A piece of waffle

It was a tough day and I was ready to go to bed. The problem - it was only 8:00 am. The day started out well - Levi woke up early and cuddled in bed with me for a few minutes. We had a long talk about his poor behavior choices the night before and about how we were going to be kind to his little brother today. I thought we were doing well until we went in to get Ben up. We hadn't even left Ben's room when they started fighting over a toy. Hadn't we just talked about this? There was lots of arguing and Levi ended up in his room for a while. We both needed a break from each other.

About 30 minutes later Levi was eating his breakfast. I think we were both determined to put the morning behind us and make it a good day. Ben was off playing and Graham was happily hanging out on his blanket. Levi, trying so hard to be good, finished his breakfast and asked to be excused. So far, so good. I told him he could go play after he brought his plate and bowl over to the counter. He started to get upset, as he could hear Ben in the playroom and could hardly stand that he wasn't involved in the action. I wasn't budging, however, and insisted that he bring his dishes over. After some whining he brought over his bowl but left the plate on the table. I told him he also had to bring over his plate before he could go play.

"Levi, it will only take a second. You could have been playing by now if you would have done this the first time I asked."

The whining got more intense and my passionate child started to get quite upset. I then realized that it was not at all about the plate.

Ben walked by with some coveted cars and it was just killing Levi not to be a part of the action. But NOT enough to just obey and get on with it. He had to whine and cry for a while. Then, i couldn't believe what I saw him do.

Levi took one piece of his leftover waffle off the plate and threw it on the table. He then picked up the plate and angrily put it on the counter. He mumbled something about "but not that piece". He was still sniffling and ran off to play.

I was a bit stunned, and my first instinct was to go get him, yell, & make him pick up the food. A power struggle at its finest. I then realized that this wasn't about obedience at all. It was about his heart. So I chose a different route.

I went and got him and we sat on the couch for a while and talked about what had happened. We talked about the morning, his brother, and why he needs to learn to obey. One of Levi's love languages is definitely touch so we cuddled while we talked. It went well. I then offered to help him pick up the food so he could go play. We walked into the kitchen together, he put the food into the sink, and he was off.

It didn't take long for me to see how Levi and I are so much alike. Obedience is hard, especially when my heart is troubled or being pulled in the wrong direction. I could almost hear the Lord saying, "now you know how I feel!".

How often am I obedient with most things but yet holding back in that one little area? Almost as if I say, "Ok, Lord, I obeyed you mostly. Just ignore that one small piece of waffle. I'm not giving you my all."

But obedience for obedience sake isn't what God wants from me. He wants my heart. And his first inclination isn't to yell at me and demand that I obey. He is patient, full of grace, and always draws me to intimacy with him. The amazing thing is that intimacy with Him always leads me to obedience.

Lord, give me a heart that longs to know you deeper and more intimately each day, leading me to a life of obedience. And give me wisdom to teach these things to Levi, Ben & Graham - that I might always respond with grace yet require obedience.