Selah: 21 months

I cannot believe that Selah will be turning 2 in just three short months.  It seems like everyday she is becoming more independent and growing her little personality.  She says "I do it" when I'm trying to feed her or brush her teeth.  It's so funny to note the differences between how I treated Jackson (the FIRST) and how I'm treating Selah (the next).  I've really tried to encourage Jackson to be independent, try things, experiement, even at the cost of my clean house.  But when Selah says "I do it" my mind immediately flashes to me cleaning up the shipwrecked aftermaths of all her maiden voyages in toddlerhood.  It's just so much easier when "mommy do it."  But I'm really trying to let go and allow her those same shipwrecks that Jackson had.  (I can only imagine how hard this is when they get to be teenagers!!)  As we head towards 2, she is also starting to throw herself on the ground in a temper tantrum when she doesn't get something she wants.  I'm trying my best to remember all those great parenting articles I read about how to deal with these tantrums...you know, when I read articles.  Hmm...might be time to renew that subscription to Parents magazine. 

Selah's blossoming independence is not entirely like a scene from Braveheart, though.  There are two really sweet phrases I hear frequently throughout the day:

1-  I show you

Sometimes I get frustrated when I can't understand somthing she is trying to tell me, so I started saying "show me."  She picked up on this and will use the phrase herself.  I'll be working on something and she'll come take my hand and say "I yo you."  She will lead me to something, maybe a toy she wants me to play with her or something that she wants but can't reach, and say "here."  I love the communication! 

2 - I help you

The first time it happened I was folding laundry.  I was taking a stack of folded clothes to my room to put them away, leaving behind a few other stacks to put in other rooms.  I heard her following behind me saying "I hep you."  When I turned around I saw her carrying what was once a pile of neatly folded washcloths.  It was now a wad of a few washcloths with several other dropped behind her like a trail of breadcrumbs to lead her back to the living room.  Yes, I had to re-fold all of them, but honestly I wasn't upset.  It was so sweet!  She often asks to "hep" me now, and of course I'm trying to encourage that!  Now when I'm putting away laundry I will intentionally give her a few items to carry to make her feel like she's helping without destroying one of my piles!

Last cute thing: She is playing much more independently these days too.  Her favorite thing is to take piles of stuff and move them to another location.  Yesterday she was playing in Jackson's room.  When I found her she had taken all of his suffed animals and piled them in the middle of his floor.  She had also taken all of his shoes out of the closet and laid them neatly in a row.  Here she was carefully lining up all of Jackson's racecars.  She really keeps herself busy! 

And she LOVES her brother!

It's Personal

Recently I was talking to a friend of mine about a certain recording artist.  My friend was telling me that she really didn't like the artist, even went as far as to say she hated him.  "Why?" I asked.  "I've heard he's real jerk.  Very cocky," was her response.  Her reasoning struck me as funny.  Her opinion of the artist wasn't based on his music at all, but on his character, of which my friend had no first-hand knowledge.  If she had said that she didn't like the guy's music I could've respected her view, because at least she's heard the music.  Experienced it for herself.  But how could she judge this man's character when she's never even met him?  Her experience in this situation is far from first-hand.  It's more like "I know a guy who heard from somone else...," or "Someone told me that they overheard or saw from a distance..."  That's hardly fair.  She doesn't know the real story.  Perhaps this artist had a particularly stressful day and lost his cool with someone once....it happens!  Could it be that a casual observer misinterpreted his actions? 

It happens to me all the time!  Picture it: Walmart, 2 kids, missed naps, getting hungry, but mom has just a few more groceries to get before heading home.  In that instance anyone who passes me would make all kinds of assumptions about my kids and my parenting that are completely off-base.  Has anyone ever misinterpreted something you did?  Didn't you wish they would have just given you a chance to explain or that they would've known your heart? 

It got me thinking, how many people think of God the same way that my friend thinks of the artist or the Walmart shopper thinks of me?  Made judgments based on what they've heard.  Written Him off based on third-hand information that is wildly distorted.  They know someone who was hurt by someone who "called themselves a Christian" (forgetting that Christians are humans too and screw up occasionally, but God is perfect).  They've heard about "God's way" and want no part of it (when really they've heard isolated scriptures taken completely out of context).  My hearts aches for these people!  Oh, I wish they would just give God a chance to explain Himself and know His heart.  Well, there's good news for all of us.  God is not some rock star that you have to give an arm and a leg to buy a backstage pass just for chance to meet Him once in a lifetime.  The bible tells us that we have a 24/7 all-access pass to Him personally.  Jesus tells us that we are not considered as servants who only have limited knowledge of the boss' work, but we are friends with the boss himself (John 15:15)!  We can know him intimately. 

Have you judged God from afar?  Then why not take the chance to know Him personally?  Even if you don't believe in Him yet, ask Him to show Himself to you.  Have a first-hand expereience.  Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8).