Adjusting to life with a newborn . . . again!

Our newest addition!

I’m so happy to be writing another article for this blog–finally! Itching to sit down and type something “profound” about my life that I can share with others (ha, ha), I’ve had to patiently wait until a rare quiet and free moment presented itself. A new baby in the house has really changed things, for the sixth time!

Amazingly, even though I’ve been through having to care for a newborn five times before, I still find myself stressing out about things:

• Not getting much sleep at night (tired and grumpy)
• Not getting to take a shower when I feel like it (yuck)
• Not being able to get the chores done right away (messy house)
• Not being able to leave the house and go places (trapped indoors)
• Etc.

My weaker self is tempted to say, “This is a nuisance; why do I have to put up with this again?” But my wiser self admits, “This is the perfect opportunity for growth . . . ” I wouldn’t grow, if I wasn’t made to. I don’t think any of us would! Who likes having to do hard stuff? Who chooses stress and self-denial? Do we wake up in the morning and say, “Today I’m going to do ten sets of can’t have my way,  followed by five sets of annoying setbacks to my plans?” We see the point of exercising our physical muscles, and accept that there will be healthy pain involved, but it is harder for us to see the point of having to experience the healthy pain involved in developing our spiritual muscles. So, because we wouldn’t choose this type of growth for ourselves, God chooses it for us.

God is stretching me, and developing my character, definitely. He is also revealing to me more about Himself. Sometimes I hear this baby crying, and I think, “Why are you crying; I’ve fed you, I’ve changed your diaper, I’ve made sure you’re not too hot or cold–I’m even holding you!–so, what is it that’s so bad you have to cry and cry about it?” But wait, isn’t that how we are? We cry, and complain, and wail about every little thing that we don’t like, and God, gracious and patient God that He is, puts up with it all with the tender compassion a mother shows her newborn baby.

At the end of the day, even after all our whining, God loves us with a love that never ends, that sees us with the eyes of an adoring father looking down at his sweet little baby as he holds her in his arms: “Forget the crying, forget the screaming, forget the throw up and messy diapers–this is My little baby,” He says, “and I love her SO MUCH!” God doesn’t treat us as a nuisance; He doesn’t say, “When is this all finally going to end so I can get back to My life?” No way! He knows that we are weak and can’t care for ourselves if left on our own, and He delights to meet our every need and to soothe our distress with His comfort. Instead of focusing on all the “bad” stuff, He chooses to take pleasure in all the good stuff: that we are His creation, that He made us each unique and with a special purpose, that we (if believers in Christ) will live forever together with Him . . .  Tempted to think sometimes that God must be irritated with all my weaknesses, I am being reminded, through the experience of having my own little baby to care for, that God, instead of being irritated with me, is gushing with joy that I’m His little girl! He would do anything for me (even die for me . . . ).