These past couple weeks at church the lessons in Sunday school (I'll always call it that no matter what they call it) and the sermons have been about battles. In SS, we're studying Isaiah, and Judah had armies coming against them quite literally. God's message to them was for them to rely on Him and not the surrounding countries and their armies. The sermon a couple weeks ago was about the armor of God from the passage in Ephesians 6. The spiritual forces are coming against us all the time and we have to be prepared for battle. The question coming up in my mind for these lessons has been, "What is my battle?" The answer for two weeks in a row has been POOPY PANTS.
This is definitely a battle I have tried to fight. I have called in the reserves on every side, tried to get advice from every corner. I have tried so many techniques, and failed with every single one for the last 8 months. Every bit of my effort seems to have been completely in vain. I can't do this. There is a disconnect somewhere.
I am somewhat of a free-spirit. I don't like being confined. My problem with most methods of potty training that require regular checks and trips to the bathroom until the little one starts to get it is that I lose interest in watching the clock, and I lapse into not paying attention to it. Then before I realize it, I have poopy pants on my hands again (not literally, at least not ALL the time). Failure, AGAIN.
So this past Sunday, during the worship service, God convicted me that I need to be making this a matter of prayer. He even had me seek out another mom to pray with me right then. He also pressed on me that I need to be praying with my daughter, asking God to help her poop in the potty. There's a huge part of me that thinks this is so silly, to be praying (especially with someone else) about poop in the potty. But that's what He told me to do, so I will do it. Really, I didn't expect it to make all that much of a difference (Oh ME of little faith!).
Last night, out of obedience (not so much faith), I was praying about this issue before bed. Then I got an answer: alarm clocks. I have extra alarm clocks around the house, like the one by my computer (that little clock in the corner of the screen is too small for me to see all the time), and the one that I got for nursing in the middle of the night when I had my first daughter, and the Hello Kitty clock in my daughter's room... I have plenty that are not used for waking people up first thing in the morning. I can set those to go off at predetermined intervals throughout the day for "panty checks", and then I don't have to remember and be intrinsically motivated by the system. I was also prompted to develop a chart for my daughter to track her own progress. I made it this morning. I can use stickers, but so far, I'm just using happy faces when she succeeds and I will use sad faces when she doesn't (hasn't happened yet- we just started this an hour ago).
Why am I sharing this? I don't know... I hope it is an encouragement to someone who is going through a problem, a frustrating battle of whatever sort, that God is interested and He will help. He knows all the details and what will actually work.
This is a huge step of faith for me. I'm spilling the beans before the evidence is in.
One thing is certain. When she finally gets the hang of it, when success comes (as it HAS to!!), God gets all the glory.
The song in my head today is, "I Got A Woman," by John Mayer Trio. Actually, what's in my head is the Weird Al polka version in the medley on Straight Outta Lynwood. I have a very warped mind... you don't wanna go in there... Now that I think about it, "I Gotta Woman" isn't the song that's in the Weird Al medley, but it's similar. They both say, "she takes my money..." which is why my brain is jumping back and forth. Now I need to pray about regaining my sanity.
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