My destination loomed tall and cold. I gazed up at it, pinpointing its every defect. The goal: climb to the summit unaided, find out what was really concealed up there, and make it down unnoticed with my information. Stealthily I climbed, basking in my sneakiness and what I was about to uncover. Alas, when I completed my goal of cresting the refrigerator and discovering its contents up top, I failed in actually getting back down. It was only when my mom remembered she hadn’t seen me for awhile that I was found and eventually rescued.
At the time of my story, I was only two years old, which proves that personality is developed at a very young age. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always been a very, shall we say, independent person. Even excluding the fridge story, there’s bunches of tales of “the stealth child” escaping outdoors in just a diaper to sit in the snow or getting her head stuck in the cat house. I might have been young in those stories, but overall, if all my mistakes were made into parables, 90 percent of the lessons would probably have to do with pride. My pride makes me think I can be completely self-sufficient. It makes me think I don’t have to ask for anyone’s help. But all my unwise actions have helped me learn that it’s impossible to be totally independent. While I’m a fully licensed driver now, it used to be that if I wanted to go somewhere, I had to get someone to drive me. If I couldn’t figure out a math problem, I went to my dad for help. More importantly, I learned that you have to rely on God more than anyone else. Granted, God never drove me to my piano lessons and mysteriously made my math problems correct themselves. But when I did something wrong, the only thing that would make it better was talking things through with the only One who can truly forgive me of my shortcomings. He’s the only One who can erase my heart from guilt and that silly idea of my self-sufficiency.
Have you ever found yourself questioning God? Sometimes it’s hard for me to really believe that He knows best, even when 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Right. But don’t you think I know a little more about my life than He does, and so deserve to make my own decisions? Of course…if I want to be forever stuck on top of the refrigerator!
Carly Bergthold is a 16-year-old homeschooler. She loves just being with friends and family, reading a good book, watching movies, and going to the lake every Tuesday in the summer. Some of her passions are playing flute and piano, writing fun stories or school papers, and her cat, Ypsie. She would love to visit everywhere in the world, but especially Europe and India. You can contact her through Facebook.