This is not how it was meant to be.

Today I came face to face with 'mini-me.' A 3-ft version of myself, stubborn and unyielding to any pressure to do what I asked. To say this complicated Day 2 of potty training is an understatement. All in all, our statistics for today are better than yesterday, but my cup at the end of this day is bone dry and my patience is paper thin. I truly believe my child has had more sugar in these past two days than in her whole life up to this point.

I struggle with the notion sometimes that "this is not how it was meant to be." That - in an ideal world - it wouldn't matter all that much if she potty-trained quickly, because we would be able to work on this gradually, over the course of time, allowing her to move at her own pace and learn in her own time. Part of me does feel that cramming a developmental milestone into a matter of five days is an offense to the Maker - that it's probably not the way He designed it to happen and therefore the parties involved in such a crime feel more stress, more burden, and less joy from the experience as a matter of consequence. However, here we are. The choices that I've made in life (in obedience and disobedience to God's will for me) have led me to this moment and to these five days of insanity. I truly believe that He has called me to my current occupation as a social worker. And as such, I do not have the ability to offer E the luxury of a slow and gradual achievement of this developmental milestone - I will have to return to my regular hours on Monday, hoping that she is able to fly from the nest with a newfound confidence in herself. I am definitely praying for peace and patience and an abundance of grace and love for her, so that she and I can navigate these few days with as little stress and as much joy as God will provide. I trust that just as God blesses and gives grace to other situations in which man has thwarted God's original design, He is more than capable of proving His power and might in our 'little bitty world.'