Mittens in Summer

I have yet to understand marketing and why mittens were available in the summer.  It was the end of July and I was out clothes shopping for some kiddos I love. One of my sweet blessings noticed the most awesome pair of fuzzy

The right time, but not the right place for mittens. 😉

mittens she had ever seen. She just HAD to have them. Since she had behaved so well shopping and since I didn’t have any mittens for her for the impending winter (about five months in the future), I decided that she could have them. Besides the price was right.

I never imagined she would want to wear them that very day, inside, at the play area in the mall. I could fight the battle and say NO or I could attempt to reason with her.
Me: Don’t you think it is a little too warm for mittens? I thought we bought those for the winter.
Her: I want to wear them NOW! PLEEAASSSSE Mom!
I could see my chances at dissuading her were slim, so I gave in to her pleading. I thought that after she realized she couldn’t really play with them on, and when her hands were burning up, she would take them off. Oh how wrong I was!

Remember how I said these mittens were fuzzy and that it was July. Well, in a few short minutes my sweet child was sweating up a storm and yet she refused to take her mittens off. Soon I realized that as she pushed her hair out of her face she was leaving fuzz on her face from the mittens. The next thing I know, she has puked all over the play area at the mall. I have never seen that place clear so fast, nor have I ever received so many dirty looks. Everyone thought I brought a sick child to the play area, when in reality the fuzz from the mittens got in her mouth and choked her.

So what’s my point? Simply that we often see something we think we need or want and God knows it isn’t the right season yet. Sometimes we see others in different seasons of life than our own and we want that for ourselves. We want the pink fuzzy mittens in the middle of summer. The ones that if we wear them now in our current season, they may make us sick. God is saying wait my child those are for winter not for the season you are in now. Isaiah 64:4 says, “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” We are so impatient for God to work in our time in our way and yet He knows what is best. He knows what you need and desire. He knows the right time for those things to take place. So wait on Him! He acts on behalf of those who wait for Him and His perfect timing!  The key is waiting for Him, not for what WE want, for what HE wants.

I’m not so good with the waiting thing.  However I have to trust God to know the season.  I have to trust God to know the perfect time.  If I don’t wait for God, I may often get sick on the fuzz of something that would have been perfect for winter, but not for summer.  O Father, help me to wait on You and Your timing.  May I not get frustrated or dismayed or disheartened in waiting.  May I trust in You for what You have planned for me!

What are you waiting for?  I’ll start….