A Rescue Takes More Than a Day

Today was HARD!

E was DIFFICULT!

I am WORN!

My heart is BROKEN!

I had my most difficult confrontation to date with my daughter.  She began the day with a sunny disposition.  But the clouds rolled in just as my mom, E and I were sitting down for lunch at a restaurant.

Those of you that know my daughter are well aware that she is energetic.  She loves to bounce. She loves to jump.  She loves to laugh.  But, at lunchtime, this behavior is not acceptable.  We had already endured a meltdown in front of my grandmother.  E had taken my mom's bracelet and thrown it at an antique dresser and mirror.  In her shock, my mom yelled, "E!!!!"  Don't throw that!  Immediately, E shut down and started clawing at my shirt and buried her head to cry.

So, I wasn't really in the mood for round two.  Guess what...Toddlers don't care!

I sweetly asked E to stop jumping in the booth.  She kept jumping.  I asked again with more authority.  She kept jumping.  I put my hands out, caught her and sat her on her bottom.  "Stop jumping, E!  That is not ok."  I said.

Have you ever watched the Incredible Hulk transform?  Yeah...it was kinda like that.  She closed her eyes, started clawing me, and bit my arm hard enough to bring tears.  I took her out to the van and put her in the seat.  We both needed the fresh air.  Before you start thinking..."She's out of control...she just needs a good spank..."  please know that the thought crossed my mind.  But we made the decision to never spank E.  She has only been with us for 10 months.  For two years of her life, we have no idea what she endured.  We know that she was bruised when she came to us.  She spent the first two months hating me and slapping me in the face with NO EMOTION on hers...just waiting to see if I would hit her.  So NO.  I will not spank her.  I am forced to be more creative with her discipline.

The thing I hold onto is that she eventually feels contrition.  She will come to me on her own...unprompted and say those sweet words...sorry mama.

And today, she did just that.

And while I was standing next to the car waiting for her to calm down and apologize, the thought crossed my mind...Sometimes, a rescue takes more than a day.  We took E out of her broken situation and brought her to a loving family.  We have shown her every day for ten months that she is important, valued, beautiful and loved.  But we cannot erase in a day all of the damage that was done to her heart.  Our rescue of her takes patience, incredible love, and an enormous dose of Jesus.  I love it when people look at my daughter and comment on her beauty.  I love that she inspires others to step out in faith and adopt.  But, the true gift is when the steadfast and unconditional love we feel reminds us of the same qualities God feels for us.  Our rescue from brokenness happened in a moment.  All it took was asking Christ to take control of our sin-filled lives.  But, the actual changing of our hearts can sometimes take time.

If you have given your life to Christ and you are discouraged by a heart that is still in process, please believe me when I say;  Sometimes a rescue takes more than a day.  And if I can muster the energy and strength to love my daughter through her disobedience and trauma, God can walk with us through anything.

So, what is God rescuing you from?  An affair?  Pornography?  Obsession with money? Anger?  Food? Lies?  Drugs? Fear? Anxiety?  Broken relationships?

Isaiah 40:29 is my lifeline tonight.
"He gives strength to the weary (that's me) and increases the power of the weak (that's E)"  Do you need to know this truth tonight?

Love and prayers, friends.