Dear Ivy,
I love you for the endless lessons you are teaching me. God is working on both of us. He is shaping us and molding us. We need to be more like Him. Together we will strive for that. I love you, little girl. I wish I could love you the way God loves us both. I wish I was capable of that perfect love. I am sorry I fall short and I am thankful that Christ is your perfect parent.
Love, Mommy
Parenting a toddler is fun! It makes you laugh. It is full of surprises. And it is a blessing. But that is all the good stuff.... and parenting (in general) is not always good stuff. There are hard days too. With that said.....Parenting a toddler can be tiring. It can be tough. It can be sad. It can be disappointing. Sometimes Ivy seems to be in a slump. She's had a string of bad days where nothing is quite right. She is one temper tantrum after another. We are constantly redirecting and motivating her to make the right choice. I feel like I could record myself "scolding" her in a voice I get rather sick of hearing on repeat. I lose my patience and I go to bed sad about her bad day, our bad day. And I always am saying- if she would just do what she is supposed to do. If she would just follow directions. If she would just obey.
And then it hit me.... that is what Jesus says to me EVERYDAY. I am His toddler. I fall short and He is patient and loves me endlessly. I lack self-control and He provides the perfect verse for encouragement. I get angry and He gives me the pang of conviction and then wraps me in His grace. I gossip and I am reminded about His warnings about how dangerous the tongue can be. I mess up and He blesses me and my family, again and again and again. I say I am sorry, I ask for forgiveness and He takes it all away. He loves me that much. He died for me. He sacrificed all of Him because I am His toddler.
This was my ah-ha moment. I want to love Ivy like that and I want to remember my own issues when I parent. I need to pray for Him to grant me more patience and to be slow to anger the same way He parents me. I need to make sure Ivy knows how deep my love runs for her the same way I can look back on so many songs and scriptures as a reminder of how much Christ loves me. I need to be gentle with my words as I teach her. I truly strive to parent my toddler the same way my Father parents me.
I am so thankful that parenting Ivy I am able to learn these lessons. I have never thought of myself as a toddler and the similarities between my dialogue with Ivy and His with me. Today I have had the perfect wake up call to really love my sweet girl like Christ loves me.
