he wakes up.  Sometimes I get lucky and he takes a nice long nap and I have plenty of time to get things done.  Sometimes, though he wakes up while I am still getting ready.  I normally stop what I am doing and go straight to get him up because I don't like to hear him cry.   The problem is that this normally doesn't really solve my problem because Caleb apparently is not too amused by sitting on the floor and watching me put on my make-up and dry my hair.  Unimpressed by the little toys I hand him to play with, he usually continues to fuss and just wants me to pick him up and hold him.

So, this morning as soon as I finished in the shower I heard him fussing in his crib.  I still had quite a bit left to do to finish getting ready including putting on my make-up, doing my hair, and getting dressed.  I knew that it would take me twice as long to get those things done with him up and fussing on the floor.  I would feel like I had to stop every other minute to make him happy.  So, I made the decision to just let him stay in the crib and fuss until I was done.  I knew that I would be able to accomplish my goal much more efficiently this way.  So, as I was listening to him cry, my heart was breaking.  I just hated it.  But, I knew that even though he was crying, he really would be ok.  I knew that these tears were temporary and I had to just let him cry so that my bigger goal could be accomplished.  I knew he didn't understand that I was not just letting him cry for the heck of it, but I knew I needed to remain focused on my bigger goal.  I still love him SO much and still heard every cry for help, even though I was letting him be sad for a few minutes.  As I was thinking all of this, that is when I heard God talking to me.  My eyes opened to the realization that sometimes God does the same exact thing with us as our Father, but in much bigger situations.

He also has an ultimate goal.  He loves us SO much, but He knows that sometimes He just has to let us cry to Him while He is working on His bigger plans.  He still hears our every cry and it breaks His heart. But, He knows we WILL be ok in the end.  If He wants to accomplish His goal, sometimes He has to let us endure things are we just don't plain understand.  In the end though, He will come to us, pick us up, wipe our tears away, and pour out more love than we could ever imagine!!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

As always, please share with others if you feel led to do so!