"You've never lived 'til you've met Christ!" ~Steve Fernandez

"You've never lived 'til you've met Christ!" ~Steve Fernandez
"You've never lived 'til you've met Christ!" ~Steve Fernandez

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Potty Training and the Glory of Christ

                     I know what you're thinking, "Wow Lindsey, you're really stretching it. How are you going to connect potty training to the glory of Christ?"  I have wondered that myself, but the more I meditate on it, the more I see the connection.               
So, my precious bundle of sin Giovanni is now turning the corner to be 3 years old and as of a few weeks ago, there was no potty training in sight.  Okay, I know maybe your child was one of those kids who potty trained themselves at 18 months old.  Well, let me just tell you that if so, that is a blessing from God and definitely not every child...and definitely not mine!  Both of my boys had no interest in the toilet and they were just fine running around with their diaper on and having me change them.  I know boys are said to mature later than girls, so I didn't expect them to make any amazing leaps when it came to this.  
But when they start hiding out to go #2, knowing exactly what they're doing, and then coming to me to tell me to change their dirty diaper, then you know it's time!  They are just being plain LAZY by that point.  Then I ask myself, do I really want to start this process of taking them every 15 minutes to the bathroom, more than likely having a few accidents and having to add messes to my already messy house?  No, I'd rather just keep them in diapers so I don't have to interrupt any of MY daily activities that I want to do.  Then it hit me, I'm being just as LAZY and selfish as them! 
 I know they're ready to be trained they just need to be pushed to do it.  My heart was not much different from theirs.  I also needed to be pushed.  I didn't want to fit this inconvenience of potty training  into my schedule. (As I'm proof reading this post, my son runs in from playing outside needing to go to the bathroom, let me just say we didn't quite make it in time :)
                     
Some verses that spoke to my laziness are: 
           Proverbs 31:27- "She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."
           Proverbs 10:4- "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."
                     
                      So now to the glory of Christ. Is my heart attitude of selfishness and laziness bringing glory to Christ?  No. Am I trusting Him that He will give me the grace and strength to get through this possibly long and arduous task?  No.  I know you're probably thinking, Lindsey it's just potty training, it's not that serious! Well, let me also bring up another point.  The money that I would be spending on diapers every month (which adds up to a lot per year!) , once my son is out of them, could I give that money to God every month to be used for a greater cause and to further His kingdom?  Yes!  So when you think of it that way, potty training is a big deal in God's eyes.  Just as the poor widow who put in two copper coins in the treasury, which was ALL that she had to live on, amounted to more than the rich man gave out of his surplus, so is everything we do with a heart that desires to bring glory to Christ.  So even if it's as "little" as potty training, it can still amount to great heavenly treasures as long as our motive for doing it is for the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58
               "Therefore, my beloved brothers (or mothers), be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."