Last week, our little family ventured north to New Jersey to visit family. Per usual, we had an amazing time hanging out with everyone, visiting different pools, water parks, and finding fun activities for our almost 20-month old. I always tell Jeremy that one of my favorite parts of being a parent is seeing the kids’ reactions to new adventures!
And of course, with new adventures, come new challenges. Learning to walk down the pool steps, getting a (pretend) baby snapped in the (pretend) baby carriage, holding a “big girl cup” with a straw, putting on shoes to go outside… You get the point. And with toddler challenges, come parent challenges. We’ve observed Lilly trying feverishly to be independent in whatever task is at hand. Whether it’s eating (picture a blender with the lid off while pressing “pulse”) or exploring, she wants to handle things on her own. For a couple minutes, she will attempt the task while we watch. Then, all of a sudden, she will begin to whine, which then leads quickly to a loud yell that sounds something like a squealing monkey, albeit the cutest monkey ever. 😉 Although she knows the words “help please,” her instant reaction is to be frustrated and squeal instead of clearly communicate her needs.
This got me thinking because I feel like Lilly often reflects us as adults. How often do we have one thousand things going on in a week, and instead of asking for help, we just get frustrated and “squeal,” affecting the relationships around me? What if I just reached out to my boss instead of stressing and said, “I need your help with something. Could you tell me what your priorities are for this week? I’d like to finish them because I do not believe I am able to get everything on this list completed.” Or what if I just reached out to my husband instead of being passive aggressive and said, “I need your help. Could you start dinner Thursday so we can have more time as a family afterwards?” Or what if I reached out to my friend instead of isolating myself and said, “I need your help. This past week has been crazy and I could use a few extra prayers of encouragement.” Or… what if I reached out to The Helper and said, “God, I need extra help today. Could you give me grace to handle these tasks and the wisdom to prioritize what is most important to You?”
I’m hopeful that you don’t even need this reminder today, but if you are feeling stressed (like I do sometimes), remember God placed you into a specific community of people to support you. Just like God put Lilly in our care to help her in any way that we can, you are surrounded by your own “family,” intentionally designed to help you. I would challenge you to try out Lilly’s new favorite phrase this week, “Help please?”