As Adela sat on the floor wedged between the wall and the side of the bed, she slowly woke from her middle-of-the-night daze to realize she had fallen off of the bed. I must admit, that as her parent, I was not surprised at all that she had rolled off; in fact, I had predicted, warned, and even tried to prevent the occurrence. But she believed that she knew best. She argued that she was mature enough and experienced enough to judge how close to the edge she could will herself. What did surprise me is her response upon realizing that she had fallen. “Mom, it's your fault! You made me fall off of the bed!” Contrary to her belief, I did not push her off the edge…she did that all on her own.
I wonder how often, in my naïve self-confident state, I shirk the blame for things that go wrong. Knowing full well that He warned me, that He tried to prevent it from happening, that He even put barriers up to help me avoid the obvious outcome, yet I thought I was mature enough and experienced enough to judge how close to the edge I could will myself. I pray I heed His warnings next time.
My fear is that Adela will once again refuse a side pillow, and unfortunately have to learn the hard way. She might even continue to make it several times before truly learning for herself in a way that might have lingering effects (broken bones are not uncommon around that girl;-).
May it only take us one fall, if none at all, to trust that He truly does know what is best!
