Do we have to use the power chain?

Saturday morning and all is quiet in the Balentine home. Jeff and Scott stayed up playing Rockband until the wee hours and Megan and I decorated for her birthday party today and went to sleep. There is something so wonderful about right now. My front door has a beautiful design on it that allows the sun to filter in and place this gorgeous, changing, reflecting design on my wall. I open all the blinds and just soak in the morning. Soak it in before all these teenage girls come over and this house will be anything but quiet. This has been a stressful week for Meg. And just like EVERYTHING in my life, my walk with my Lord....well MY LORD comes to mind with everything. He is constantly showing, teaching and refining. Take for instance, Thursday, we were at Megan's much dreaded orthodontia appointment. Megan's teeth are quite unusual. They are shifted ever so slightly. So at this stage of her braces, they must apply what is called a "power chain". Sounds painful? Well let's just say Megan couldn't even drink afterwards much less eat. I watched as her dentist applied this device on her mouth and then begin to twist, pull and tug. It almost looked like he was going to pull Megan's teeth right out her mouth. Megan was tough....she always is. I would have been a big baby! At the end of all this torture.....in about 8 months..Megan will have a beautiful smile. All the pain, torture, lip gum and Motrin will be worth it. But in the middle of the struggle and tugging it can be exhausting. That is how I feel my Lord taking my life. I am mature enough I believe in my walk to realize that something beautiful waits at the end of the all the struggle, tugging and Motrin but yet I am a big baby! My Lord is definitely using a power chain on me. I had this perfectly thought out planned existence and God smiled and said No. But this is how I want things to be and I hate change...God smiled and said you will be fine. But now things are weird and uncertain and I have no choice to rely on Him for the ending of the book. And of course God smiled and said That is exactly how I want you...dependent on me! Well I hear someone stirring....hopefully it is just my Zoey. She doesn't want to disturb this tranquility...she just wants food!