A Lesson from Lyla

 

Our friends came to visit months ago.  They brought their two precious girls with them.  One of their girls Lyla who was three at the time speaks her mind. In this particular stage of her life she spoke volumes with one word.

WHY?!!!

She would say this when her mother told her to come downstairs or eat a few bites of the bread on her plate.  She would emphatically say "WHY!!!" when told it was time to put on her shoes.

It never really seemed a question.

"WHY!!!" meant "I don't want to do this".  It meant "this is unfair".  Though she said one word, I could tell she was really saying  "I don't like this".

My apologies to my friend, but I loved hearing her say it.  I felt like she was expressing my often mood; boiling it down to a one-word fit.

I have made no secret that my recent days have been trying.  I've found myself screaming "WHY!!!" on the inside. It's escaped my lips a few times too.

I sent a simple text to my friend just this morning after listing my life's injustices.

Text: (In my Lyla voice)  WHY?!!!

My friend quickly responded telling me that Lyla has a new saying.   She said that Lyla, who is four now and  has obviously reached a new maturity level will ask a question but before anyone can answer, she will say

"Oh.  Ok."

-the irony pierces my soul and has me tickled at the same time

Lyla has moved on at the age of four.  But me in my three-year old mentality, when things aren't going my way-when things just don't seem fair I get stuck on "WHY!!".

In my impatience and lack of trust I question, and more often I demand an answer.

It's only through time and maturation that we come to the important realization that, "Oh. (it's) Ok." Sometimes it means putting on my big girl shoes and walking through something I don't want to, like the flu, ridiculous behavior by my children or some other struggle.

I've never went through a single trial where God hasn't been beautifully at work. There's never NOT been an answer, even when I haven't been privileged to know it.  God has the answer.  God is the answer.  And it's as simple as that, no matter the deep insinuations my "WHY!!!" holds. 

 I want to be at that place; the place where I don't wait for the answer

-the place where, in trust, I simply say, oh. ok.

I can't wait to be four.