I often say that I learn a lot of life lessons from my kids. Sometimes they come during huge moments where you experience some sort of life altering event and at other times they come in the form of ... a brush.
There is rarely a dull moment in the mornings when everyone is getting ready for work, school and daycare. Everyone wants something different to eat for breakfast, the baby typically cries to wear one shoe and one boot (at the same time) and the teenager is ALWAYS looking for something. The most regular struggle, however, had always come from my 5 year-old son.
He absolutely could not stand getting his hair brushed and would start practicing his whining at least 10 minutes before I even started on his hair. He claimed that all of the brushes were too hard and that they always hurt. He would even ask me what number he had to count to in order for me to stop brushing his hair.
I'm typing this in the past tense because this all changed over the holiday season. My parents came to visit and like always, they brought things back that we accidentally left behind during past trips. This time their G-Diddy brought back a brush that I forgot years ago that he happened to find in my old room. Even though it was mine, I left it so long ago that my son sees it as G-Diddy's brush. Now I can tell you that this brush is the biggest one in the house but most importantly it is indeed the hardest brush we own.
Even though this brush is the biggest and the hardest, Darren always requests it and NEVER complains while getting his hair brushed anymore. Not that I missed the whining, but one day I just had to ask, "why don't you complain anymore about getting your hair brushed? This brush is the biggest and the hardest?" Without blinking an eye, my son answered, "because it is G-Diddy's brush!" I may be looking too deep into this but what instantly dropped in my spirit was that some things are easier to tolerate and deal with when you know where they come from. You see, G-Diddy is my son's best friend. He admires his G-Diddy. He looks forward to spending time with his G-Diddy. Most importantly, he trusts his G-Diddy. Clearly if G-Diddy gave him something - it can't be that bad!
What if we applied this simple logic to our relationship with God? We all go through tough times, deal with things and people that are unpleasant and straight up dread having to handle certain responsibilities. Sometimes we get hit with something out of left field that just seems so unfair and leaves us in total despair. It is natural to get anxious and become scared or fearful when we find ourselves in the middle of a tough time, but this is where faith has to step in. We have to trust that if God allowed it, He will see us through it. We have to trust that if He brought us this far, He isn't going to leave us. We have to trust that if God did it before, He will do it again.
I'm so thankful for my son's relationship with his G-Diddy and I am so thankful for my relationship with God. Now if I can only convince my son that G-Diddy also wants him to be patient with his baby sister...
