I do it myself.
Dr. Rikki Permenter
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
“No, Mama. Huddie do it. I do it myself.” This phrase may be the single most infuriating set of sentences my almost 3 year old has been saying lately. It doesn’t matter what it is - she is doing it herself. If you even try to do it for her, she will undo it and then redo it again… by herself, unless… she can’t. She will undo what you just did, attempt to re-do it, then demand “help me, I need help” in the most pitiful voice. Usually by the time she is asking for help, whatever the task has taken 5 times longer than it should have, she has hurt herself, hurt someone else, broken something, or made the task exponentially more complicated.
This past week (in mid emotional breakdown - for both of us, if I’m being honest) I found myself in a negotiation with a terrorist … errr, toddler. We were going back and forth and bam! It hit me. It was almost as if God said to me - out loud - THIS IS YOU. How many times do we attempt to “do it myself”? How often to do we say “No, God. *Insert your name here* do it. I do it myself.” How often do we think we have it under control? How often do we wait until the very last possible minute to ask for help? How often have we made whatever it is take 5 times as long, have we hurt ourselves, have we hurt others, have we broken things, or have we made things exponentially more complicated?
This week reflect on the ways you can trust God more. Reflect on how you can depend on him - even when it doesn’t make sense to you and even when you just want to do it in the way you know how.
Dr. Rikki Permenter, Ph.D., Th.M., is the owner of Bent Tree Counseling in Clinton, La. She is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor - Supervisor and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in the state of Louisiana. She is the wife of Cole Permenter, pastor of Bluff Creek Baptist and the mom of Hudson James & Magnolia Ruth, the cutest little girls in Bluff Creek. Interested in counseling or have questions? Check out her website www.benttreecounseling.com.
