Healing for the Soul

So, I told you I was going to be babysitting one day this week, and that I thought maybe I had found an opportunity to have my soul healed by being with children, right?
I thought watching Matthew with the younger children would bring me joy. I imagined God would lift my spirits as I heard childish laughter. And those things happened.
But I wasn't expecting God to go farther than that.

Note to self: Remember that God is able to do far more than you could ask or imagine. Get into the habit of expecting Him to do greater things.

I was watching my friend's children - a toddler and an infant - and when the infant woke from her nap I needed to give her a bottle. I sat with her on the couch and began feeding her. Just then her big brother started fussing, so I hoisted him up to sit next to me and tried talking with him to get him to calm down.
But that little guy didn't want my words. He had his sights on one thing, only.

His sister's bottle.

I tried giving him his cup of water. No deal.
I rubbed his back and sang to him. He didn't like that.
I reminded him that he wasn't a baby anymore - that he got to drink from a cup like a big kid - and wasn't that cool???!!! If he was able to form the words, I think he would have responded with something like, Yeah, whatever, Mrs. Hossink. Just give me the bottle!
My little friend sat on the couch next to me and just cried and cried while he pointed at his baby sister's bottle. I wished so much there was something I could do to calm him and help him understand. Wished I could figure out a way to get his focus off the baby bottle. And in that moment I realized God was drawing a picture right before my eyes.

How many times have I had my eyes fixed on someone else's something, wanting it so desperately that I was unable to recognize the very good thing of my own, which was sitting right next to me?
How often have I refused to receive God's comfort because I simply didn't think anything else could satisfy me except for that thing I couldn't have?
And could it be that I have sometimes wanted things that just were not appropriate for me? That maybe God didn't give me the thing I wanted so dearly, because He knew better than me?

Sitting on the couch, looking at my frustrated toddler friend - knowing his anger was unnecessary - I was reminded once again that God knows more than me. And I can trust Him.
Seems to me I have two choices. I can focus on the thing I want, crying and fussing because I don't have it. OR I can listen to my Father's voice as He assures me He knows what's best, and I can receive His comfort while my heart learns to trust.

Hmmmm. Thought I was just babysitting. Didn't realize God was going to use a crying toddler to bring healing to my soul!