We've gotten REALLY into kombucha making in the past year. Gabe has perfected several flavor combinations, and we not only drink liters of the stuff, but we also sell it at the base and have a pretty faithful consumer following.
As a result, in our utility/office/storage/bonus room, we have a bit of a Kombucha Production shelf. We keep our empty bottles on the bottom shelves, and let the Kombucha ferment on the top shelf in large vats.
The other day, Mara was wanting to be near me, so when I needed to rinse out some diapers, I put her on the floor behind me - between the Kombucha Production Station and an empty laundry basket. She loves the laundry basket - primarily unloading things OUT of the laundry basket - so I pulled it over next to her and told her she could play with it.
She seemed relatively happy behind me (i.e.: she wasn't crying), so I rinsed diapers for several minutes. Then I heard some bottles fall, so I turned around to see what she was doing. As you can see in the photo above, she had either gotten tired of the laundry basket or just ignored it, and she went for the kombucha shelf instead.
I chuckled and said something to the effects of, "Good job, Mara! Well done exploring your world. If you want to play with the bottles on the kombucha shelf, you go for it. You were made to explore, and you are doing exactly what you are supposed to do." Then I turned back to finish the diapers.
If the Lord had tapped on my shoulder, it couldn't have been any more obvious; I felt a strong confirmation with my words over Mara - but over me instead: "Danielle - why do you think my heart for you is any different than your heart for your daughter? If you want to explore the kombucha shelf, you can do that."
I think it is easy for me to sometimes feel like there is ONE thing I have to do with my life in order for me to be doing what I'm "supposed" to be doing. I forget that sometimes God is perfectly fine with me exploring either the laundry basket OR the kombucha shelf (and probably some other options exist, too, that I just wasn't aware of!). It's more about my heart than it is about my actions - if I believe I am confined to just exploring the laundry basket and I begrudge him for that or believe that is the only way to make him happy, I've got an inaccurate perspective of him in my heart. And just like I wouldn't want Mara to be forced to play with the laundry basket when the kombucha shelf was more interesting to her - since neither was OUTSIDE my will for her, I'm equally happy with either choice she chooses as long as she knows she's free to choose. I think that's how God feels about some of our choices, too.
