One day, as I realized what time it was, I quickly rushed down the stairs to start dinner as we had to get Skye out the door and to Kids Club in less than an hour. I looked at Skye who was watching a show on PBS and I asked her to start picking up her abandoned Barbies immediately; for which Skye spun around and looked at me and then looked at her Barbies, which I do admit were placed nicely amongst the Barbie furniture that she had set up as an apartment on our couch, and proceeded to throw quite a nice temper tantrum that also included tears mind you.
She threw herself upon the couch and amongst her Barbie friends claiming that she never got to play with them. I raised my voice at her and told her that after she finished homework she had the choice to play Barbies but she asked me to turn on the television instead. I reminded her that it was her choice to watch TV and not to play Barbies so if she was upset with anybody it should be with herself. This didn't settle well with her but I could tell she knew it was the truth.
As I was thinking about that lovely moment in parenting, I realized that we often react that way with God. He has given us a free will (and although I have argued with some people in regards to this, my thoughts about it are still the same). God has given us free will--the freedom to make choices. Some choices are better than others, and while God sometimes may try to send us subtle hints as to what choice we should make, it is still our choice to listen to Him or not just the same. But if we make the wrong choice, boy do we like to throw a hissy fit at God, blaming Him for the consequences when many times the outcomes are because of our decision and actions.
If you make a decision about something and it turns out to be a poor one, or one that you are not entirely pleased with the outcome, don't blame God, or blame others for that matter, because you know that in the end you made the decision. No one forced you to do anything. Stop making excuses too. Own it and learn from it.
This is merely a place of self-reflection for me. After recent events in my life, I have learned that although some doors of life open that we may prefer stay closed nice and tight while others close that we prefer stay wide open, God is there every step of the way and He can use anything for His glory and blessing!
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