Monday, July 6, 2015

Eye Drops and Chocolate Cake

Have you ever felt really guilty about something and then been easily manipulated into things later? Like giving a two-year-old eye drops and then chocolate cake?



Marie came home from the doctor in an okay mood for a two-year-old on a Monday morning. She was sleepy, but other than that feeling alright. That is, until she was laid down on a towel on a bed. She knew something was wrong, so she started crying. It was the only reasonable thing to do under the circumstances.

"Shh shh shh. It's okay sweetie." Sara was cooing at her. That just made her scream even louder.

"Hey, calm down. I'm going to tell you what we're going to do sweetie." Now Mommy was talking. Marie quieted. "Okay sweetie. I'm going to put these drops in the corner of your eye...." Marie didn't like where this was going. She started to cry again. Mommy's voice rose to be heard. "Then I'm going to open your eye so that the drop can go in. Okay?"

This was not okay. Not in the least. Marie squeezed her eyes shut tight so that no one could get any sort of drops in them.

Sara grabbed her hands and held them down and Kira kept her from rolling over while Mommy did just what she had outlined. Marie screamed and screamed.

It was soon over, but the sympathy was still evident on Mommy's face. Marie decided to take advantage of it. "That, me?" She pointed to the piece of chocolate cake sitting on the counter. It was a long shot, but Mommy felt bad for putting drops in her eyes.

"You want cake?" Mommy was somewhat surprised.

Within a minute though, Marie was seated at the table, fork in hand, ready to consume her very own moist slice of cake. It was soon polished off.

"Me, more?"

* * *

The moral of the story is get eye drops so Mommy will give you chocolate cake.

-Kira

Friday, July 3, 2015

God's Got It

I've been thinking a lot lately. Especially about the next four or five years as I'm about to start my first year of high school and prepare for college. I've been trying to come up with all sorts of different things I can do to prepare and make lots of goals to meet and go above and beyond what my mind tells me is "average."

I want to start a business, get scholarships, and make good grades. And I've been trying to do all this by myself. I've read books, blog posts, and asked people questions. But I haven't asked God to take the wheel. Sure, I've prayed. But it's been more along the lines of asking God to make things go the way I want rather than following His plan and reaping great rewards.

About two and a half years ago, we found out that a baby that we had been taking care of since she was born would be going to live somewhere else. It was heart-breaking. I didn't understand what God could possibly be thinking. We loved her so much and took such good care of her. Why would He take her from us?

A month or so later we got a phone call. It was the grandparents of the baby girl asking if we wanted to come see her. Now we see her all the time. As I write, she's napping about five feet from me. I didn't see God's providence in letting her be taken at the time. I still don't see all the reasons, but that lesson in faith is one I'll never forget. God's been reminding me of it as I push past Him and try to make my own plans. I can't ignore it any more.

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

God has proven Himself faithful to me personally before and He will do it again. I just need to have faith and believe that He will take care of my high school years. God's got complete control of my life and He knows what He's doing and can see all of the long-term consequences when I can't.

-Kira

P.S. For anyone interested, I would recommend the book The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. I read it for school last semester and it really opened my eyes to God's providence in everything that ever happens.