Stubborn, Too

I know this is really hard to read because of the lack of white space, and I apologize. If you have any ideas why this blog won't let me indent or put in blank lines between paragraphs, I would appreciate it. I went to "help" and my settings are correct.

Perhaps you were looking for updates from China or with the girls, and those will be coming, but God really spoke to me today and I wanted to share it.

I told the girls to clean their rooms before playing this morning, and gairette refused, so I told her she would have to sit on a chair on the back porch until she chose to help Saige. Well, she kept finding ways to play. She scooted up to the chalkboard, fiddled with sunscreen, kicked at stuff. Finally, I moved her chair into a corner in the kitchen where it was a bit harder to distract herself and she might be more motivated to obey.

Wrong.

Things such as the doorknobs became enticing, so I said, "gairette, you have a choice. You can go help Saige clean your room and then go play or sit quietly in the chair. If you do not sit quietly, you will have to stand up and put your nose in the corner" - a penalty I never used before, but I knew I had to win this battle. Well, wouldn't you know it, a couple of minutes later, she looked me right in the eye, "I want to stand and put my nose in the corner," and she pushed away her chair and stood, quipping in the sweetest voice, "I just don't want to listen to you."

And it dawned on me, if I am honest with myself, I am just like gairette. There are some unpleasant tasks and choices that God has called me to do before "playing" and I sit around fiddling with meaningless things like sunscreen and doorknobs as I refuse to obey. So God moves me to a more uncomfortable position but instead of complying, I look at him and say, "You know what, I am going to choose to make myself even more uncomfortable. I just don't want to listen to you."

So as I pray for my children's obedience, I am praying for my own, because like me, God knows he has to win the battle.