TIP-toeing Through Life?

Well the inevitable has happened...Sassy is TWO. Well, not really. Actually she doesn't chronologically turn two until late March; a full four months down the road. Regardless of the math, she is two. Or least she has reached that tipping point when children stop reacting to the world around them and begin to insert their desires, will and opinions into their tiny little world. Most parents that experience this period of development in their children call it the "terrible twos."  As a former early care and education person I will let you in on a little secret; anyone that thinks two's are terrible haven't had a three year old. Threes KNOW what they are supposed to do it, know if they do you won't kill them so do it anyway.

Sassy noticing a part of the yard away from the watchful eye of adults

Two year olds are only finding out who they are and what they can and are allowed to do. They want to find out how they can influence the tiny, little sphere that circles around them. The method employed for investigation is to walk right up to boundaries and then tip toe right over the last line drawn. Some exert their "two-ness" with a little more exuberance and hop, skip and jump past the line of expectance. Others, ignore the line completely. For a parent, this constant pushing at and pushing past the lines of right and wrong, good and bad, safe and dangerous can be wearisome. It makes you long for the days of infancy when a child lay helplessly with only the desire to have their needs met. Independence doesn't seem to be the great milestone is made out to be.

Looking back to see who is watching.

The desire to push past limits in in our DNA. God created each of us with a willful soul craving to use our creative minds to sculpt the world around us to...well...suit us. Sassy is only doing what each of us have done and still do each day of our lives; grabbing the gusto! Is it all bad to enjoy life and explore all the endless possibilities of life? Isn't exploration what this world is built upon. Imagine as if Columbus had stayed home, Alexander Graham Bell had not sought to find a new way to hear or if a few crazy test pilots had not boldly gone where none had ever gone before.

Sassy's exerts her independence with wings, bling and bows; much to the consternation of her minimalist momma. Being a smart women, she allows this bit of freedom. Recently, to have minor surgery, she arrived complete in comfy clothes, hair scooped up in a big fluffy bow and shoes she had chosen for her self, pink and glittery. As you do. Some days she wants to wear a bumble bee costume all day and others she may just wear four bows and a set of wings. She is developing who she is and who she will be. That is why God gave us will, so we can develop into who we are; use our creative minds to explore and shape and "blossom." I mean really, are wings and bows all that bad in the grand scheme of things?

Still checking to see if far is too far.

No, wings are not bad. Choosing our style and flair is what God wants for us. But there is a tipping point. That moment when our exploration and independence combine and take us to that place that we KNOW is too far. We are fully aware we are going beyond what our Father wants for us. As parents we all desire safety for our children. We want to protect them from harm; real physical harm or damage to our soul when our choices set us outside community. Our children push those boundaries; we push those boundaries. There is a delicate balance between moving in freedom and not falling into a spot that can lead to injury, pain, or heartbreak.


Sassy isn't quite big enough to always know how far is too far but, fortunately, at this point she is smart enough touch base as she proceeds towards independent thinking. That is the Tipping Point. We all have it. That place were we disregard the part of us that urges us to check in with God before proceeding and the part of us that urges us to run headlong into freedom without pause. Most of us are fully aware of the tipping point with in us. If not, I urge you to discover where is that place in your life where you are tempted to throw caution to the wind and run. The consequence to independence without insight is nothing short of someday getting lost; lost to our ourselves, lost to our earthly family, lost to God. We need to learn to know those places where our Parent is excited by our independence and willfulness; loving to see what we discover. But there are those places (often including apples and serpents) that we need the protective insight of someone more experienced and mighty that ourselves.

What is your tipping point? What is that button inside you that could be pushed that causes you to run outside the arms of your Heavenly Father? Are you intentionally seeking to know the great plan God has for you? 

Maybe is the day you need to start looking.