A Lesson in Discipline at 3 and 32

We have always had discipline issues with my youngest daughter.  She is a spirited little one and just wants to do what she wants to do.  She is the one who colors on walls, tables and in books.  She does something again immediately after you tell her to stop.  She will look you straight in the eyes and tell you, "NO!".  It is something neither of my other two kids would dream of doing. 

She takes work.  She gets lots of spankings.  She makes me want to pull my hair out most days.  And she helped me find a temper I never knew I had.  Now, don't get me wrong. This little pistol is an adorable, fun-loving, makes-me-laugh-out-loud little girl that I love to cuddle and squeeze and tickle, but she knows how to ruffle her mama's feathers. But lately, every time I take her back to do the 'spanking rountine' I wonder how I can get her to want to obey us, rather than just doing it because she knows she'll get a spanking if she doesn't.  Does it ever come to that point?

Then today I read 1 John 5:3-4 "Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory thorugh our faith."

It was one of those verses that made me realize, that as a 32-year-old grown woman I still struggle with obedience too and I have had many years of practice.  God tells me obeying Him should not be burdensome, it may not always be easy, but following the will of God should be a pleasure in my life and when I find the load a bit too heavy, I have a Father who is always there to take the weight I don't feel I can bear. 

Obeying Him should be a pleasure in my life.  A way of saying "Thank You" to Him for the sacrifice He made for me.  Do I do this without fail?  Never.  Do I try my hardest each and every day?  I try.

This was just a great perspective for me to look at in light of my troubling three-year-old.  She is just three.  She will figure it out.  But I have to be obedient to Christ in my role as a parent to teach her the ways He wants her to live.  That can be hard in itself.  We might both need your prayers to make it through.