Are You As Reasonable As a Five-Year-Old?

Dilara is opinionated, outspoken and has a head full of great ideas. She can be stubborn sometimes and I sometimes let her suffer the consequences of her not- so-well- thought-out actions. Experience IS a GREAT teacher, but it isn't always the BEST teacher.

She made a picture with red "glitter glue" and folded the paper up. She brought it to me to open up and look at. After I looked at it and expressed appreciation for its beauty, I laid it down to dry. She wanted it to be folded back up. I tried to explain to her that it needed to be OPEN when it dried, THEN she could fold it back up. She yelled and screamed about how it was HER picture and SHE could to whatever she wanted to with it.  I said, "I will fold it back up to dry IF you will be quiet and listen to me.  She got quiet and glared at me with crossed arms, but with open ears  as I said, "This picture is made of wet wet glue. The primary purpose of glue is to stick things together, right? Therefore,  if I fold this "glue picture" up while it is wet, what will happen?"  She continued to glare at me in silence, so I answered the question, myself. "Isn't it true that you can expect that the glue will dry while the surfaces of the paper inside are touching each other? If the glue dries while the surfaces of the paper are touching, you will be unable to unfold the picture later, because the parts inside the fold will be glued together in such a way that if you try to open the picture, it will tear the picture up, or else not open at all. You will never again be able to show anyone this beautiful picture because you want to do what you THINK will give you your desired result, and do it YOUR way rather than choose to listen to someone who knows better than you and wants to not see you mess up something beautiful and that you value so much. If you follow my suggestion and let it dry while the paper is flat, the glue will dry on the entire page, THEN, since the glue is flexible, you will be able to fold it again and open it again, just the way you meant for it to do in the first place. Which way sounds better to you now? Folding it to dry, or leaving it flat to dry?"  After a moment, she said, "You're right. Let's do what you said,"

If a strong willed 5 year old can set aside her own preconceptions and be open to the fact that the path she is taking will NOT lead to her desired results, shouldn't an adult be able to?

We should always stay open to the possibility that someone might know a little better than you as to what the facts are and what the outcome will be. Anyone can make an emotional decision. Sometimes, our emotions are all that it seems like we have to go on sometimes. But we ignore facts and evidence and experiences and mistakes of others of others at our own peril.

This is one of the most comforting verse in the Bible to me, and I don't want anyone to take the wind out of my sails by saying that it doesn't mean what I think it means, even though I still think I am free to interpret and apply it the way it "speaks" to me personally. I think we are all "called" to God, but some of the things he "calls" us to go through to work "good" (what good? Hopefully we'll see later, like in the story of Joseph) may cause us to question that God still loves us and cares for us when he allows us to suffer. I use this verse to remind me that it isn't
"all about me" and even if I cry out to God to reveal his plans to me in advance (like when I got pregnant with Dilara and I asked "God, WHAT are you THINKING to allow this?"), and even if I NEVER see the good end result that came from my "challenge du jour," I can take this verse as a promise that God is in control, he knows what is going on, and I should be honored to play any role he asks me to and I should be confident that he is making something good out of all the mess I make, step into, or get dumped onto me by others. God knows my heart and I love him more than anything and I WANT him to use me to do his "calling" in this life.

Lots of emotional/mental turmoil for me the past couple of weeks. Many family members are doing/thinking things I don't approve of, but I can't control. Last week's news wrung me out so badly emotionally, I feel like I am "dazed and confused" after the latest revelation.

Early this morning I had a dream. I was in a volkswagon "bug" and was going somewhere to do something and I got lost on the way. I pulled over to the side of the road and the ground seemed unstable, so I pulled farther ahead in a place that looked like it was a safer place to park. I got out of the car and walked up to the road to try to get my bearings and to call for help. On the way to my parking spot, I had passed a police car and the thought didn't occur to me to ask for help, but I was just wondering if I was doing anything wrong that I'd get pulled over for (of if I had a brake light out or something that wasn't my fault, but I was just unaware of), As I got up to the road, I saw the ground open up where I had first parked my car, but moved away from, then I saw a sinkhole partially swallow my car. I could not believe it. For some reason, there was a long rope trailing from behind the bumper of my car, and somehow I dragged the car, all by myself, to where I could drive it. As I was standing beside the car thinking about what had happened and what I would do next, the policeman I had passed, who was on the top of the hill and had been watching me the whole time, drove up and asked me if he could help. Then I woke up.