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| Isaiah at 6 1/2 months. He loves to smile! |
IT first happened a couple of weeks ago. The dreaded IT. I knew it was coming, I just didn't expect it so soon (he's not even 7 months old!). But there it was....and in my surprise I chuckled a little because that seemed like a good response to cover over the panic inside me that was rising.
What is IT? Isaiah's first tantrum or fit of intense displeasure. Yes indeed, IT came. We were reading, and I had to take a book away from him that he grabbed and was trying to eat and rip. Oooh boy, he did NOT like that. Instantly a full blown angry wail came out from within, the tears started spurting, and it took almost 10 minutes to calm him down. Woah. I was so not prepared for that moment!
The incident made me realize something I think I've known all along: the newborn stage of my baby's life is going to seem like the easy part of being a parent. That stage is exhausting, but pretty basic--feed, change, soothe, and love on Baby. It was very overwhelming, especially at first, our new job of keeping a brand new little human ALIVE while bumbling our way through the feeding, changing, and soothing parts of his life (the 'loving on' part is easy!). Still, it's simple enough.
This next stage scares me to death. You see, now we are moving into the "Training/Molding/Being Responsible for Baby's Character, Moral, and Spiritual Development" stage. A lot is at stake in this stage....and I'm terrified we're going to somehow fail along the way, and mess up the most important responsibility we have as Isaiah's parents.
These early months will still be basic in correction, guidance and discipline, but I want to start with our goals in mind, because as Isaiah grows, the consequences of his decisions will only multiply. After all, it's about so much more than not throwing tantrums when you don't get your way. It's about loving good, not evil. It's about exercising self-control. It's about choosing good, not bad. It's about kindness and compassion. It's about living with integrity. It's about learning to serve instead of expecting to be served. And most of all, it's about loving Jesus, and letting Him be the Lord of our life.
A lot is at stake.
Now we just have to figure out our game plan for the upcoming season. Your prayers are appreciated. :)
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| At my parents' house in South Dakota in July! |
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| At Andrew's parents' house in South Dakota. It was so great to see our families! |
