It's Okay Though

It's funny because I'm not really sure if she picked it up from me or someone else, but Charlotte has picked up a new phrase. It's one of the dozens she learns every week in this season of tremendous brain development and learning, but this one has stuck out and surprisingly has become of help to me.  She now says it many times a day as though God spoke it to her to comfort me. The first time happened like this....

I was having a rough day. Everything was getting on my nerves and all the mess and stuff to do was crowding out my joy. To make matters worse, I dropped something on the floor in the kitchen and food spilled out everywhere. Charlotte (2 and a half years old) was sitting in her seat waiting for me to deliver lunch to her empty plate. I let out something like, "Dad gum it!" There was a pause and then she calmly respond from her seat behind me "Oh Mommy! It's okay though!" 

It's okay though. It hit me. How funny it is that my young daughter is so quick to remind me that this really isn't a big deal, but me in all my adult-ness, blew it out of proportion. That's when I realized that I do that a lot. Little stuff can make me so overly upset and aggravated. The actual big things that are more than just inconveniences seem crippling because I blow the LITTLE things out of proportion. 

You know what I mean. 

You have to wait and the doctor's office longer than you wanted. 

A rock cracked your windshield. 

It rained on your new shoes.

You caught a cold before a presentation.

The potty training toddler peed on your carpet.

Your teenager absentmindedly locked his keys in the car.

You know. 

But if those things cripple us and plummet us down the spiral of despair then what could real trauma do to our hearts? Cancer, Bankruptcy, Fire, Murder, Kidnapping, Death etc. What then? 

That's when it dawned on me that Charlotte is right. This little mess is okay. It's not a big deal, because when things ARE a big deal I want to remember all that was actually good in my life and how even in the things that really are not okay, that God is good. 

When Satan tempts you to blow the minor things out of proportion, remember that he is trying to get you and I to spend our whole lives selfishly focusing on ourselves. He wants us to think we don't have enough to give, that we are too young or old or busy to help, he wants you to think that you have it so bad. But we don't. I pray even if I do have it rough.... really rough one day, that I will look up and thank God anyway and be thankful that I tried really hard not to "major on the minors" when I had the chance.

Enjoy the flowers. Feels the breeze. Remember, it's okay though.