Sweet Izzy Story

I'm reading this book about how to take care of the 'me' in mommy and it has some really good practical ways to incorporate scripture memorization, prayer, Bible study, ect into your every day routines (plus a ton of other things but alas I don't feel like naming them all) as well as journal ideas so that you don't forget things that happened in your life. She talks about how often our kids do something special/cute/etc and we say, 'I've got to write that down.' but then we never do and she talks about carrying a notebook around so you have immediate ability to write down... but I'm rambling. I haven't gotten my little notebook yet but I don't want to forget a sweet little Izzy moment so I decided to write it here.

Anyway...

Last night Izzy decided she was hungry at about 8pm which is usually her bed time but she hadn't eaten much so I made her mac n' cheese and let her watche Psalty while I did the dishes. She yelled out to me, 'All done.' So I asked her to bring her bowl and spoon to me. A few minutes went by but no dish so I asked her again to bring me her dish. Again nothing. So I asked one more time and in mid sentence she came to the kitchen door with her spoon. I asked where her bowl was and she looked at me and said, "heavy.' In my mind I was a bit annoyed that she didn't do what I asked and wondered why it would be heavy when she ate most of her meal. And then God said to me... 'patience Melissa. Take a minute to breathe before getting frustrated.' And that's when I realized that I had given Izzy a normal bowl because all of hers were dirty and it would have been heavy for her to carry. So I apologized to her and sent her to her room to get dressed for bed. I finished the dishes and headed back to her room.

She got ready for bed, we prayed and sang, I tucked her in and went back out the living room to get her bowl. On the way though, I almost tripped over something. I stopped, looked down and saw her bowl... about half-way between where she had been eating and the kitchen. My heart sank as I realized that she tried her hardest to bring me the bowl but indeed it was just too heavy for her to carry. I imagined her walking slowly, trying to please mommy while I was in the kitchen getting frustrated that she wasn't obeying me (when in fact she was.)

It's amazing the ways in which God speaks to you, the things He uses to teach you. I'm thankful that God spoke to me before I let my inward frustration come through in words/actions towards Izzy. And I'm thankful that God has been teaching me more and more about contentment in Him, joy, patience, and how to balance my life. It's been an amazing 2 weeks of being back in HK.. of which I will share more at another time but I just couldn't forget this moment because it really touched my heart.