Clinging to Diapers

They say when you have multiple children that their personalities are each different and it couldn’t be more true.  Our youngest is the one who is particular and likes consistency, he’s the one who cries when it’s time to wash his blanket and isn’t a big fan of mom and dad leaving.  It took a great deal of convincing him it was okay when it was time to pack up the clothes that no longer fit to pass on to his baby cousin.  He was not pleased when they went from the laundry and into a bag, not into his drawer, and I would catch him pulling a too-small shirt back out and trying to fit it on. 

We’ve slowly been working on potty training.  One day he did it, he woke up and went running to the potty each and every time he had to go!  He continued to do so for several days but there was only one problem: his diaper.  All the convincing in the world with dramatic choo-choo’s and cars and boyhood heroes was not selling this boy on underwear.  There was no way our boy was giving up what was known and comfortable, even if it was time, even if it made sense, even if it was totally-awesome!  He clung desperately to what he wanted to hang on to even though what would be given was better.  Eventually I had to hide his diapers, in their place put the undies and stand by as he rolled on the floor trying to get back the familiar. 

As the days went by, he learned that this was his new normal.  The diapers were kept tucked away until bedtime and he began enjoying picking out what pair of undies he would wear each morning.  As a mama, I’m certainly rejoicing in the nearness of not changing messy diapers, but at the same time my heart is weeping a little as diapers make their way out of our lives. 

In the midst of this transition season of boyhood and motherhood I realized how much this spoke of a bigger picture.  How often God is doing a new thing and asking us to take hold of it, to jump in and enjoy what lies ahead, but how desperately we try to cling to the past.  This life inevitably changes, seemingly as often as the seasons do.  We no sooner get used to and acclimated to one season and a squall of the next hits us hard.  I’m guilty of spiritually laying on the floor, kicking, crying and pleading for life to remain the same, to just let me bask in the moment and not rush me onto the unfamiliar.  Yet my Father, whose plan and purpose far outweigh mine, patiently waits for my tantrum to end and for me to reach out my hand to trust him once more. 

Circumstances change, people change, relationships change, seasons change, locations change, careers change, family dynamics change…everything changes.  There certainly are some things that remain consistent throughout our lives, but as the years, days, moments pass and our lives continue on we experience transitions.  With each step we have a choice to let those things leave us bitter, leave us looking back, longing for what once was or we can embrace the new road ahead and trust our lives to a God who is Unchanging. 

“I the Lord do not change.” Malachi 3:6

Change can come in the form of something much anticipated that we have prayed for, waited for and dreamed of.  But it can also come when a loved one dies, when our lives seem to be uprooted and repositioned, unexpectedly and unchosen.  Through it all our God remains the same, the Unchangeable One.  His promises are sure and His foundation is solid.  When we root ourselves in His love and in His will, we can allow ourselves to ebb and flow within the waves of an ever-changing life.  Our security is then found on the sacred grounds of knowing that He is LORD regardless of our season.  Through the highs, we remain humble and through the lows, we remain sure.  We no longer need to be His children who are clinging to our diapers: those things we once needed, depended on and grew a liking to, the things we simply cannot hold onto forever.  We can trust that there is joy to be found in the new road ahead, a new normal that will allow us to mature and grow into who He has created us to be, all for our good and all for His glory. 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!" Isaiah 43:19