what God is teaching me through my child...

My friend, Laura, wrote a little something on life with a 7-month old (I can't believe Link is going to be 7 months in 5 days -- GAH!). She wrote on how your baby teaches YOU so many things...she is SO RIGHT. 

http://fitandfreebefore30.blogspot.com/2016/03/life-lessons-learned-from-my-7-month-old.html

Before Link was here, I was pleading with the Lord to show me His love through the gift of this precious life. To show me how He loves me by the feelings that I have for this little one. And He has taught me that & then some. 

A couple things the Lord has taught me:

-(more about) His unconditional love: When Link was first born, I distinctly remember sitting in that bright yellow rocking chair, snuggling him in my arms while he fell asleep in my arms. Bliss. And completely, utterly being head over heels. THIS IS HOW GOD FEELS ABOUT YOU, DISCIPLE OF JESUS! You are His child...and he is totally in love with you. 

-Growth: Around 2 weeks, we put Lincoln in his room to sleep. He's a pretty good sleeper & for the most part, always has been. After 4 weeks or so, we started BabyWise. There were a couple of nights later on where we let him cry 5 or maybe 10 minutes. But after a night or two, he learned that he falls asleep on his own. This isn't because we don't love him or want to neglect him...quite the opposite. We believe this is good & for growth. He NEEDS sleep. And we NEED him to sleep. We are still there, but we've stepped back a little bit to let him learn. And grow. And I think the Father does this, too. I've come to realize that in the trials of life...or when I think I can't hear or feel God, He is ALWAYS there...maybe he's just allowing this trial for growth. Never mistake that for unloving.

-Rest: Rest in Him & His promises. Just like a newborn rests in your arms & is completely reliant on you, allow God to be that for you. 

I just found this email that I sent to two of my girlfriends August 27th (Link was born August 9th):

Before Lincoln got here, I asked God to help me understand his unconditional love more with this baby. To show me just how he loves me by how I knew I'd love Linc... anyways, it's been neat to see & I'm still learning. Just now, Linc had a Moro Reflex while sleeping on my chest in his Ergo. He cried for like a second before I put my hand on him & he heard my voice & told him it's okay...the he immediately rested & fell back asleep. Isn't that what it's like with the Father? We have a 'problem' or something scares us & HE is the only one who can help us. Sometimes he allows us to have those 'problems' to draw us closer to the only One who can console us. Anyways, just a thought I had. Motherhood is the best!

Happy Thursday!

J&L

Now, I really wish that I would have written all these things down & I'm kicking myself for not...but as I remember others, I'll post them up here -- they're good reminders for me, too!

Praying that someone can be encouraged through this... :D

Jace