[SAHD] What I Learned From My Baby

Courtesy science-essentials.org

The title gives you a clue as to why I haven't posted in a while.

Not long ago in a place not far from where I live, my baby daughter was born.  As events sometimes go, I am now a stay-at-home dad (and no, I have not seen "Mr. Mom").  This prompted me to start a new element of this blog  (hence the acronym in the title).  I toyed with the idea of starting a new blog for the parenting stuff, but figured to stick with this one (although that may change in the future).

I had heard it said that parents learn as much from their children as their children learn from them.  A thought I did not fully understand until I had one of my own.  Here are a few of the lessons I have learned so far.

Realize Your Helplessness

In the Bible, God refers to Himself as our Father.  This name is not so much a means of depicting His gender, but more as a means of clarifying roles.  God takes care of us, and we get taken care of by Him. The main lesson I learned in this area is our utter helplessness without God.  My daughter is completely helpless, she cannot clothe herself, bathe herself, or feed herself.  She even occasionally has difficulty passing gas.  Such is the state of humanity without God's care.  We often deceive ourselves with delusions of self-sufficiency. We would have a much better life if we would let go of this delusion and let God be in control of our lives

Correct Communication is Crucial

Like many infants, my daughter has a very limited vocabulary, which makes understanding what she wants/needs quite challenging.  When she starts crying I often find myself playing a somewhat stressful guessing game.  If only she could tell me right away her need then everyone would be happier.  However, this is not possible given her limited skill set.  In the same way, we have to be understanding of other people if they don't communicate exactly the way we would like them to communicate.  Many people (both male and female) simply lack proper communication skills.  We need to be patient and do our best to understand what they are attempting to tell us.

Don't be Counterproductive

This one goes right along with the previous item because many times since I do not know what my daughter wants, she does not get fed exactly on her preferred time table.  Many times when this happens she will often gain such momentum with her crying that even though the food is there for the taking, she would rather cry than take it, which, of course, makes her more hungry which makes her more angry.  Too often I have to get her to calm down so that she can eat the food she so desperately wants.  How many times do we get so involved in our complaining that we waste valuable time and energy that could have been used to actually accomplish our goals?

So that's it for now.  I'm sure there will be more lessons in the future, so stay tuned.  In the mean time, what lessons have you learned from your (or other people's) children?

Red Monkeys

As in many things in life, some keys to dealing with temptation are so obvious we tend to overlook them.

I have been reading through the book Faith that Works by Morris Venden (a full review will come sometime next month), and it has gotten me think about many topics.  Recently, the book has been talking about temptation, and it has reminded me of aspects related to temptation and sin that have been logged in my memory and were gathering dust on the shelves of my mind.

I remember back in high school, a teacher of mine was trying to convey to the class the perils of over-thinking about a task.  The teacher told the class a story about red monkeys, and said whatever we do, do not think about the red monkeys.  The concept was that the more you try and not think about something, the more you actually think about it.  I remember one of my classmates saying that she wouldn't think about the monkeys, and she didn't regardless of how many times they were mentioned throughout the class period.  Now what do red monkeys have to do with temptation?

Simple, she couldn't care less about the red monkeys.  They were of no interest to her, and hence she was not tempted to think about them.  Now if the teacher had told the class not to think about what we were going to have for lunch, and it was the last period before noon, then it might have had some effect especially if the aforementioned student had skipped breakfast. Temptation works in much the same way.

For example, I am not tempted to get involved in insider trading, especially the illegal variety (it wasn't until today that I realized that there was a legal way to do insider trading, shows how much I know on the subject) because I am not even close to being in a position to even consider it.  However, I may be tempted to eat that second piece of cake even though I could easily do without it.  The point being that the strength of a given temptation is directly related to our exposure to, and choices regarding, whatever object, action, or way of thinking is tempting us.  So then, how can we be free from the temptation, and, more importantly, the sin that can result?  The answer is quite simple, yet often difficult to implement.

We need to come to the point where we couldn't care less about whatever is tempting us.  How does that happen?  Do we simply grit our teeth and make the right moral choice when confronted by something tempting?  For many people that answer to that question would be a simple "Yes", but by doing so they would be walking into a very dangerous trap.  The trap of doing things with our own power.

Now if even Jesus, the Son of God, did not do things on His own, what hope do we have of succeeding on our own?  The only way to ward off temptation's power is to be so closely connected with God, so intensely focused on what He focuses on, that we couldn't care less about those temptations.  If we do that, we will even go beyond not caring and get to the point where those temptations are repulsive.  The words to an old hymn say it well.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

So when we find ourselves confronted by temptations, think more about Jesus, less about ourselves, and by all means, do not think about the red monkeys.

Featured Post: Mark, I am recalculating route now

This featured post comes from Mark Brown, who is the former CEO of Bible Society New Zealand, as well as the founder of Global Scope Media and Global Scope Ministries.  More info. about him can be found here.

Mark, I am recalculating route now

And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32

I was recently in the US and had a hire car.  Thankfully it has GPS to help keep me on the right path, but I cannot count the number of times the patient GPS voice reported, ‘recalculating route now..’  And thankfully even though I had accidentally taken the exit 10 miles too early, the nice GPS machine was able to get me back on track.  I could almost hear it sigh and quietly mutter under its breath ‘oh not again.. recalculating route now’. The greek behind the word ‘sinners’ talks of one who deviates from the path towards God.  To sin is to get lost, to be distracted, to stray off the path God intends for us.

My GPS is my Bible.  It shows me not only that when I am off route, but it displays to me what I need to do to get back on track.  But what would happen if I had put the GPS machine in the trunk of the car?  I would be in big ‘where am I?’ trouble. In the same way, I need to spend time with my Bible often.  Not just once a day, but often, making it part of my approach to life, being guided along the right path consistently.  Reflecting on passages throughout the day.

And repentance: when I come before Jesus and confess my sin and am washed anew, well that is when God says, Mark, I am recalculating route now, you are back on the path towards me.

Praise God!

Mark Brown

Teach Me

Psalm 119:33-40 

He

 ³³ Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
       then I will keep them to the end. 
 ³⁴ Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
       and obey it with all my heart.
 ³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,
       for there I find delight.
 ³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
       and not toward selfish gain.
 ³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
       preserve my life according to your word. 
 ³⁸ Fulfill your promise to your servant,
       so that you may be feared.
  ³⁹ Take away the disgrace I dread, 
       for your laws are good.
 ⁴⁰ How I long for your precepts!
       Preserve my life in your righteousness.

Education is essential to keeping God's law.

It is interesting the phrases the psalmist uses in this psalm and how much they coincide with an education of one sort or another; phrases such as "teach me", "Give me understanding", "Direct me", etc. The temptation when it comes to the subject of God's law is to go to extremes. The one extreme being that we do absolutely nothing and the other to do absolutely everything. The presence of the aforementioned phrases seem to strike somewhere in the middle. To educate someone else means imparting knowledge with the purpose of assisting them in doing something for themselves. Consider this:

When the Spirit of God controls mind and heart, the converted soul breaks forth into a new song; for he realizes that in his experience the promise of God has been fulfilled, that his transgression has been forgiven, his sin covered. He has exercised repentance toward God for the violation of the divine law, and faith toward Christ, who died for man's justification. "Being justified by faith," he has "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1.

But because this experience is his, the Christian is not therefore to fold his hands, content with that which has been accomplished for him. He who has determined to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. Each day he must renew his consecration, each day do battle with evil. Old habits, hereditary tendencies to wrong, will strive for the mastery, and against these he is to be ever on guard, striving in Christ's strength for victory. --The Acts of the Apostles pp. 476, 477

Conversion, using your desire to take that first step, is not the end of the effort. It is the beginning. There is some work that needs to be done by us and through us. 

This education involves more than simply information. It involves changing habits. Along this line, the phrase "turn my eyes away from worthless things" stood out to me. The ancient Hebrew word shav translated into "worthless things" in the NIV is also translated into "vanity" in the KJV. It connotes emptiness and falsehood. There are many things in this life that falsely promise fulfillment, but end up giving us emptiness. We need to turn away from these things if we are to truly keep the law of God.

There is much more to be learned from this passage, and I encourage you to take the time to study it for the education you will receive is essential to continue on this journey of keeping God's law.

Rejoicing in His Works

Psalm 104:31-32  ³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works- ³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

God rejoices in His works, and so can we.

As I finished reading Psalm 104, I could not recall ever reading it before. The main reason for thinking that way is that verses 5-9 show that the author understood the proper concept of the world-wide flood. This passage shows me that the psalms were not written in a vacuum by some ignorant poet, but by someone with a intricate knowledge of biblical truth.

The psalm as a whole talks about the natural world, and more specifically, its dependence upon God. This thought is thought is, as they say, right up my alley because I am an avid student of nature. Now when I say "student" it doesn't mean that I sit around reading textbooks. I am more a student by way of observation, both directly (as in going outside) and indirectly (as in watching videos, etc. on the web). I am finding that if I am open, I can learn quite a bit from nature. Notice that I used the word "from" not "about" because "about" for me implies the technical aspects of nature like how many vertebrae are in a cat's spine. While it may be interesting to know such facts (and important if you intend to become a veterinarian), we lose out if our knowledge only goes that far.

There is a lot of things I could say on this subject, but by going into them I would lose sight of what the text is trying to say to me. The focus of the text is rejoicing. So as you go about your days, take the time to rejoice in God's works because in them we can see His glory.

Lifelong Dependence

Psalm 71:6  From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you.

Whether we admit it or not, we are dependent upon God.

This verse somewhat coincides with what I discussed in yesterday's post. I need to remember that even before I could even acknowledge it, I relied upon God. My very life is held in His hands. Because my life is dependent upon him, I need to live in a way that honors that fact. Not simply by avoiding what is bad, but also by remembering that He is always there in my times of need.  I think I often go through life forgetting that part. At least I act that way. When I try to do things on my own, it shows that I am forgetting my dependence upon Him.

The last part of the verse is especially important. I missed it the first time. It states that this reliance upon God is a reason to praise Him. Again the subject of praise comes up. Everywhere I turn, there is a reason to praise God. I think that God is telling me to be more positive, to think less about my problems, and to think more about His power. What do you think this verse is telling you?

Antidote for a Sleepless Night

Psalm 63:6-8 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

God is the only true antidote for a sleepless night.

Like many people from time to time I lay awake at night concerned about one thing or another.  This passage challenges me not to think about my problems, but to think about God because He is my help.  Like I have written in a previous post, God is the only one who can truly help me with my problems.  I need to remember that instead of yielding to the temptation to try and solve my own problems in my sleep-deprived mind.

Lord, thank you for reminding me to turn to you when I have trouble sleeping.

Time for a Change?

I've been studying the book of Numbers the past few weeks, and although it has given me quite a bit to think about, my study hasn't yielded many "Aha!" moments. That is, until a few days ago when I looked at what I like to call "The Quail Incident".

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, it's found in chapter 11, and what happened was that the Israelites, as was their practice, were complaining about something. The NIV has them "wailing. . . 'If we only had meat to eat (vs. 4)!'" Then God basically said, "You want meat? I'll give you meat! You'll get so much meat that it'll come out of your noses!" God caused a wind to blow and it blew in so much quail from the coast that the minimum gathered per person was about 60 bushels. Now that's a lot of quail! Sadly, they didn't get to enjoy it much, because before it could even be swallowed, God struck dead all the quail eaters. That place then, for obvious reasons, became known as "Graves of Craving" or "Craving Graves".

This passage has often been used by dedicated vegetarians as an illustration of the perils of eating meat, but I think that if one focuses solely on that aspect, they are missing the point. One commentator said that the Israelites had more food variety than one may think. The manna could be prepared in a couple of different ways, plus they could get milk and curds from their flocks, plus there were sacrifices in which the person offering would share a meal with the priests. A meal mainly comprised of meat. Also the majority of the things the Israelites were pining for were non-meat items (see vs. 5). The main problem wasn't so much that they were craving meat. It was that they were craving Egyptian meat; meaning that they would rather be slaves in Egypt than to be free under God's guidance.

The lesson that struck me this time around was the whole "We want something else!" concept. I had found myself recently wanting a change simply for change's sake. Sometimes the routine of life can seem a little tedious, but if the routine is of divine design, then we should think twice before demanding something different.