Growing Pains

Just this morning I was thinking about how wonderfully distracting it is to have someone so cute in your rear-view mirror. This evening a whole different scene took place. Abbey had her first tantrum. I am hoping it was due to the time change and the fact that she had a very short (1 hour) nap today. She usually says "no home" when I pick her up from daycare, meaning that she wants to go out and have some fun as opposed to dinner, bath, and bedtime. Sometimes we do go out for some errands or out to dinner and she loves it, but of course we usually do go home. Tonight the whole thing escalated as we drove past a shopping center where I had recently taken her for her first frozen yogurt (with mini m&ms). I don't let her have many treats so it was a really big deal. When she realized we were going past the same place today she completely melted down. I was shocked. She was literally yelling at me to go back and had a fit the whole way home. For a brief moment I considered giving in and then got a hold of myself, what was I thinking? Reinforce this behavior? But since she never acts like this and was short on sleep I ignored as best I could (and prayed softly, but loud enough for her to hear) until we got home and then had a special talk, followed by another one before bedtime, at which time she said she was sorry and I explained future consequences for yelling at Mama. I hope we both have a very good night's sleep.
I've been tied up all week with report cards and taxes but am free at last. We celebrated by going to get Abbey's Easter dress yesterday. This followed and emotional morning at church. My sister and brother-in-law resigned from pastoring our church last week. I did pretty well at their big farewell party, but when it came to going this week and not having them there, it just about did me in. I was bawling through the worship and kept thinking "I can't do this, I have to leave." I could see a guest speaker up front and his wife and can you believe my attitude... I was thinking that I didn't like them, for no reason, I just didn't like that they were there and from the back of their heads I didn't like them...very silly, I know. Anyway, when he actually got up to share it turned out that this couple had adopted three children from a country in Africa that has never had any children adopted out to America. It took them six years and they made trips over during that time and decided they would parent these children even if they had to do it long distance and could never bring them home. It was a wonderful message and of course I loved this couple so much as I heard their story. Fickle, huh? But God really met me right where I was at and just when I thought I couldn't move forward he had the right people there at the right time.