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Just a few weeks ago, I decided to potty train my two-year-old and I was not going to take “no” for an answer. I told my son one Sunday night, “Tomorrow morning, Mommy is going to take your diaper off and you will never wear another diaper again.” Deep down, I was not 100 percent sure if I believed myself. Nevertheless, I was determined.
Sure enough, the next morning came, the diaper came off, and I made it my business to take him to the bathroom EVERY 15 minutes without compromising. I set the timer on my stove to go off every 15 minutes. To my surprise, by the third attempt he finally went pee-pee in the toilet! I was shocked. I mean, I prayed about it beforehand, and it’s not that I did not expect my prayer to be answered; I just did not expect for it to happen that quickly.
If you know my son and his personal situation, you would understand that he has struggled a little bit with his speech and has been meeting with an assigned speech pathologist since he was 18 months old. This led me to believe that he lacked the level of communication necessary to successfully potty train him. Look, I could write a book of a million and one excuses that prompted me to hold off on potty training my son until that glorious Monday morning.
Not only did he manage to pee in the toilet, but a few more attempts later he also managed to do “number two”, which is a huge feat for a potty training toddler. In a nutshell, my son was successfully potty trained in 48 hours. Here is what God taught me through this victory: show up consistently, and reap a return! No matter what the situation looks like, how high the mountain before you appears, how long the road seems, how daunting the task feels, be consistent. Keep showing up, and he will show out!
For those of you who have not yet read my testimony (click here to read it), consistency in my walk with Christ has been a lifelong struggle up until the last few years. It was only recently that I learned how to be purposeful in making myself available to God and inviting Him into every situation, even the seemingly simple ones. I would begin to seek Him, filled with passion and longing for an intimate relationship with my Creator, and then things would not happen exactly the way I wanted them to or not as speedily as I would have liked. I would give way to my flesh because the temporary Band-Aids bred faster results. I learned quickly that faster does not equate to long-lasting. In fact, the pleasure I felt with each quick fix was very short-lived.
However, once I became consistent in my prayer life, in reading the Word of God, and consuming spiritually uplifting material by way of devotionals, recorded sermons, and even business books, my life began to shift in ways I had not expected, and it shifted quickly. Doors started opening that I had not even knocked on. Opportunities arose that I had not even pursued. My marriage began to flourish in ways I did not think were likely. It’s as if purpose began to seek me. Just as much as consistently showing up in the bathroom with my son every 15 minutes paid off, so did consistently showing up for my intimate time with God paid off.
I am not exaggerating when I say every 15 minutes. If you have experienced how fast time flies these days, then you understand how frequent that is. I work from home, and time is something I have to work hard at managing wisely. When I decided potty training my son would be our next milestone, I knew this meant I would be designating time to focus on this. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make, because the end goal superseded the hard work it took to achieve that goal.
This is the same determination and consistent pursuit God honors in our personal walk with Him. Because I gave my days back to Him and sought Him in everything I did, He stretched time for me, and blessed me in ways unimaginable. Now, I am not saying that every time you show up, you should expect quick results. The point is to continue even when you do not see results as speedily as you would like, and you will reap because of it, as with anything in life.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:58 to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” NKJV Sister, whatever you are believing God for, whether it is a healthy marriage, a potty trained child, a promotion at work, a new career path, a new home, your first child, or whatever it is you are believing for, show up consistently in your pursuit of that thing according to God’s will and watch God show out!
Mommies, because I cannot simply tell you about my success with potty training and not offer you tips on how you can implement the same method to share in the victory, I am offering you a FREEBIE for a limited time! I wrote an eBook containing all you need to know to do exactly what I did to achieve potty training your toddler in three days, or less. If you would like to view a copy of my eBook How to Potty Train Your Toddler in 3 Days, simply click on the image below!
