Never mind that he had eaten a full banana just 2 hours before.
Never mind that he had eaten a piece of toast, a banana, a whole avocado, a baby food pouch and handfuls of goldfish crackers just this morning.
Never mind that I was standing there graciously offering him milk or cheerios.
Never mind any of that. He wanted another banana.
As he threw himself about, I tried protecting his head from crashing into the floor and tried gently explaining "You already ate a banana. If you ate another one, your belly would hurt. You don't want that. Let's find something else to eat..."
Eventually, he settled down. Lying flat on his back in the middle of the kitchen- arms and legs spread wide. Giving me this "Well, Mom, wasn't that convincing?" look.
It took all that I had not to laugh at him. He was being completely ridiculous and irrational.
I'm very grateful that God had filled with me with grace for that moment. I had peace and patience that were Spirit-produced, not by my own flesh. At a different time, I may have become angry or wanted to cry alongside him.
This time I had grace enough to watch patiently and to wonder if I ever tantrum like this sometimes.
Not literally, obviously, but in my heart- do I ever cry out that it's not fair? That I really, really, really want something and the fact that God's not giving it to me is because He's mean and unkind. Do I ever do that? Far more subtle, of course, but still, do I sometimes think that I know what is best for myself? Will demanding it from God help anything?
Or, when things don't go my way, should I look at all the things that God has provided in the past (the toast, the 1st banana, the avocado... : ) ) and trust that He's got my best interest in mind and that maybe I don't need another banana right now, after all.
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