God Gives Good Gifts

Iam still reflecting on the goodness of God. He is so good. He is so kind. He loves His children. When my daughter and I walked away from the car accident that totaled our car, it could have been a different scenario all together. But it wasn’t. God restored us to a position, better than we were before the accident. God gives good gifts.

I’m thinking about a time, a long time ago, when I was trying to potty train my daughter. I say trying because it was oh so trying. It was exhausting. It was pull your hair out, kick the walls, aggravating. I thought, if I can potty train this kid, I could do anything. I could teach her Algebra. If I could get her to go potty in the potty, there was nothing that could stop me in teaching her anything else.

The child refused to go potty in the potty. It was like she had some serious phobia of piddling in the kid sized, little potty chair. I coaxed her. I encouraged her. I bribed her. I let her drink all the juice she wanted. The problem wasn’t that she didn’t want to sit on the potty. She would sit there all day, until the cows came home. But she would hold everything in. She would out maneuver me. As soon as I wore down and couldn’t take being in the bathroom any longer, I would give in and put on her pull-ups. That was her cue. Now it was time to go potty! And she did! My frustration built.

All day long, I spent, trying to coax my darling, sweet daughter into doing the deed in the toilet with absolutely no progress what so ever. By the time my husband was about to come home, I was about ready for the loony bin. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was ready to hand off the kid, walk out the door and never come back again. So that was my plan. I had made an appointment that evening for a free haircut. At that point in our lives, free was the only thing we could afford. Someone was advertising free haircuts in the Pennysaver and it just so happened that my appointment was that evening after my fun filled day of potty training. As soon as my husband walked in the door, I was out of there. I didn’t stop to cry and kick the walls, I just cruised out the door, said “bye” and “she’s all yours,” “I’m getting a haircut.”

I wasn’t sure why the free haircut, but I didn’t care. I could sit in a salon chair, stare at my morose reflection in the mirror and forget that I was a mother and my kid wasn’t potty trained.

I figured out, while waiting, what the deal was. The woman that was going to cut my hair, already had her hair cutting credential. She was being trained exclusively by the owner of the very nice salon how to really cut hair and charge a hefty price for it. I was going to get a nice haircut for free, so the woman could practice on my locks.

She was late in coming, so the owner of this nice salon told me she was going to be late and could he give me a makeover while we waited. I said sure, as long as no one mentioned potty training, I was game. He had all this nice makeup and started doing my face. The morose reflection began changing. He was an expert and knew what colors looked good on me. He did ask me what I had done all day and I quickly told him I had been potty training my child and was glad the day was over. He laughed and proceeded to complete my make over. When he was done, I looked good.

The woman arrived and she went right to work on my hair. She took her time, as the guy directed her on how to do things. She was meticulous. Then she blow dried it all and styled it. When she was done, I couldn’t believe how I looked. You would have never known I had spent the day potty training an obstinate toddler. I looked ready for a photo shoot. They both thanked me for coming in, but I was thanking them. I needed this so badly.

I walked out of that exclusive salon with an expensive makeover, haircut and style that I never would have been able to afford. God knew what I needed. God’s timing was perfect. He gives good gifts.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

God is true to His word. He does give good gifts to His children. He knew my frustration and His timing is impeccable. I got a free makeover and fancy haircut at the end of a frustrating day. Trust God. He really does give good gifts.