When I'm on My Rocker

"I slept like a baby last night."

I've heard people say this before and I can only imagine that they don't have a new baby at home.  New babies cry a lot.  They cry when they are tired, when they are hungry, when they have a messy diaper, and just generally when they want to (and apparently for no reason at all).

Not that Victoria Grace has been a fussy baby, but she has had her moments.  Elaine and I both have had lots of time holding her and trying to rock her to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

I don't know what people usually think about when they are rocking their infants at 2:30 am.  Maybe they think about how awesome it is to have a baby to rock or, how tired they will be the next day or, about how tired they are at this exact minute.  I know that I've had all these sorts of thoughts.

What I like to do most in these times, is to pray.  For, I have found in those quiet, dark hours between the sunset and the dawn, that I can focus on my heavenly Father, even as I hold my own child.  I can tell Him about everything that is going on and most particularly, share with Him my hopes and fears for my little girl and her future.

There are many moments of down time in each day (maybe there are fewer now that everyone has cell phones with them at all times).  It is important to take these moments and use them for more than completing the next level of Candy Crush (or whatever the hot game is right now).

Children certainly do not make you draw closer to God, nor do the down times within each day.  And yet, there are plenty of little moments that fill each day to do so, if you take advantage of them.

I have to say my favorite "down time," is cuddling a three week old in the stillness of a predawn morning.

Those prayers just have to be a little extra worthwhile.

Flagging for the Lord

Southern Indiana has turned into a construction zone over the last two years.  I see orange barrels so often that I am afraid one night, I will wake up screaming in terror, as one chases me down an unfinished road and over a cliff.  It hasn't happened yet, but it certainly could.

Of course, with orange barrels come flaggers.  A sign along the side of the road says "One Lane Road Ahead," and around the corner is standing an unfortunate soul, whose job it is to wave a sign informing motorists that they must stop, as the next stretch of road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass at once.

The flaggers all seem to be a little unhappy.  They stand sullenly, staring blankly everywhere except at the drivers of the vehicles they are stopping -- that is, all except for one.  There is one middle aged gentleman, who holds his sign and smiles at the cars going by, waving frequently at the passing motorists.  I don't know him, or anything about him, but it seems that he is doing his best to cheer the hearts of those around him.

With every job there is a way to do it and get it done (hopefully well) and there is a way to do it and make it a blessing to others.  I hadn't really thought it was possible to do this as a flagger, but this man proved me wrong.

I think about this as I see patients.  There are times that I am slogging through my day, a little too tired to smile, just diagnosing folks and prescribing medications, but I really want to go beyond that.  I want to share a smile, listen to the thoughts behind the words.

I am not just working for the coughing people who walk through my doors, I am working for Jesus.  As I bless those I see, I am also blessing Him.

There is a way to do every job in such a way that it blesses others.  Even it is just smiling and waving at the frustrated motorists on the highway of life.

An Easier Life

"I wish I could trade songs with Vince!"  Anna wailed as she sat at the piano bench with tears streaming down her cheeks.  "His songs are easy!  Mine are terribly hard!"

"But Anna," I told her.  "Vince hasn't been playing as long as you have and so of course, his songs are easier.  He'll get to your songs down the road."

There was no consoling her. Her songs were just too hard and Vince's were easier.  It just wasn't fair.

Of course, I didn't mention to her that I am sure her piano teacher has some other students are playing songs quite a bit harder than Anna's songs too.  How fair is that?

This is the danger of comparisons.  It seems like when we compare our situations, our talents, or even our children to others, we end up in one of two places.

Either we choose folks who are better off than ourselves, have better behaved children, and easier life circumstances and end up feeling dissatisfied with our lot or, we contrast ourselves with people who have less talent, worse life situation, and terribly behaved children and feel good about how successful we have been.  Neither one of these comparisons is useful.

The Apostle Paul says "For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves.  But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding."  Comparisons with others only lead to poor understanding of who I am and what my goal is.

My goal is not to be better than another human, it is to be like Christ.

Even when my life isn't easy, when my children aren't well behaved, or my baby doesn't sleep enough, I would not compare myself to others.  Maybe there are better children out there, people with easier lives, who get more sleep, but it doesn't matter.  These life circumstances and children are the ones God picked out for me.

I wouldn't choose differently if I could.

Small Packages

 

"I want to see her teeth!"  Elliot said emphatically.

"Well, dear, she doesn't have any yet,"  Elaine told him.

His sister walked over.  "Victoria can't bite you, because she doesn't have any teeth!"  Elliot told her, as if this was the most important thing to settle.

Our household is still getting adjusted to a tiny package that was delivered just a week ago, after a nine month wait.  This tiny package has a name.  Victoria Grace.

As I think about my small daughter's arrival, it brings certain things to my mind.

Anything worth having is worth waiting for.

I don't know that any of us would have wanted to wait for ten months for her to arrive, but we certainly didn't want her to come any sooner than she did.  Something about waiting for her makes us love her even more, now that she is here.

The best things in life are often contained in the smallest of packages.

Victoria Grace weighed just 6 lbs 11 oz, but, she brought an amazing amount of joy and change within our home. 

It doesn't change a mother's love one bit if her baby only weighs a pound or two at birth.  The blessings are still there, the prayers are more constant, and the love even deeper, if possible, as she watches her little one fight back from prematurity.

Just because something happens normally a hundred times does not make it less of a miracle.

I have attended many deliveries in my time and perhaps by now, it should be stale.  Just one more baby entering a fairly well populated world.  But it isn't stale at all.

For, we are fearfully and wonderfully made and God's hand is clearly visible from birth on. 

As I stand by the basinet of my children and of other children that I have delivered, I silently pray a blessing on their lives.  It is a dark world.  There is much fear and hate and suffering.

I pray that in this, they might find God's light and Christ's love.

I pray that they would grow up to share it with others.

Even, share it with those who have no teeth.