God Knows I Am Weak

When I was in fourth grade, we started going to a new church, and I have three key memories from the move. First (and foremost), my mother met the man she would later marry, the man I call my dad. Secondly, the church was located near Polly's Pies, a local Los Angeles pie chain, a fact that often meant church was followed by a piece of boysenberry pie. And finally, Sunday School came with homework. It's true. Every week, we were expected to march back into class having memorized a different verse of scripture. I am really good at memorizing, and the glow of the teacher, plus a piece of chocolate for having memorized yet another verse, soon put me in the fourth grade elite. At the time, I don't remember thinking these verses proved particularly useful, but there has been many a time, a now (ahem) 25 years later, where these little gems have been germane.

One such time is now. You see, one of the verses that I have always remembered from that class, comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. In it (chapter 10, verse 13 to be specific), Paul notes that because of God's faithfulness, we will never be tempted beyond our ability to withstand. Now, even in the fourth grade, I knew this verse stretched farther than just temptation. I knew then, and I do know, that God will not allow me to experience that which, with His help, I cannot endure. Now, without getting all theolozmical (yes, a new word) on me by saying that with God's help I could endure anything, I have a point.

God gave us Grace, the easiest child ever conceived, because He knew we would come home to a two-and-a-half-year-old who decided he was jealous, sick of being two, and always right. Grant can still be his tender, sweet, affectionate, funny self, but let me tell you something, he's taken to what others call the "terrible twos" with fervor. We're talking the emotional-out-of-control, screaming and crying bloody murder in public, throwing, kicking, falling on the floor kind of two-year-old. If I say the sky is blue; he says it's green. If he says he's done (and I remove his plate), he starts screaming and crying that he is--indeed--not done. And, if I'm not looking, he'll punch his sister just for fun.

Grace, on the other hand, cries about seven minutes a day, mostly around nap and bedtime. She has moved her two nap routine down to one (the same time as Grant's) without complaint. She sleeps soundly through the night. She eats anything (with a strong affinity for bananas, any green vegetable, and all things meat). She plays with others, by herself, in the pack and play or on the floor. She's a fast learner, super affectionate, smiles easily and adapts and attaches easily. She's a trooper.

She is clearly God saying in near-audible form: "You can barely handle the two-year-old, so I'm going to make sure this little Chinese girl is super, super easy."

Grant was the easiest child for a long time... well, until now. So, clearly, God is also telling me that Grace, while super easy now, is going to have a personality melt down around her 30 month of life.... just in time to add a third child to the mix, right?

I might not have understood a lot about the Bible when I was in fourth grade, but I understood one basic fact: God is always there for me. Thankfully, that truth comes in just as handy now, as I'm marching my screaming child away from the toy aisle at the local super market, as it did when I was in fourth grade.