Mommy's Little Helper

Coralyn tries really hard to put her own shoes on. She almost has it! ;)

No matter how much I want her to stay my baby girl, Coralyn is growing up. And as she does, she is becoming quite the little helper. She just naturally likes to help, and actually does a good job of it. So often kids try to help and end up making the job much bigger and take longer than it would have if Mom would have done it on her own. At times Coralyn's "helping" ends up being more of a hindrance, but usually I really appreciate her help, and am surprised at how well she does.

A few examples of how Coralyn helps me:

*takes clothes from the washer and puts them in the dryer

*takes clothes from the dryer and puts them in the basket

*takes clothes I have folded and carries them to her room

*opens a drawer and puts the clothes in (granted, it's not always the right drawer, but usually she does get things where they are supposed to go)

*takes the daycare kiddos' dirty diapers (all wrapped up) to the diaper gene, opens the lid, puts the diaper in, and closes the lid

*takes pieces of trash (like paper and such) that I give her (and sometimes all on her own) to the trash can, pushes the button to make the lid come up, puts the trash in, and closes the lid again

*points out dirt or pieces of food that are on the kitchen floor (no matter how many times I sweep, she can still find something to show me)

*hands me her plate when she is done eating

*wipes off her part of the table after she is done eating

*hands me cups, plates, spoons, etc. when we are unloading the dishwasher

*puts her shoes by the door

*puts her coat by the closet and insists that I open the door and hang her coat up

*clean up her toys (although this seems to be much harder for her :) and sometimes she pretends she can't reach a toy when all she has to do is take 1 step and bend down to get it)

*brings me items out of the grocery bags and puts them in the fridge (the bottom shelf tends to get pretty full :)

In addition to being quite the little helper, I am noticing that Coralyn shows compassion, or at least a concern, for others. When we go in to eat a snack or lunch, she always makes sure all the daycare kiddos are coming and if someone has forgotten a cup, she gets it for them. When we are playing and she stops to get a drink, she finds other people's cups and takes them to them just in case they wanted a drink too. I am praying God continues to develop this sense of caring for others and uses it for His glory.

Now, if I can just get her to share her toys willingly and not try to take things from people, or push them out her way. One thing at a time, I guess :)

While I was reflecting on what a wonderful little helper Coralyn is, I got to thinking about my relationship with God. Whenever Coralyn helps me, I praise her and tell her "good job" and "thank you so much for being such a great help" or "you're such a big girl helping Mommy." She smiles so big, it almost melts my heart. But, I don't really need her help, and at times she does slow me down. I can put the groceries up, throw trash away, unload the dishwasher, and wash clothes all by myself. I can do all those things pretty quickly and efficiently too, as I have had lots of opportunities to refine my mad housekeeping skills :) More often than not though, I let her help me. I even ask her if she wants to help me because I secretly enjoy watching her and reflect about how quickly she is growing up (then I get a little sad). I wonder if it's the same way with God. He doesn't need our help, at all. He is quite capable of doing everything on His own. Yet, He lets us help Him. Not only that, He invites us to help Him. He gives us jobs to do and trusts us to do them. He could have done our job a lot faster and a lot better. He may have to follow behind us and tweak things a bit, yet He still praises our work. And He continues to let us help Him, time and time again.

I wonder if God is like me, and enjoys watching His little girl do things to help Him and reflects about how much she is growing up.

I hope so.

And I pray that just like Coralyn fills my heart with joy, I bring joy to my heavenly Father.