Gabe turns one in a week. I can hardly believe it. My little bitty baby (ok, I guess he was never little or bitty) is growing up. His birthday coming up has me filled with all kinds of emotions. I've been flooded with memories of the last year, most of them surrounding his actual birth, but have also realized that much of this year has been a blur. Yet I don't think I've ever been more aware of the things God is teaching me than I have since Gabe was born. Seeking to remember these very precious things God has been teaching me, I will be recounting one each day this week.
1. Different Practices Yield Similar Results
We have 3 boys but being boys is one of the only things they have in common. With Caleb we did things by the book. I studied the books, I implemented the strategies, and we saw good results. I mellowed a bit with Elliott and loosened my grip on what I had to do to make my children turn out ok. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that even though we tried many of the same strategies with Elliott as we did with Caleb they just didn't yield the same results with Elliott. And then there was Gabe. And even if we wanted to implement the same strategies we had used before, we were highly encouraged not to by his doctors.
You know what strategies I'm talking about: the sleeping through the night ones, the putting your baby on a schedule ones, the ones that ensure that your baby will be the happiest and healthiest....
And you know what? All of my children sleep through the night some nights and all of my children wake up some nights.
God has used my 3 very different children to show me first hand the truths of Psalm 127:
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain."
Slowly the Lord has chiseled away pride in me. And though I know it pleases Him for me to work hard at teaching my kids even from the very day they are born, I am so grateful that the results don't depend on me. I am so grateful that whether I implement a good practice or strategy or whether I totally fail that God reigns supreme. And it is so freeing to recall that if they are potty trained early, don't use pacifiers past age one, eat at least one food from each food group at a meal and eat a rainbow assortment of foods each day, and go to sleep on their own without being rocked that they still need a Savior. No practice that I implement, however perfectly or imperfectly, saves them from their sins.
God has used Gabe to teach me that it is not about what I do but what He does. He is so faithful!
5 comments:
Really incredible insights, friend. So kind of God to have taught you these things and to be encouraging us through hearing of His work in you!
I wish that every new mom could read this before she has her first baby. I definitely would have been blessed by that before I had Tali!!
Love ya!
So with you on this, Angie. I threw out the books a long time ago and started to use my motherly instincts instead. I wish some parenting books would just disappear all together. God gave us what we need to know our children, and it is His guidance that we need to wade through the mountains and valleys of parenting. Happy 1st Birthday to Gabe, and celebrate the lessons you and Ben have learned and will continue to learn along the way.
Angie, I couldn't have said it better myself! I think you are spot on, and I too am increasingly grateful that the results do not depend on me and my "striving," but on the work of the Holy Spirit. Happy Birthday Next Buddy.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post! It has been such a temptation lately for me to feel that I am not doing everything "just so" - what a incredibly encouraging reminder! Love it. Thanks Angie
I have benefited so much from your wisdom and experience and Godward perspective in these matters during my first year as a mom. You are my first go-to with mom questions, friend! Thank you for letting the Lord teach you and for passing those lessons on.
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