Tuesday, June 13, 2006


norah rose @ 5 months Posted by Picasa

Learning to Wait…

The other day my oldest daughter Anna told me that she wanted oatmeal for breakfast, so I started to fix it. It was really cute too, because when she says oatmeal, it sounds like “oh-milk.” I put her in her high chair, put her bib on, and gave her some milk to drink while we waited on the oatmeal to cool off. After a while I got busy doing some other things and sort of forgot about Anna’s breakfast… oops! It’s okay though, because she reminded me. As I walked by her high chair she started to sing a song... an original composition that went like this: “Oh-milk, oh-milk, I’m having oh-milk…” It was awesome because she wasn’t screaming or crying but just patiently waiting and singing a song about it.

It wasn’t always that way though… When Anna was Norah’s age and still nursing, she didn’t patiently wait on food, and neither does Norah! Before babies are weaned, they absolutely freak out about eating! When the hunger pains start, Norah lets us know with heart-breaking, ear-splitting, blood-curdling baby screams… as if Christy hasn’t fed her exactly what she needs eight to ten times a day for the past five months! I don’t know what happens in their little baby minds, but they haven’t learned from all the other times their sweet mommy has provided for them. They don’t really know the ins and outs of nutrition, caloric intake and what their little bodies need. The only thing they know is that they are hungry and for some reason they think, “Okay, this is it… this is the end. It’s been fun, but I guess it’s all over!”

After Anna stopped nursing and started eating big people food, she learned over time that we are going to come through for her and give her what she needs. Eventually sweet little Norah will learn this as well. She will be able to relax and trust that we know what we’re doing and that she’s not going to starve. Now, if only I could learn this lesson… So often I don’t know what’s happening in my life or understand why God is allowing certain things and I throw a fit. I stomp my feet, clench my fists and lose my grip, hardening my heart in worry and anger. I act as if He doesn’t know what He’s doing, as if He hasn’t provided for me everyday, all day long all these years! In Psalm 131 David says, “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.”

So what’s the secret, David? How did you learn to be weaned and to wait patiently like my Anna singing her Oh-milk song? Verse 1 in Psalm 131 says this: “My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul…” We don’t understand all that God is dong in this world and in our lives and even if He explained it to us, we still wouldn’t get it. He always knows what we need and He never forgets about us! We need to let Him sort out all the stuff and just trust Him. He knows what to do and He controls it all. We probably just need to sit back and sing more.

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