Shifting and Transitioning

Last week, I expressed my concerns about how Ella was held back from transitioning to the one-year-old room at her daycare because she wasn't quite walking.  The next morning during my morning nursing/breakfast/prayer journal multi-tasking, I shifted my prayer from:

Dear God, please help Ella walk soon.

to

Lord, help her as she tries to walk.  Make her courageous, so that she can confidently set out and walk.  Make her adventurous, so that she can desire to explore new things.  Make her coordinated, so she can put all the moves together.  Make her trusting, so that she can come to those who offer assistance.  Give her persistence, so she can continue to try. 

And wouldn't you know it--God is amazing, and sometimes so quick to answer our prayers!  Not even an hour later, she stood right up at daycare and took a couple good steps to the daycare worker while I was getting ready to walk out the door.  All of those things I had prayed for--courage, adventure, coordination, trust, persistence--they all came together so beautifully that morning.

And they continue to emerge as Ella becomes more and more comfortable with walking.  That was Friday, October 7th, and she started transitioning to the one-year-old room on Monday, October 10th, and spent the last three days exclusively in her new room.  She seems to really like her new room and new teachers, and seems to be transitioning to eating at the table and sleeping on the cots just fine.  Her preferred mode of transportation is still crawling if she wants to get somewhere quickly, but she's standing up and walking on her own accord more and more.

I'm struggling to put together the right words, but shifting the focus of my prayer for her walking was one of those "ah ha" kind of moments for me.  I had to look at myself and think:  "why exactly do I want her to walk?"  I think my urgency had more to do with my own timelines and competitive nature, rather than a genuine desire to see my daughter truly grow and develop on her own, the way God designed for her.  When I reexamined myself and put my pettiness aside, I realize that I truly wanted those things--courage, adventure, coordinator, trust, and persistence--for her, not for me.  Sure enough--God delivered.

Yesterday's blessing came in the form of two guys who flagged me down when I drove away with my wallet on my car.  Not only did they honk to get my attention, but they picked up everything that had fallen out of my wallet when it did indeed fall off my car into the middle of the street.  I'm so appreciative that God sent them to help me.  I wish that there was more that I could do for them, other than just saying a heartfelt "Thank you".  I pray that God bless them for how they blessed me.