I'd like to blame it on the bright lights, the loud music or the people that surround us…yet, I can't. Some people call it the terrible twos; yet again this is nothing but a mere attempt to hide behind an excuse.
Yes she's two…but excusing inappropriate behavior with a title based on her age is like closing my eyes when a roller coaster ride gets scary. When we're out shopping and suddenly, seemingly out of the blue she performs a theatrical display of displeasure and anger, arching and screaming…there's simply nowhere I can hide. I'm there, in plain view, experiencing the results of my lack of consistency in training and discipline.
Her "Dance of Joy" isn't a sign of her age, it's an opportunity for God to humble me and bring to my attention some areas I have neglected to tend to in my parenting. Brushing it off as the world does viewing this as a stage, is like pushing all the crumbs on my kitchen floor under my cupboards, expecting it to get cleaned up in due time.
There are times when I feel intense pride and joy as the people surrounding me gaze on my children in adoration. I begin to have a sense of achievement…as if I've done it…others can watch and wonder how I keep things all together. The moment I find myself on this mountain is when God provides for me an opportunity to be humbled…to realize that my mountain is made of sand…and I have so much to learn, so far to go.
These are the times I bring my little one back home to the training ground…practicing with her immediate cheerful obedience…She's only two, which means, that in parenting her, I also am only two…I am responsible to bring her from total self indulgence to an attitude of serving and submitting to an awesome God. I look forward to the days when she and I will truly have a dance of joy as we rejoice in her submission and obedience to our Lord
- Linda Hoffman