Last night my wife and I offered to baby-sit for a young mom. She has four great kids newborn through age 9. As parents of older children (ages 22, 20 and 17) we had not been around little “chaps” for a good while.
It had been over 13 years since we had seen a sippy cup, baby monitors, Good Night Moon, baby food, diapers, bed time stories and the like.
Our two plus hours were a whirl of activity. Feeding, cleaning, playing games, reading books (some twice and one forward and backwards!), prayers, getting them back into bed, rocking the baby, and a glimpse back into the amazingly wonderful world of young children. They are so honest and without veneer. As Scripture says, they are a blessing from God.
While my wife is an experienced veteran who jumped right back into the flow after her long sabbatical, I realized how little I remembered about caring for young children and babies. (“Honey, you don’t reckon they have one of those Video-Nanny cameras rolling do ya?”). More than that, I was overwhelmed by just how trusting kids are and how much energy it takes for a mother to do the 1001 things she has to do.
Can some one help a sista’ out?
While no fan of Hillary, perhaps she is right. Perhaps it does “take a village to raise a child.” Hillary and I would likely disagree with who the village is (government rather than family, church family and friends) or even how the child should be raised. Yet I find myself agreeing with her that to have healthy, well-adjusted children, we need to work together.
Do you know any single moms? Do you know any parents that have a special needs kid? How might it bless and encourage them to have you come along side them and do some small act of grace for them? Or like our friend Miss Betty does, come over once a week to give mom a much needed two hour break. Who is the young mom God has put in your life? Are you helping them or saying ‘Peace, be filled and be warmed”?
Like Miss Betty, you may find that you receive more than you give
Quigg Lawrence is the Senior Pastor at Church of the Holy Spirit located at 6011 Merriman Road in Roanoke. Visit them on the web at www.coths.org.