Is cancer spilled milk?

Terrible two's or Terrific two's? I'm not so sure right now. Colton will turn two on Saturday and we've entered a new stage of parenting recently.

Violent overreactions!

Kicking, screaming, slapping, screaming, throwing, screaming. Did I mention screaming?

Colton is learning to express himself but hasn't figured out how to process his emotions appropriately. I'm not worried; it's a stage.

He seems to be able to go from normal, happy, loving little boy....

to parent-eating, self-centered, screaming velociraptor in a millisecond.

What sets him off so quickly? Everything.

Having a lid on his cup...

putting a coat on...

not putting a coat on...

being hungry...

being given food...

spilled milk...

and most often that dreaded "N" word.

Despite these circumstances being completely irrelevant to Colton's health, future, or development, if you were to solely look at his reaction you'd think he was losing a limb. His reaction is so drastically unequal to the circumstance it becomes comical and difficult not to laugh at him, in love of course. What drives this? He can't see the whole picture. He doesn't understand why he's being told no, or something is taken away, or a restriction is placed on him. He can't discern how this could possibly be better for him.

As I started to get frustrated with Him, God gently whispered into my ear that I'm a lot like Colton. How many times do we violently overreact towards God because we can't see the whole picture? Whether it's health, job security, family struggles, or anything else we throw a lot of temper tantrums at God. What appears to us to be the worst case scenario, could actually be for our benefit and God's glory.

Ultimately this comes from God having a different perspective than we do.

He tells us this in Isaiah 55:8 -

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."

What is the Christian worldview? Seeing the world the way God sees the world. Unfortunately it's pretty difficult to get outside of our toddler perspective sometimes. Instead of filtering circumstances through how could this honor God, or be part of His plan, or help someone else, we whine "why me, what did I do, or look how I've been wronged."

God doesn't promise us that things will always make sense to us. Actually in Proverbs 3 He tells us,

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes."

There are times when we have to trust that God has a plan and we won't always get to see it but still need to be obedient. That's called faith. Right now Colton is learning to have faith in his parents. His parents are learning to have faith in their Father!