Ryan finally turned three and my wife and I are looking forward to sending him to FCS soon. However, things are not going as planned because Ryan is not yet fully potty trained. It feels like we have been trying for the entire year to get him to be ready for school. Maybe we had it too easy with Reina that we never saw this coming. I don’t know if any parents pray for their kids to be potty trained, but it’s certainly on the very top of our list. We have tried many different approaches and methods to make the whole process less stressful for Ryan but it has been a stressful time for everyone in our household. I even bought him his favorite Thomas train toilet, which helped so many other boys, but is now being used as a stool in the bathroom.
I actually went into the FCS office this morning to ask some questions and ended up asking the office staff to pray for Ryan to be potty trained before summer school starts. Mrs. May jokingly asked me whether it would be harder to evangelize to Ryan or to have him be potty trained. I replied without any hesitation, both will be about equally hard…but I feel like potty training will be harder. I know I should be more optimistic and have faith that God will bring about a good result but it’s not so easy. It’s funny how I have so much faith in bigger things in life and can’t trust God for such little thing.
Honestly, I have no idea how God is going to answer our prayer. My wife and I have our fingers crossed hoping that something will click in Ryan’s mind and be potty trained miraculously. I never imagined that I would consider potty training a “miracle.” I guess miracles do happen in and around us all the time since we all are potty trained, lol! I’m sure God wants us to learn to deal with both positive and negative outcomes. Maybe there are no positive or negative outcomes since God makes all things work for good for those who love Him. Whatever the outcome, I need to learn to accept and consider it joy.
One of the hardest parts of this process was figuring out how to respond to Ryan’s mistakes. At times, I showed my patience and on different occasions I tried to teach him a lesson by giving him time outs and punishments. Sometimes, I feel as if he is looking to see how I will react to his mistakes. He makes me wonder whether I have what it takes to be a good parent. God is definitely using Ryan to humble me and to teach me godly wisdom and endurance. This may just be the beginning of years of stress and agony that I will have to endure as I raise up the kids but I am excited for the challenges that lie ahead. Please pray for me and don’t forget to pray for Ryan that he would be potty trained by mid-June so he can attend summer school.
From Pastor Brian’s Heart
May 4, 2014