Day 100 Faith

"Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."  Mark 5:34

Lord, You sometimes heal instantly, miraculously. Sometimes You don't.  You ALWAYS want to heal our hearts more than our bodies, though.  Increase my faith, Lord, through this "testing of my faith" (James 1:3).  Am I able to rise up above my circumstances and praise Your name, to experience Your joy and radiate Your peace despite sickness?  I call myself a Christian, but these are the outward signs, "fruits" of that inward faith - that with each increasing trial, I'd respond with increased faith demonstrated by my peace and joy.  How awesome to have the faith of Stephen, who glorified You with a radiant face while being stoned to death.  Or to be like Peter and Paul who sang Your praises after being beaten for their faith!  Help me, Lord, to know You like that and in turn to witness to my children what a great God You are!

Day 87

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ -what is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8)

I love my sleep, but I love my baby more.  I love my freedom, but I love my baby more.  More than my pretty clothes (now with spit up on them), my sporty car (now a van), my high heels (not on your life while holding my baby!), my tidy hair (yanked on), my sense of worldly importance, my financial stability, even my friends and extended family. So quickly I realize I would "lose all things" to gain/keep this baby. Paul has that zeal (and more) for Christ - he'd give up anything and everything for Christ's sake. Would I? Would I even give up this baby? I think of Abraham - no wonder even God marveled at his great faith (Genesis 22:12). Forsaking anything, even his precious promised heir, at God's command he almost sacrificed Issac on the altar. I'm learning so much about sacrifice, Lord and understand it better each time something I used to care about becomes "rubbish" to me as I choose my baby over those things. Like yesterday, when I grabbed the closest cloth available - my own pillowcase - to catch baby's spit up!   Help me to see more clearly how to apply this passionate, sacrificial love to my love for You, Lord, as I humbly contemplate the ssacrificial love you had for me on that cross. 

Tip: Whenever you need to give up something for your child's sake, do so joyfully, gratefully, and as an offering to the Lord.. Resentment will eventually eat you up and kill your future relationship with your baby.

Day 77, 11 Weeks Fear

God, please bless and heal  my baby! I felt a big lump on the back of his neck last night and was tempted to rush him to to the ER at 2am. Prayer restored my faith and peace. This child is Yours, Lord, and I need not fear.  "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18).  Just 2 verses earlier, John teaches that "God is love."  Lord, You drive out my fear. There can be no fear when I abide in You and let Your Spirit live in me. Today, my toddler pulled the baby swing over while he was in it and baby landed face down on the tile floor! I expected a bloody nose or chin, but he  didn't have a scratch on him.  Praise You Lord, for protecting my baby! His life is in Your hands, Father, and I will try to trust You and not to fear. 

Tip: Learn how to give kids a lymphatic massage (to boost their natural immunity) and practice on baby while nursing.

Day 60 - 8 weeks, 4 days - Faith

Lord, help me to "live by faith and not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Parenting is a great example of this. For weeks, I smile at my baby, then suddenly he smiles back.  I can pour words into my child for 2 years before I hear words coming out of him.  The return for my efforts, the witness that he has learned something, may take weeks or years. If I'm only gratified by the results I see and hear, I have a long wait. Deeper things, like teaching values, beliefs, self-control, may take many years to see in their adult character. Yet, I must persevere to teach and model for my baby to develop. I'd love to hear "thank you" for every diaper I change, but I won't hear those sweet words for at least another year.  My motivation must come through faith that my actions will reap a good harvest someday.  Lord, I must see with spiritual eyes as I live this life of faith and trust that Your Word is true and that it will not return void in me or my baby.  

Tip: Do you smile at your baby often? Usually if you are modeling smiling up close to baby, he/she will be smiling back at you by now and what a wonderful gift that little smile is to keep you going!

Day 3 Faith

From the moment this child was conceived, even earlier if we had difficulty conceiving, motherhood has been an act of faith.  Faith that the baby would brow to full term and emerge healthy.  Now, with the baby here in my arms, I realize the true journey of faith has begun.  Will my baby survive infancy> Will I be a good mother? How will my child survive childhood, teens and adulthood without physical problems or emotional baggage? Will he come to a personal relationship with and saving faith in Jesus? Now, more than every, I must live Galations 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ - Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."  I give "my" life for this infant in faith that my love and sacrifice will somehow translate into a healthy life for my child. 

Tip: Take pictures of those tiny feet and feet, perhaps next to your own large ones, for a precious memory. They grow so quickly!