All by herself

Sam and I sat on our bed and watched as Eve worked for several minutes to sit up by herself. She would try really hard and then take a break laying her head on Sam's leg. Then she would try again. She was breathing hard and even sweating a little with the effort, but in the end, she was able to sit up all by herself! As I watched her work so hard, I thought of how Heavenly Father must feel as He watches us struggle with trials we face. I'm sure in many ways He could just reach out and remove our problem, just as Sam or I could have reached out and helped Eve to sit up. However, Our Father knows that it is through the struggling that we gain strength and the necessary skills we need to progress. But He is near us all the while and will not leave us alone.

So then on a funnier note, once Eve finally sat up, Sam and I clapped and cheered for her. She was at first surprised and then thrilled with the attention. So she got down on all-fours and then returned to sitting position. We clapped again. She then proceeded to just barely get onto her hands and knees and then back up to sitting. She was looking for more praise. She did this several more times, getting progressively lazier on what she would do prior to returning to a sit. The last time all she did was put her arms in front of her (not even touching the ground) and then threw her arms out to the side and sat up tall with a huge grin looking from Sam to me and then back to Sam as though to say "Clap for me! Clap for me! Aren't I amazing?!" - we clapped and laughed at how even at 7 months old praise and attention mean so much!