tenacity

I might be a little crazed from going-on-13 weeks of 80+ hours one-on-one with a three year old, but I am wearing a stocking hat, two sweaters, wool socks, and enjoying ice cream. I got some tart local-grown raspberries from last summer out of the freezer and whipped this up in my blender, garnished with a square of Aldi's dark chocolate. But I was in too much of a hurry to get out a pretty bowl. So sue me.

My thoughts swarm more fiercely without Brett to counter-balance me, and I'm pondering my daughter's soul. Today I hugged her firmly while she screamed and struggled for what seemed like an eternity (but may have only been 10 minutes?). I call it a hug-lock, and I've done it before. Like when no other disciplinary method seems effective and she simply won't respect the animals or leave off whining or keep out of danger or listen to her mother. But today, as I lay there enduring her pleas and punches, I wondered what God was seeing. What do You know, Lord? Will this passionate stubbornness cleave to You? Will You bind her strength of will to Yours? Because I sure can't do it. I almost think she's more determined than I am, but perhaps I have just been tempered longer. Was I this hard to reason with, God? I couldn't outlast her, but I held on until her fighting was less enthusiastic, and then I let her go and she stayed on the bed beside me, searching my eyes, but the look in hers was undefeated.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."