Family Friday - Giving Finale

Any new parent will tell you that parenthood is mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. You walk through life like a zombie for almost three months before things settle down a little. 

Newborn babies are takers. They're needy. They are hungry, gassy, dirty, and sleepy, and then hungry, gassy, dirty, and sleepy again. They don't do anything on their own - they need you to feed them, burp them, change them, and rock them, in that order. And, about the time you complete the cycle, it's time to start the whole thing over again. Babies are takers.

But every time Casen cries, his mom and dad jump into action. We'd love to sleep, but we love our baby. We don't mind feeding him, burping him, changing him, and rocking him because we love him. Our sacrifice isn't always easy, but we do it absolutely willingly. 

Secretly though, I'm really looking forward to the point at which my taker-baby turns into a responder-baby. I can't wait until he gives back, even just a little. I can't wait until he smiles at me without pooping at the same time. I can't wait until he says "Daddy," or giggles, or reaches up with his dirty little fingers to give his daddy a hug. I can't wait until he can give back, just a little. 

I sacrifice willingly for him today because I love him. But our relationship will take on a brand new dimension when he moves from being a taker-baby to being a giving-baby. 

Moving from being a taker-baby to being a giving-baby is a part of the maturation process. I don't expect him to respond to me at 3 weeks old. But if he gets to be 3 months old and still isn't responding, we'll fear something is wrong. If he gets to be 3 years old and isn't responding more than he does at 3 months, we'll suspect something is wrong. 

The parallel between Casen and the topic we've been discussing all week should be evident. As a father, I'm not going to set a quota for how often he smiles, or talks, or giggles. I just want him to smile, and talk, and giggle. My primary care isn't how much he responds - I just want him to respond to his daddy on his own. 

I think the New Testament gives us freedom to respond to God willingly and increasingly as we mature. If we're locked-into the same percentage of responding to God that we've been locked into since we first trusted Christ, we might want to check into that. If we're not responding to Him at all, something is most certainly wrong. And if we're locked into a quota rather than an organic understanding of who our Heavenly Father is, we become robotic rather than relational, and no father wants that. 

When Casen matures enough to become a responder, you had better bet there will be a celebration in the Freeland household. I wonder if the same is true with us as we respond to our Heavenly Father.