Do It Myself...

In the past week or so, Sawyer has come up with a new favorite saying, "I do it myself." I'm sure to hear it at least once a day.
It started during breakfast one morning. She was sitting in her high chair eating cheerios, and she just decided that she didn't need her Mommy's help anymore. Usually, I would scoop them out, hand her the spoon, and help her guide it into her mouth. Not this day. This day she wanted to do every last step on her own. She pulls the spoon away, looks up at me and says..."I do it myself, okay?" That particular morning we had nowhere to be, and I'm trying to pick my battles, so I let her do it. Huge mess. She somehow managed to get about 65 Cheerios and a gallon of milk on to her tiny spoon, then proceeded to shovel it into her mouth as quickly as possible. Of course, only a portion made it in...the rest went all over the front of her. However, I'm proud to announce that after much practice over the past couple of weeks, she has done much better. She now feeds herself cereal like a pro.
I'm perfectly content with letting her have a little independence, even if it gets a little messy sometimes.
But then...
She decided she no longer needed my help walking down the steps of our porch...or up the stairs of our basement. I was walking up the stairs behind her yesterday with my hands on her sides, and she said it again, "I do it myself...myself!" You see, the problem is that Sawyer has never been hurt badly enough from a fall(thank the Lord), so she doesn't understand exactly what could happen to her. All she knows is that she wants to be a big girl. She thinks she has it all figured out.
And then I got to thinking...
Isn't that exactly how we are with God sometimes? I know I am. Unfortunately there have been several times in my life when I have told God, "I do it myself!" Of course my way isn't best, but I'm stubborn, and I often think I have it all figured out. Why would I need help? Of course, when I do it my way, without God's help, I always fail. I fall down, get hurt, get frustrated...but praise the Lord, because He's always there to pick me up. As human beings, its part of our sin nature to believe that we don't need God's help in our lives. How foolish! The Word tells us that God knows the plans He has for us..."plans to prosper us, and not to harm us...plans to give us hope and a future." How perfect. What comfort that brings me. I'm so thankful that my God is truly the one who "has it all figured out." And I'm praying that I'll learn to lean on him and not on myself when I'm feeling the need to "do it myself."
Back to Sawyer... I will not bet allowing her to walk down the steps alone any time in the near future. Even if it makes her as mad as a hornet. She's stubborn like me, a trait that I'm PRAYING she will grow out of, at least a little bit.