Putting Others in a Box

My oldest son desperately wanted pink rain pants.

Hmm, I thought. I let him wear a pink dress-up skirt when he was three, but now he's in first grade. As much as he thinks he wants pink pants - he'll walk into school one day, someone will make fun of him, and he'll never wear the pants again. So I decided that I'd get him the black ones, and tell him the pink ones were out of stock.

Needless to say, my guilt started running amok.

And when the pants arrived, my 6-year-old demanded, where are my pink pants?

So we negotiated the return of the black pants and amazingly enough he waited patiently for the pink ones to arrive in the mail. I waited with a bit of guarded fear as he showed his friend that came over his pink pants, but I shouldn't have worried. He gets to have his own journey in these matters.

At the same time, I ordered ten pairs of new pants for my youngest son -- who seems to go through multiple costume changes each day, and has an affinity for shorts. So with winter upon us, boxes of 4T pants arrived each day in the mail. He tried them on, and they fell down to his knees. Alex is 4 1/2, but he doesn't wear size 4 pants.

Alex's size has always been a sensitive issue for me. At one point he was negative ten percentile in weight, and falling fast, though he ate just as much as anyone in the family. We changed his diet and he started growing rapidly, but lately he might be lagging again. I worry that I haven't been vigilent enough of those foods that disrupt and irriate his body, and mostly I just want him to thrive. And my beautiful, energetic son wears size 3 pants.

I know that I often put people in boxes, especially the ones I love. I try desperately to cram them into the space that I think they will be most comfortable, or the place I want them to be. Or I'll put a negative label on them - they are "messy" or can't pay attention.

I think I put God in a box sometimes too. "I'm not ready for Christmas yet, God - I need more time to get ready!" or people will put me in a box if they know I am a Christian.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house there are many dwelling places." John 14: 1-2

God is small and big, pink and black, male and female. God is all of these things and more. And more than I could possibly understand most days, which depending on the day, makes me want to shout out in worship, or weep with the enormity of it all.  What boxes has God been put in by others in your life? What does opening God up for you look like?