Josiah and the Juice

It was one of those hurried mornings, where we’d rushed out the door to get Elijah to school on time. As has become my habit, while we were pulling away from the school (Elijah having made it there safely and on time), I was telling Josiah what our day had in store for us.

I listed off all the chores and to-dos in our plan, then said, “But Mommy needs to eat some breakfast first.” (Since the school is not even 5 minutes away, and we were headed straight back home after dropping off Elijah, I’d delayed my breakfast in the interest of getting my son out the door on time.)

Josiah’s reply was, “And I need to get my juice!”

We have a breakfast rule that our boys need to eat most of their breakfast before they can have juice because, like a lot of kids, they will fill up on their drink and not eat their food. Josiah had finished all his cereal that morning, but in the rush, I hadn’t gotten around to getting him his juice when he had asked.

I apologized to my little guy, “That’s right! Mommy didn’t get a chance to you your juice before we left, did she?”

“No! Pooor me,” Josiah sing-songed from the backseat.

“Poor you?” I asked, laughing. Thinking back over the hectic morning, his juice really hadn’t been my biggest concern.

Then he giggled. Good. At least he knew he was being a little dramatic.

It made me pause, though. How often are we, as God’s children, so focused on what we want, when we want it, or what we don’t have that we think we need, that we don’t appreciate the bigger picture of what we have? We’re quick to feel impatient or “oh, poor me” when we should really be thankful for all of our many blessings. We should be able to rest in knowing that God will provide whatever we need, when we need it.

Jesus reminded us of this in Matthew 6:31-33, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Josiah had not been neglected. He’d been fed, dressed, washed, kissed, and even in the hurry, taken care of. If it had been something that he’d really needed immediately, I would have made sure he had it. Thankfully, he was in a non-demanding mood and seemed to understand that his juice was not as important as other things, and that Mommy would get it for him once we were home.

If he can trust Mommy, who is forgetful and fallible, how much more should we be able to trust our perfect Heavenly Father?

Some days Josiah’s not so willing to wait and trust. Of course, he’s two-and-a-half. Those of us older than that…what’s our excuse?