Category Archives: Children

The Flip Side

Posted on by

45sBack in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s we bought popular music on small black records with big center holes that could only be played on properly equipped hi-fi machines. Because of their rpm speed, they were nicknamed “45’s”, with a Top 40 hit on the A side and a not-so-popular one on the B. We wore out the “good” sides and virtually never played the “bad” ones.

???????????????????????????????

 

My 3 year old grandson Micah reminds me of those old 45’s. His A side is tender and sweet, causing him to suddenly stop playing and rush over to me (or someone else) to deliver a kiss and a hug. “I love you,” he’ll say in a lilting voice, and I absolutely melt. With his strawberry blond curls and round face, he resembles a cherub straight from heaven.

But Micah has a B side, too. It can pop up without warning and amaze us with its intensity. For example, when asked to get ready for his bath, he might ask for a longer play time. But very quickly the “please can I…” escalates to “I can’t because…” followed by further resistance at increasing volume, till finally he’s having what I call a hissy-fit.

It’s his flip-side, and he has flipped out.

We adults may inwardly feel much like Micah when we’re told what to do, but we don’t let ourselves show it. It can be especially evident in our relationship with God.

Scripture refers to this problem as our old and new natures warring against each other. Paul explained it well in Romans 7 when he described his repeated failure to live a righteous life. “I want to do what’s right, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what’s wrong, but I do.”

We (and Micah) can all relate to this same miserable struggle, because it’s endemic to mankind. Paul says, “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there’s another power within me that’s at war with my mind.” He defines it as sin. He recognizes, as all of us should, that the trouble is not with God but with us. We’re willfully disobedient and need empowerment from someone other than ourselves if we’re to rise above hissy-fits.

Thankfully, Paul defines that help as the Holy Spirit. He says it’s not necessary to bounce back and forth between our A and B sides. “The power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the power of sin.” (8:2) Now that’s good news!

Tender-hearted Micah.And as precious Micah gets to know Jesus better, one day he can live regularly on his A side with only an occasional flip to his B. In the mean time, his grandma Midgee is eating up the hugs and kisses, letting his mommy and daddy deal with his flip side.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” (1 Peter 1:14-15)

Weeping and Wailing

Posted on by

Fussin'Nobody can holler like a newborn. They make an abrasive noise-pollution sort of sound much like a crow cawing or a cat in fight-mode. Pegging it perfectly is difficult, but new babies all seem to agree on how it should sound.

Parents agree on something, too: that it should stop a.s.a.p.

Baby Isaac celebrates his one week birthday tomorrow, and like all babies, he has his moments of wailing. Diaper changes are his least favorite activity, during which he voices his opinion at full volume. When that happens, even grandmas are distressed by the crying.

It’s not that the noise level is intolerable. Isaac’s three older siblings contribute plenty of that, but it never reaches the fever-pitch of a newborn’s cry. When Isaac is wailing, we wonder if he’s in some serious pain or is in another kind of desperate need.

But we have to continually remind ourselves that newborns don’t have much to offer between silence and full-on screaming. They haven’t learned anything about that middle ground, whining, and certainly can’t use words. Hard-core hollering is the best they can do, and it’s usually overkill in comparison to their needs, i.e. major outbursts over minor problems.

Sometimes I wonder if God views our flare-ups against him the same way. Of course we don’t see it as “screaming” directly at him and might even say, “Heaven forbid I should do such a thing!” But when we loudly object to the circumstances he puts us in (or allows us to be in), he’s probably thinking, “Major outbursts over minor problems.”

Although baby Isaac has nature on his side when he’s hollering over every need, we don’t. As adults, especially Christian adults, we ought to know better than to rail against situations just because they’re not ideal. When frustrations and annoyances come, God is hoping we’ll resist the temptation to object and will square off with our needs responsibly, improving what we can, and accepting what we can’t.

It’s good to know, though, that God doesn’t put a complete ban on crying. He knows we’re emotional beings that need to show our feelings. If we look to Scripture for guidance, we see all kinds of godly people in tears: widows, mothers, fathers, oppressed people, Jeremiah, Job, Mary, Hezekiah, Peter, Esau, David, Paul, and Jesus himself, to name a few. The difference between weeping that’s welcomed by God and wailing that’s not, is the condition of the heart behind it.

???????????????????????????????God’s heart is always tuned in to what’s going on in the hearts of people… all people. Nothing slips past him, and everything matters. That’s why a bout of crying that emanates from a sincere, unselfish heart is a call for help he will always answer.

As for little Isaac, he’s still under the lovely protection of God’s Grace for Newborns and can wail all he wants.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears.” (Hebrews 5:7)

Life is fragile?

Posted on by

The wonder of birth makes me wonder: How does anyone ever get safely born? And how does a newborn baby make it to adulthood, much less old age? How does it happen without getting derailed along the way, more often than not? Life is fragile!

Or is it?

Three days oldAfter watching Isaac’s birth, I’ve replayed the details in my mind again and again, reliving that natural marvel. And in the process, my old nemesis has dominated me, causing me to wander into flights of fantasy: “What if such-and-such had happened? Or that other thing? Or this one? Isaac wouldn’t have made it! So much could have gone wrong!” And yet here he is, on his 3rd day with us, sleeping safely and serenely in his infant seat.

Isaac had no idea how his old Grandma Midgee was fretting over his safety during those last moments before birth or how anxious she was when it took a few seconds for his just-born body to become animated and cry.

Midwives examiningAn hour beforehand, I had asked the experienced midwives if they were getting nervous as Linnea’s grand finale’ was coming close. For that matter, how did they feel at that same moment with the hundreds of other births they’d facilitated? I said, “Do you ever get stressed over all the things that could go wrong?”

“We don’t get nervous,” Jess said. “We get an exhilarating adrenalin rush and fresh excitement to meet the new baby!”

And suddenly I felt ashamed of myself. Their attitude was lovely. Mine was dismal.

I don’t know what either of them thinks about God, but I believe he’s not only the Creator of life but the Sustainer of it as well. He has always been and always will be actively ruling over “chance” during every single childbirth. Whether Isaac lives or dies isn’t up to a pregnant woman, a group of midwives, an obstetrician, a parent, or a grandma’s fretting. It’s up to God.

And that goes for all of us. (When will I ever learn?)

Not that we should be careless or reckless with our lives, but the ultimate outcome is in the hands of the Almighty. And because that’s true, my nervousness at the moment of Isaac’s birth was completely ridiculous.

If God says so...The bottom line is that life in God’s hands is anything but fragile. It’s more resilient than it seems, especially as we look at a new baby.

As for 3-day-old Isaac, if God says he’ll live to celebrate his 100th birthday, indeed he will.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth…  He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else…   for in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:24-25,28)