A Lesson From Addie

Ecclesiastes 3:7- "...a time to be silent and a time to speak."

Sometimes you need to get away from your normal circumstances in order to see things in someone that you are always around that you never saw before. This past weekend gave us a whole new look into Addie's personality.

As we would go on the different rides at Disney, she would only stare and take everything in (in the self-family portrait we are on the Winnie the Pooh ride). It wasn't until after we had moved on to the next thing that she would start squealing, giggling, and talking. As we passed rides we had already ridden, like Dumbo, or the characters we had already taken pictures with, like Tigger, she would point and squeal with excitement. There were even times when she would just burst into giggles, and we had no idea why.

We discovered (actually, Brian figured it out first) that Addie waits to express her feelings until after she has seen and experienced an event. After it is over and she has had a moment to process everything, she finally expresses her feelings. Now that I think about it, after she has fallen or bumped herself, it usually takes a minute for her to decide if she needs to cry. We and family members who have been present during those times have always said, "That was a delayed reaction." Now I see that it isn't. It is a well thought out response to a situation. She decides if the bump is worth a cry and cuddle with Mommy or if she can just shrug it off and move on.

Once again, God taught me a lesson using my toddler. I learned to hold my response to a situation until I have had a chance to process all of the information. As in the verse above, silence is first and then the chance to speak. God had a reason for putting certain words in the Bible in the order that He did. Lord, help me to be silent, and then give me the words that I should speak.