I’m not a natural rule follower or a limit-liker. I love last-minute plans and just-because adventures.
If you let me stay up as late as I want, and sleep in as long as I can, I will be in heaven.
God gave me a soul that craves freedom and a creative heart that thrives on spontaneity.
Budgets and boundaries are not my friends. Feeling like I might suffocate during discussions about either, or both, have taught me it’s good to go into those kinds of conversations with the right mindset and lots of chocolate.
I feel like a child admitting this, but if someone tells me I can’t do something, I feel sad and determined to change their mind. Hearing “you can’t…” makes me feel locked out, at least until my heart understands the good within my guardrails.
So years ago when my husband, J.J, put child locks on our kitchen drawers and cabinets because our baby girl could reach inside them, I should have been grateful. But I felt sad instead.
As I watched J.J. drilling little screws into the wood to secure the white plastic locks, all I could think about was the joy in Aster’s eyes when she discovered her little hands could open the drawer that held colorful pens and countless paperclips.
Quite pleased with herself, she smiled at me with a handful of shiny silver treasures and sprinkled them on the floor. She had no idea how quickly she was going to lose access to her sparkly new friends, and it broke my freedom-loving heart.
Yet I knew it was for her good. I knew those paperclips weren’t safe and drawers that held more dangerous objects like scissors and matches needed to be off-limits. It was love that motivated her daddy to put boundaries in place to protect her.
I’ve needed to remember that lately, as I sense God setting some new and needed boundaries for me in a place where I have loved roaming free. {keep reading here}
Do you like boundaries or, like me, do you resist them? I’d love to hear your thoughts and chat about it over at (in)Courage where I’m hosting the conversation today. {Click here to join me.}