The Dart Board

People who say they sleep like a baby don’t have one. – Leo J. Burke

When I was pregnant, and anxious over my abilities to decipher each cry and attend to each need in my new baby in that oh so wise parental way, I'd often get the assurance, "Just trust in your mother's intuition." Hmm... I'm looking forward to that intuition kicking in!

I'm also looking for the manual (with sound accompanying) on deciphering your babies cries. Somehow it was missing in Abe's delivery. :) I can see us throwing darts at the parental dart board, wondering which hit will be on target-- is this a wet diaper? hungry? tired out of his mind? or gas? (the usual default). We're definitely growing in the guesswork... but we still have a long way to go! It would be nice if there were a direct proportion to our love for this little child and our ability to know exactly what he needs.

I guess this has made me reflect on God's care for us, how he can see beyond our smokescreens and truly understand our needs. No dart boards needed We have been reading a new parent devotional book (for the first month), and the author's reflections got me thinking...

"The utter dependence of a new baby upon mother has often been used to illustrate the helpless state in which we find ourselves, as children of our God in heaven. Just as a mother watches over her child with unfailing love, regardless of the child's inability to express needs in words and sentences, so the loving heart of God is sensitive to our every cry. Our Father knows what things we need of even before we ask, as Jesus assured his disciples.

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matt 7:11

Abe will be taking his first (of many) plane flights this weekend. We're going to Columbus Ohio to visit my best friend Danielle, her husband and her little Isabelle (who I have yet to meet), and our family at Crossroads. The following week we'll be packing up our stateside goods and driving to Las Cruces, NM for Thanksgiving. That'll be Abe's first (again, of many) road trip. We applied for his passport a couple weeks ago, so our little guy is getting ready to be a world traveler. Pray for safety in all our travels and that our little one would be a happy traveller!

In other news, Abe has been smiling a lot more in the past few weeks. Those few moments of joy wash away the angst of every cry!

Pictured above: Abraham, & dad with his favorite grip