Another Tough Night

The last couple of nights have been tough around our house. Seth has chosen dinner time to test the boundaries. He is ordinarily a well behaved little boy but he has chosen dinner time to display blatant acts of disobedience. Last night I finally had enough and sent him to his room. This is a very severe punishment for him because he just hates being in his room by himself. As soon as I put him in there the screams of "No, Daddy, please no. I can't stay in here. Let me out" began and continued between his sobs. When he is in his room he doesn't just cry but he has deep, painful sobs that are very difficult to listen to. It just breaks my heart.

Shelley decided to get out of the house and took Chase with her to the grocery store, leaving me home alone to listen to the heartbreaking cries coming from Seth's room. I sat at the kitchen table and just heard things like "Daddy, let me out", "Mommy, Daddy I love you", "Daddy, I don't like it in here."

This made me think about my heavenly Father and how difficult it must be to be him. I could easily have gone in, scooped up Seth, wiped away his tears and made all of his troubles go away. I had that ability but I knew that was not the best thing for him, he needed to learn the lesson I was trying to teach him. I just thought about all of the times (some recently) where I had called out for God's help and it seemed like he wasn't hearing me. But, I know he was listening but he can see a much bigger picture and he knows what is best and when it is time, he will come in, scoop me up and wipe away my tears.