We always have a laundry mountain. But as Hillary Weeks sings, "Climb every mountain..."
So I was doing just that one morning, when one of my 3-yr-olds came in and asked if she was allowed to help. Um.... YES! I'm hoping this will be a positive experience so when she's 16 and really can help, she'll still want to. Wishful thinking, yes, I know. Anyway, I gave her some stockings to "fold".
So this is what happened: She spent about 5 minutes trying to get the legs to line-up perfectly, and got so frustrated that she started whining, crying, and finally left, completely distraught that she wasn't able to perfectly fold the stockings like I had asked her to. She didn't even think to ask me for help. It was so sad to me to watch this happen, because seriously, do I need stockings folded? No. Do I waste my time folding stockings so they can be ripped apart as my kids go through the sock drawer 50 times a day? No.
What she didn't realize was that what I had asked her to do and what I wanted to happen were two very different things.
1. I wanted to spend some quality time together.
2. I wanted her to feel useful and needed.
3. I wanted her to feel good working, so that she would begin to realize the satisfaction and even fun that can come from work (which I am still learning, by the way).
It struck me that this is very likely what Our Father does with us. He asks a lot of us sometimes. Does this sounds familiar?
A commandment? Yes. An expectation based on our current capacity? I don't think so. Here's a useful definition of "perfect".
Father doesn't always ask us to do things based on our ability, His expectation, or even what He wants the end result to be right now. I think He's just hoping we'll learn something in the process, and most importantly, that we'll ask Him for help.
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