Today I thought we had it. Ellie was very excited about pooping on the potty. We even had a preliminary pee event that prompted the wearing of real undies. I was thinking that we could really get it this time. She's been backsliding by peeing in the pull-up often. I know part of this is my fault for not reminding her every half-hour, but I really thought she had learned what to do and would if she had encouragement.
So, we were playing a game before her "rest & snooze" time today and I smelled something. I asked if she needed to go to the bathroom. She looked me in the eye and said, "No." I went on her word. (bad choice, momma). Sure enough, after our game was done and we were getting ready for her nap, I asked her if she would go pee before she laid down. She said, "Sure, but you have to change me, too." Yep, she had pooped...in her undies...after she had told me she didn't need to go. GRRR. Ignoring the fact that my sense of smell must have finked out on me by not cluing into this earlier, I tried to stay calm and clean her up, but I couldn't help but say to her that I was disappointed and even a bit mad that she didn't go on the potty, especially after I had asked her about it. She went down for her nap without a story as a consequence and I headed downstairs to contemplate what is going on.
And then it dawned on me...it may be a stretch, but it reminded me of God's grace. How many times have we sinned, even after we said we weren't going to make that mistake again? How many times have we opted for a more "fun" activity, rather than doing what we should, like taking time for devotions or even going to church? And every time, EVERY TIME, God promises His grace on us. We can look Him in the eye, through prayer and petition and then turn around and sin. He will give us grace. I know His grace is unending, but I also know that being truly sorry for our sins means that we do our best NOT to do it again. I know that as a child of God, I have been the recipient of his grace so many times. I hope that through His Word and the relationships of those who are also close to Him, I can work on not making the same mistakes.
As for our dear little potty trainee, maybe that's why the Lord told us to name her...Ellie GRACE.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Oh, Kris...I feel for you here. We are going through this exact scenario with Jack right now, and what you wrote about grace is SO, SO true. I really needed this reminder today...I can't tell you how much. I feel like God is using this whole potty training process to teach me just as much as I'm teaching Jack. I want to model God's grace for him...for I've surely had it poured out in abundance to me!
GREAT post and such encouragement to me today! Thank you!
What a great analogy! And so hard to not blow up when you JUST asked them. Makes you wonder how many times God wants to blow up at us, when we continually make mistakes. Thank goodness he is very patient. Hope things go better.
Yes, we're all poopy princesses. Thanks for making something beautiful out of something stinky!
Post a Comment