Favorite White Shoes

As you all know I spent a significant amount of time here at the house alone with the kids the past couple of weeks. Well no matter how much I love those little ones there were moments of stress and frustration. One of those moments came last Friday as I was trying to dress the girls. After struggling to dress the first three children I came to child number four- cute little Katty. I managed to get a top and bottoms on here....but then came the shoes. I tried the jellies. I tried the cute little red shoes. I tried the tennis shoes. However, with each new pair of shoes cute little Katty's temper tantrum grew. She wanted her little white sandals and she wasn't going to settle for less. However, no matter how hard we looked those little white sandals were nowhere to be found. Finally, in my last moments of searching I saw the toe of one peeking out from under a discarded shirt. I stepped over the traumatized toddler and uncovered the missing shoes. With a shriek of joy and a clap of her little old hands she contently sat down prepared to have her shoes put on her feet. All was right in her little world. It was a true moment of chaos to the point of melt down for little Katty. As for me all I wanted was to grab her and stick just any pair of shoes on her feet and tell her to live with them. I was too worn out to deal with something as minor as not getting the shoes we want. It was then that it hit me.....How often do we do that in our own lives. I know you are thinking "I most certainly do not throw fits because I don't get the shoes I want." However, I know that I personally have had many "wrong shoe crises." Some rather insignificant thing goes wrong, and suddenly my world is destroyed. I cry and mope and pout- even have a few temper tantrums- and then God reveals the very simple solution I would have seen earlier had I not overreacted so badly. If Katty had just helped me look or simply put on another pair until the lost shoes were found we could have avoided the tears/tantrum. How many times in moments of impatience and desperation do we forget to wait for God's perfect plan. We get so set on what we want that we don't even consider other options. How often do we let the "lost shoe crises" of our lives throw us into a tail spin and steal our happiness. If we keep our eyes on Him and stay calm we will learn to search until we find our "lost shoes" in His time and in His way.