This was saved in my drafts exactly a year ago. It felt incomplete so I let it sit for a while. Like 365 days. There are many reasons I left the blog to sit for almost a year. I’ll get to it later. Today the same thought processes were rolling around in my head and my heart. So it’s time to put it out there.

Kids brushing teeth makes me crazy.

There are so many parts of the whole teeth-brushing process that make me crazy, I don’t even know if I can go into it without losing whatever good place I had in my heart when I sat down to tell you about it. But for the sake of the whole point, I’ll tell you about it. If you have small kids, I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about, but if you don’t, let me break it down for you.

First, brushing teeth is apparently a form of torment made bearable by bubblegum flavored goo. The resistance to the act of brushing teeth is akin to what I imagine the reluctance one may have if she is being marched into a churning sea by walking the plank. Repeat twice daily.

Once the reluctant children are perched atop the Dora stool, with toothpaste slathered on their Hello Kitty toothbrushes, wearing their nightgowns, with their little cups of water, and a washcloth to wipe their faces, they stare into the sink with trepidation.

They have no idea what to do.

Despite brushing their teeth at least once a day since they started chewing food, it is still a mystery. They stare at themselves in the mirror. Look at my nose. Look at the cinnamon toast mustache I have! Look at my hair. Look at the shadow on the wall behind me. Look at her. Look at that smudge on the mirror. I don’t like the way my toothpaste looks on my brush. Is this an old cup? I want a new cup without germs on it. I have a hang nail. Why do the trees’ leaves fall off in winter?

Three minutes goes by before they put the brush to their lips.

“I don’t hear scrubbing.” Scrubbing.

Then the sound of chewing. Then they lean over the very edge of the sink and spit whole toothpaste globs onto the sink. More chewing.

“Brush the back teeth.”

“I don’t know where they are.”

“In your mouth.”

“I am so sleepy.”

“Then hurry up and brush your teeth so you can go to bed.”

One of them brushes her teeth, plants her toothbrush face down on the counter, and dashes away to freedom and the other is still staring at her chapped lips and gap where she lost her teeth.

I’m losing whatever cool I had. “Come on; brush your teeth.”

“I’m tired of standing.”

Al l the while my internal dialogue is pressing, I don’t have time for this. She needs to be in bed … or outside waiting for the schoolbus, or putting on shoes, or 3 years older and capable of brushing teeth without my prompting for every single micro-step along the way. I don’t have the patience for her stubbornness. 

I start rushing further. My words become less and less helpful, and her face looks more and more stressed. I don’t have a kind word for her. I can’t give in or it will take longer and what she needs is to just obey and brush her teeth and get with the program.

That was last night. They got in bed, I sighed relief, we moved on.

This morning I woke to one child coughing and congested. I put her back down to bed just as my alarm went off. I don’t have time for her to be sick. I can’t make her better. I can’t get done what I need to today if she’s sick at home.

But I was corrected in my heart, and had a prayer for her. I’m praying for her to be well. Whether she’s well or not, whether she goes to school or not, I can do what I need to today. There is a way.

I sat down with my coffee, and went to today’s morning reading of The Daily Light.

“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32

“As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” 2 Corinthians 6:10

“The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

“God is able to make all grace about toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

Is there anything that I need that I do not have in Him? Only when I don’t draw on His gift available. I don’t have to say “I don’t have” about any of the things I face today.

He supplies all I need.

Is there an “I don’t have” in your vocabulary lately?

Mine has recently been along these same lines. My level of patience has been in the negative more times than not. It’s not my patience that is low, it is my drawing on the grace supplied by the One who has all the patience in the universe that is truly lacking.

The truth is that He has provided everything we need for our livelihood; He has provided everything we need for godly living; and  He has actually provided everything necessary for those we interact with as well.

Because it’s all in Him.

Do you need wisdom? 1 Corinthians 1:30
Knowledge? Colossians 2:2-4
Help? Hebrews 13:6
Acceptance? Ephesians 1:6
Hope? Psalm 39:7 Psalm 71:14
Financial help? Philippians 4:19
Patience? Galatians 5:22-23
Energy? Deuteronomy 33:25
Grace? 2 Corinthians 12:9

There is nothing He cannot provide in response to faith.

Now, you can still say “I don’t have” and believe it fully. It’s only a lie if you choose not to trust that the grace of God has provided what you need. If you would rather live without His help, and conjure up your own ability , then by all means, do.

Yet if you choose to receive the grace He provides in every situation where you find yourself having a need, then you can remove the “I don’t have” phrase from your mental processes, and remember what He has provided. Sometimes it’s humility; sometimes it’s ability to stand in persecution; sometimes it’s the ability to bite your tongue. It’s not always glamorous. But it is always glorious, because it’s an exchange of your lack for His abundance.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”