When did this get so hard?

In the past few days the line between obedience and rebellion have become increasingly blurry.
Discipline is getting harder, and Lincoln is getting more opinionated (I know I know--he's almost two, but I think if one more person uses the phrase "terrible twos" or reminds me of it I'll break down into a sobbing heap--because the fact is, he's not even two yet).
All the fun new things of having a big kid are here for sure, but with each sweet toddler moment that we have come a handful of unbearable ones where all you can stand to do is shut yourself in the bathroom for a moment and pray--hard.
Here are a few of the most fun things Lincoln has done lately (mainly to help myself keep things in perspective).
-recently switched to a big boy bed--which he loves jumping on and sleeping in. He calls it the "big bed". Pretty cute (See pics below).
-today at Wal-Mart when we were finally done shopping I looked at him and said "Okay buddy, we're all done shopping,
great job " and gave him a thumbs up, to which he replied "high five" and put his hand up to give me one.
-We get into "I love you" contests" where I'll tell him "I love you" and he decides to say it back, only louder, so we go back and forth like this for a while.
-he just got a bow tie and loves wearing it, and the best part is how he says bow tie, it sounds like he has a jamaican accent.
-when John goes to pray with him before meals, or bed he yells, "mommy pray" and when I come in he throws his arms around me neck (he'll do the same thing with John when he's not in the room).
-John's been giving him pennies in his piggy bank every day when he gets home from work (he gets 2 pennies a day) and on Sunday he got to take a penny to church to put in the giving box (it's his tithe). It's pretty sweet when he calls it "Jesus' penny".)
So all this will stand as a reminder for every other time when he's screaming at the top of his lungs because the dvd is over, or he can't have a marshmallow.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give
up." Galatians 6:9

Life lessons from Sun-Maid

Another lesson from mommying:
Today I was driving in the car with Lincoln who has recently developed a passion for raisins (I don't think he's my son). I handed him the bag of raisins and he's plugging away eating every last one when I think he's had enough. I take the bag of raisins away and hand him a few more to tide him over when he starts screaming.
He knew he could have had the entire bag and all he has is a few in his hand. So here he is, shoving the raisins he has been given in his mouth all the while screaming fervently for the raisins he doesn't have. I try to comfort him by telling him "It's okay buddy, eat the raisins you have" and then I catch myself saying something with such profound meaning for my life that I can hardly believe the words are coming out of my own mouth. I tell him "Be thankful for the raisins you do have."
Wha????
This is such a foreign concept in my heart that I couldn't believe I was touting the principle to my 2-year-old. It was at that moment that I felt God lovingly smack me upside the head with a new truth I need to grasp. Contentment.
Ah-ha.
Be happy with the raisins I have. So often in life I catch myself asking God for something (namely at this stage it's me asking for our townhome to sell and for us to be blessed with a bigger house before this baby comes), and I'm crying and screaming so much for the raisins I don't have that I fail to be thankful for, end enjoy the raisins that I'm currently being given.
I wish I could convey what an impact this had on me. It's one of those lessons that you "know" but you haven't really come to learn. Surely I've been blessed beyond measure, and my thankfulness for our current circumstances should be much deeper than a mere formality I profess to believe because I know how pretentious it sounds to be asking for a bigger house with a yard. Surely there are people not only with much less, but with nothing at all, and the thing that I have been given (whether townhome, clothes, etc) is perfectly suitable and even beyond that an abundance more than I've ever asked. Not only that, but remind myself of the truth that I have been forgiven an astonishingly large debt, for which Christ bought my forgiveness and I am a free woman, no longer even living for the things this world can offer me. Yet somehow I've managed thus far to coast through life with little appreciation for my raisins.
I wonder which raisins I can learn to appreciate better today.
(the picture above is our amazing garden, something which God greatly blessed us with and for which I am overwhlemingly thankful every spring and summer).