Milk is for babies.

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 

When I was in elementary school, I fell off of my bike. I hurt my knee really bad, and dad had to clean it out. I remember it being one of the most physically painful experiences of my childhood. I screamed and I cried the whole time he was doctoring my wound, while sitting on the downstairs bathroom sink. Though cleaning the wound was necessary, all I could think about was the pain I was feeling, and how I wanted it to stop. I was not yet mature enough to see how necessary dad cleaning out my knee actually was. That was my right knee, and I was not yet ready for the pain. Last week, I tripped on this ghetto sidewalk on my way to Soul Food. I totally tore open my knee, and it really hurt. I brushed off my hands, stood up, and kept walking. I went into the BCM bathroom, washed off the blood, cleaned out the gravel, and stuck on a band-aid. I didn't scream, and I didn't cry. I knew that if I didn't clean out the bad stuff, my knee wouldn't be able to heal properly; and I mean completely clean out the bad stuff. That was my left knee. It's not that it hurt any less than the right one, I was just in a different place maturity-wise. I was able to see, and consider, more than just the "here and now". Last year, I split up with the guy that I had been dating for 3 years. It crushed me, and I screamed and cried the entire time we were apart. I remember it being one of the most emotionally painful experiences of my entire life. God was trying to get the unhealthy stuff out of my life, but it hurt so bad that I just wanted Him to stop. All I could see was the "here and now", rather than how it was going to affect the rest of my life; my future. So I ran from God, and I held tightly onto the things that didn't belong in my life. Though He allowed me to run, I firmly believe that He never once let go of my hand.When the "extra stuff" started making me hurt so badly that I just couldn't handle it any more, He once again said, "Haley, just let me clean it out, so you can heal and grow the way I want you to. Please, just let me clean it out." And so I let Him; I totally and completely let Him. Again, it hurt just as bad as the first time, but I could see that it was necessary. Leaving the stuff in there would in the end be much more painful than the temporary pain of allowing God to clean out my life. Now I can heal, and I can grow; And I'm watching it happen more and more every single day. He gave me milk, because I was not yet ready for solid food. Indeed, I'm still not ready; By myself, I can never be ready. But with Him, I can take on the world.

I tried to take on the world by myself, and I tried to take on the world with a boy; 

But until I tried to take on the world with God, I could never conquer. He is enough, always.