Trusting your Father for good things
Jeremiah’s been sneaking. A lot. Despite the very clear consequences and multiple heart to hearts. He’s been stealing. Keys mostly. Our keys. Hiding them and lying about it.
Finally we came to the root of it. It’s all centered around the play station. My son is a video game addict. It’s seriously like a drug to him. It’s nearly all he thinks about. He will do anything to get to play it. We have had to put a lock on the basement door so that Miah would not be able to sneak down at 4:00 AM and play video games until the rest of us non-addicts get up. That’s not the only reason the locks are there, but it helps. Except when he steals our keys and hides them and then lies about having them. He figured out how to cheat the lie detector test for a while, but I eventually got smart. Then Miah and I had a long chat. Why was he doing this? He drew a picture of my constantly telling him he can’t and him asking why. He doesn’t understand that his choices have consequences, and he explained to me that he doesn’t believe that when he earns the privilege that he will actually receive the prize. It’s all about trust. Will you give me good things? Can I really trust that you will do what you say you are going to do? Or will I be continually punished?
Dad has had many heart to hearts with the boy over the past week, and for a couple of days thing have improved dramatically. As of last night he was only 1 day of excellent behavior away from his beloved play station. He couldn’t handle it. He stole Rachel’s keys, snuck downstairs sometime early this morning (I get the boys up at 6:30, and he was incredibly chipper and waiting for me) , and played the play station. Thankfully, his lack of long term memory and logic comes in handy, as he forgot to unplug the machine and left our living room blanket and his favorite stuffed animal at the bottom of the stairs. He did, however, remember to re-lock the basement door.
Anywho, this afternoon will be interesting. He doesn’t know I know any of this yet. To the best of my ability, there won’t be any yelling, just reinforcing the boundaries and consequences that have already been set in place. But it won’t be fun.
He doesn’t trust that we will give him good things.
This phrase has really stuck with me lately. Do I trust my heavenly Father to give me good things? When I’ve been hoping and praying for years to bear a child from my womb, do I trust that the promises I believe have been spoken over my life will come to be? Or am I trying to steal my Father’s keys and get it on my own? Our boys are not the issue, but the thought of infant adoption or embryo adoption has been at the forefront of my mind lately, but I’m wondering if in my heart I’m not trying to steal the keys from my Father to get what I want before His timing. A dear friend reminded me yesterday to not give up on my dreams. I’m trying so hard to figure out the difference between giving up and being flexible to what the Holy Spirit has for us.
Oh, and praise the Lord for how he is working in my husband’s heart right now. YAY ,GOD!
The adventure continues.
Blessings!
Hannah
