Three

I've been mulling over this post for a few days now but I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts. So I'm just going to wing it.

Jack has proven to be quite the little challenge lately and as many will tell you this is no surprise seeing as he is a 3 year old. But as I have observed the world, it is obvious that most everyone survives the age of three and most parents survive raising a three year old. But being as I'm in the trenches of it right now, survival often seems unlikely so I take comfort in recognizing how many 4 and older people are in the world :) Once I began to consider this obvious revelation I then began to ponder how it is that so many have survived. I have come up with a few answers. First, God must be intervening on my child's behalf. The anger and frustration that well up within me when Jack misbehaves (to put it lightly) can only be quelled by the Almighty. My instinct to scream back is only kept in check by the Father's strong right hand. Now certainly I too have fallen into "misbehavior" in regards to how I react to my son, but without Christ, Jack and I would surely be in a constant downward spiral with our intertwined emotions battling for control.  Thankfully, instead we just have an occasional speed bump. God makes it possible for me to more often than naught keep myself under control until the situation is resolved or until I have a moment by myself where I can let my emotions out without risking my son's emotional well being. That is one way in which we will survive, the strength of God.

The second reason that Jack and I will get through this difficult stage is because in God's infinite wisdom he made little kids cute, adorable, sweet and endearing. As often as I find myself frustrated with Jack's disobedience and extreme tantrum throwing, I find myself just as often savoring his sweet smiles and animated, hands flying conversations. There is so much good and wonderful about my son that while I sob in exhausted frustration after dealing with a 45 minute screaming tantrum, I also have hope for his future because I see what a beautiful child of God he is. He has kinks to work out, don't we all? But in the midst of these growing pains are so many wonderful signs of who Jack is. He sings sweetly to his brothers if they are crying, though he might bop them on the head with a toy a moment later. He gives me giant hugs and big sloppy kisses every night before bed and then proceeds to repeatedly get out of bed in disobedience for the next hour . He is funny and serious, he is playful and smart. He is learning how to discard his sour attitude and find his happy heart. And when I see him decide to take his whiney, pouty, near tantrum face and put on a smile and a sweet, kind, happy face, I know we are making progress-however slow. He is learning and one day we will be able to look back and thank Jesus for helping us survive 3.

Question is, can we survive a double dose of 3?