growing

the trust of babes

If you are a momma or have ever been close to small children, you will recognize what I am talking about here.

{not my kitchen sink! but isn’t that tile pretty?}

I stand still. My hands are immersed in that sudsy, warm water known to all women… at the kitchen sink. {smiles} My mind wanders a million miles away-to time past or our children’s future…. or just a few feet away to thoughts of my honey.

And then I feel it, the little fingers tugging at my skirt {and my heart strings!} while little legs struggle to stand. This miniature body leans full force into me. He knows I will not let him fall {at least not too hard, yet}. He trusts me.

I sit. I bend my body all the way down to the floor. They need mommy to be accessible. Sometimes all at once, but usually one by one, little bodies come to me, wanting arms to wrap around. The baby pushes through on hands and knees still. He grabs whatever he can reach and uses my strength to help him stand, again. His body lunges for me. He trusts my love.

taken over a year ago!

This trust, all my children showed it as babies. This all-consuming confidence is how I must trust God my Father to care for my day-to-day. He DOES care, even for the nitty gritty!

I must rest knowing that He will catch me should I fall when struggling to stand. He never moves. [Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8], so He is always right where I need Him to be when I need Strength.

I must trust, rest as securely as my child using me to learn to stand, in His love for me.

And so should you… because His love for you is the same!

by tascha

growing

While my 14 month old still crawls, and seems content to do so, I often remember that my 2 middle children walked before they were 10 months old! The oldest walked just before her first birthday.

And I am struck with these differences.

Some of it does have to do with gender, and how girls and boys mature differently. But people in general mature and grow differently-at different paces, in different orders.

baby toes

Our oldest was speaking fairly clearly with full words at 11-12 months, but she never crawled until about 2 weeks before she started walking… right before she turned 1.

The next two both crawled by 5/6 months and were walking soon after, but they both had trouble forming words coherently until they were well past their second birthdays.

This little baby-man we now have… he took his time learning to crawl. He is taking his time with walking too. And I think he’ll follow those two who took their time talking also.

walking up stairs

And I found a lesson to be learned…

every person will grow differently from every other person.

We may meet someone who has had similar experiences as ourselves, but they will not have grown exactly the same. Even siblings, growing up with the same parents, same house, same experiences, same church, same everything… still become different people. And they learn things in different ways and from different circumstances. They even learn the same things in a different order.

And so do baby Christians.

Just because a person was saved at the same time you were does not mean they will automatically be at the same place spiritually that you are every step…. even if you’ve been in the same church and had similar experiences.

And we cannot push people to learn something other than what God is teaching them –right then. Others can observe my growth and be encouraged that God is not done with them. And in turn, I can observe their growth and realize God is not done with me, either!

sisters walking

I may learn a particular lesson earlier in my Christian walk than my husband or a friend, but that does not make me more spiritual. My husband had learned many things I had yet to encounter when we were first married… and now the Lord allows him to be right there helping me through as I learn them later-in different ways.

All of that to say, every other person is going to grow and mature in a different way than I do, just as each of our children grow and learn differently. And I cannot and should not try to push or shove people in their Christian walk…

I must gently guide those the Lord puts in my path to guide {my children, a SS class, close friends, etc}.

I must pray for those He does not give me the authority to instruct {other people’s children who are not in my care, people who do not know my testimony, even those who simply seem to resist me as a person}.

And I must be an example to any who care to observe my life that God does indeed grow people. And I must allow Him to work!

While my 14 month old still crawls, and seems content to do so, I often remember that my 2 middle children walked before they were 10 months old! The oldest walked just before her first birthday.

And I am struck with these differences.

Some of it does have to do with gender, and how girls and boys mature differently. But people in general mature and grow differently-at different paces, in different orders.

baby toes

Our oldest was speaking fairly clearly with full words at 11-12 months, but she never crawled until about 2 weeks before she started walking… right before she turned 1.

The next two both crawled by 5/6 months and were walking soon after, but they both had trouble forming words coherently until they were well past their second birthdays.

This little baby-man we now have… he took his time learning to crawl. He is taking his time with walking too. And I think he’ll follow those two who took their time talking also.

walking up stairs

And I found a lesson to be learned…

every person will grow differently from every other person.

And so do baby Christians.

sisters walking

I must gently guide those the Lord puts in my path to guide {my children, a SS class, close friends, etc}.

And I must be an example to any who care to observe my life that God does indeed grow people. And I must allow Him to work!

signature

excellest! {20}

by tpiatt

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

Proverbs 31: 29

When I read this verse, my initial thought is that at this praise culminates her life. In the next verse we will see the woman that is praised first fears the Lord.

The writer [we know is God, but through Solomon, here praising the woman his mother taught him to seek out] says that many woman strive for this and do virtuously: have strength and honor and valor in their daily life; but he felt his mother excelled above them all! I would venture to say that this is Solomon calling his mother blessed, as the previous verse speaks. Do you remember who his mother was? This just reminds us that, while others may define us by a single act in sin, God can see the goodness of His Son wiping our blotted record away.

This is not to say we cannot excell because “this” woman excelled above all!

This is to encourage us to continue pressing on so that our own family will see God’s love in our life and know that any goodness is from HIM working in us… as He will in them.