Reminders of Promises

Elijah doesn't trust me. Or he has really terrible short-term memory. Or something. I'm not well-versed in all the details of child development; all I know is, he doesn't yet understand that I'll do what I say I'm going to do.

Often I'll tell him we're going to do something--take a walk, say, or read some books--something he really, really enjoys. I try not to mention it until I'm actually ready to do it, but that doesn't always work: I'll get him dressed and get shoes on, but realize I need to hit the bathroom before we go. We'll sit down in the reading chair, and I'll immediately catch a whiff of poopy diaper.

Apparently, in his two-year-old mind, not doing it RIGHT NOW means we're not going to do it, ever again in his lifetime. So when I get back up out of the reading chair and carry him to the changing table instead of selecting a favorite book...well, you can imagine this makes for a very upset toddler.

When I see the agitated, anxious look on Elijah's face, and he begins to whine, I find myself repeating, over and over, my promise that we're going to do what I said we would do. If you'd been in my house this morning, when the reading/poopy diaper scenario ensued, you would have heard something like this:

"We're going to read, I promise. Mama just has to take care of your poopy diaper and wash her hands, and then we'll read. I promise we're going to read. We're going to read, in just a minute. I just have to wash my hands and then we'll read. We really are going to read. I promise, I will read to you!"

My thought is that this endless repetition will calm him enough to avoid a meltdown in the sixty seconds it takes me to finish the task and get back to the reading chair. (I do think it helps a little...if nothing else it makes me laugh instead of getting frustrated.) I'm reminding Elijah that I haven't forgotten my promise, that my word means something, that I really will do what I said I would do--even if it looks for a brief moment like I'm reneging. I'm human, so I know I'll screw up sometimes, but my hope is that my son will learn as he grows that Mama can be trusted--that she keeps her promises, that she is a woman of her word.

It occurred to me this afternoon that I know someone else who keeps promises, who really will do what He says He will do. And I know someone else who tends to freak out when it looks like He has forgotten her.

But I have an endless supply of great and glorious promises at my disposal. I know that even if I sometimes (be it deliberately or inadvertently) break my promises, God never, ever breaks His. I'm thankful that instead of getting angry with me when I fail to trust Him and instead get agitated and upset, He patiently reminds me of His promises. His Word is full of them--and perhaps I need to repeat them to myself over and over, until my soul calms down and I rest in the confidence that my Father can be trusted--that He keeps His promises, that His Word is true.