As you know, I am also in the baby production business, and I just think it is the greatest thing ever. I love babies. We will have more babies if we can. It is so cool. They are tiny and squirmy and loveable. They grab your face sometimes and try to pull it off (it’s all from love of course). They are unreasonably strong for their size. They are gravitationally challenged but uninhibited by the fact. They teach you all kinds of weird things about yourself. I know you grew up with lots of babies around, so did I, but I will tell you something freaky; when it’s your own baby, it’s all a little different. I don’t really know why and all that, just that it is. Babies are intense. When they want something, you will know, immediately. They are not good with postponing gratification. They seldom take no for an answer. And there are all these la-de-da ideals we have about how we will parent and we will do this but not that and we will have perfect well adjusted genius children that never cry and obey instantly and it lasts about the first 15 minutes of parenthood. Babies are master manipulators. Their sincerity is their greatest weapon. They really do believe that they need the second cookie to ensure their survival. Sometimes, in spite of your experience and better judgment, you give it to them. Then you feel stupid, because they then require a third cookie. But babies are cool. Everyone is happy to see you when you show up with a baby (except at the bank for some reason, where babies are frowned upon). But really it is just one of the most wonderful things ever. I’m so glad I have babies. You will be glad too. God gives us these little gifts sometimes, and we don’t really understand the whole enchilada, but then when we are there in the middle of it, we have those sublime moments of clarity and think, it doesn’t matter why, just that it is what we needed and it’s just great.
All the best,
Christopher
[...] God, and sublime moments of Clarity Posted in Neiswonger by Neiswonger on May 15th, 2008 http://christiantheology.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/babies-god-and-sublime-moments-of-clarity/ « On the Messiah and Judaism, [...]
Pingback by Babies, God, and sublime moments of Clarity « Apologetics.com Neiswonger — May 15, 2008 @ 9:15 pm |
If I can impart anything, to the wonderful sentiments above it is this: Try not to take one moment for granted when rasing your little ones. They will grow so fast, that the years will seem like weeks, and before you know it, you will look up and see that your little baby, is a baby no more. What you were seemingly moments before, holding , feeding and changing, you are now holding a conversation with about some deeper issues of life, and you will wonder how you got here so quickly. Cherish every moment, take every opportunity to impart wisdom, and never cease showing affection and love.
clay
Comment by Clay — May 15, 2008 @ 11:05 pm |
This made me smile and laugh and cry . . . thanks for sharing.
Comment by Denise — May 16, 2008 @ 12:42 am |
God Bless Chris LOL
I was so amzed at the truth my mom shared with me about falling in love with your child. She told me that it will be overwhelming and that theres NOTHING like it. I was unsure untill I was blessed with Jeddrah who is now 14. Just as Christ has overwhelmd me with His Love and Presence in my life he used this little one to show me just how deep that Love is.
And just remember that even at 14 one more cookie is allways a life alltering deal
God Bless Friend
Comment by Lady Heath — May 16, 2008 @ 12:43 am |
I agree, Babies rock. My wife and I have been blessed with 5 so far and look forward to however many God gives us.
I think it is cool that God calls children, His Heritage.
Psalm 127
Hope all is well.
Bryan
Comment by Bryan Scott Kemper — May 16, 2008 @ 12:44 am |
Weighty stuff Clay. You should write more on these things. I’m sure that many would be edified by your experiences.
Comment by Neiswonger — May 16, 2008 @ 12:51 am |
Five??? Five!! Hmmm. Five. Five is a good number.
C
Comment by Neiswonger — May 16, 2008 @ 12:52 am |
“This made me smile and laugh and cry . . . thanks for sharing.” Denise
Girls…
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 16, 2008 @ 12:53 am |
So. . . if I’m enjoying the single life. . .
does that mean there’s something wrong with me? Or can I count my 30 some-wad kids in my TKD class as my own? =D Though it never gets old when my friends who are themselves parents, inform me of the progress of their little ones! (one dad recently beamed that he FINALLY got his daughter to smile at him, and according to him and momma, she is the crankiest baby ever born! lol)
Comment by Master Nyte — May 16, 2008 @ 4:16 am |
If you’re still in your twentysomethings? No, thats fine. Hey… wait, don’t enjoy it too much. And I think friends kids are great training for your own. And you can still give them back when you’re done playing with them. It’s like all the fun with none of the responsibility. What’s better than that? And I think your leadership in the Tae Kwon Do classes shows a great deal of fatherly potential. Just so you know in case you haven’t tapped the relation yet, good motherly types are attracted to good fatherly types. It’s a good life.
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 16, 2008 @ 4:19 am |
I really enjoyed the article. I call my babies, my angels,messengers from God to show me His love, His beauty, my weaknesses and my total need for Him and dependence on Him. They are also very sweet.
For the sake of your other readers I would like to copy a part of your article posted in the puritan pub. It was a deep essay on sanctification and becoming like Christ, but also a wonderful encouragment to enjoy the good gifts that God bestows on us, and children were so poetically mentioned there. Thank you.
On the Christian Liberty of Sallow Men:”…If God chooses to give you good things, to bless you in season, to grant you bread for your table, children for your lap, a wife for your side, sunshine for your winter, humor for your temper, Bach for your temperament, Lewis for your reading, and wine to give your sad life some short respite from weeping I reserve no energy in demanding that indulgence is your duty. To despise the good things God gives is no better and possibly worse than taking them without a thought of thanks for that which was given you. A true Christian will understand that they are almost nothing; just a little clay and wind, and so embrace the good things God gives as a salve for the soul and the expression of Divine favor to the small thing we are. That He takes an interest in us at all, is an unspeakable honor; that He gives gifts to men is as unforeseeable as it is wonderful…”
Blessings, D.Z.N.
Comment by D.Z.N. — May 16, 2008 @ 7:49 am |
Amen to this one.
Bono said the love you have for your kids is a wonderful and yet, dangerous emotion. So true.
Comment by Mary Mary — May 16, 2008 @ 5:35 pm |
Chris, I have a lot of stuffed animals that were given to me when I was just a little boy. Lets see…there was Flipper the Dolphin, Bombaletto the Italian Teddy Bear, Papa Smurf and Baby Smurf, Patch the Dalmation, Leo the huge Lion, my other bear named Ted, and my absolute favorite was Tuffy- who I always thought was a dog, but in later years I looked more closely to find out he was actually a little lamb.
Now Chris, I would always tuck each one of them in my bed when I would go to sleep at night, regardless of the fact that I had no room to move. If I heard just one of them fall out I would manuver myself to save them from the deep and immeasurable abyss. And even though Tuffy was my favorite, I never let the others actually know that by giving time, attention, and love to all of them. Now that Im a big boy, I look back at those times and think, will I be a good father? Chris, I think the answer is a hot chick that loves the Lord. Cause without that you cant even have babies.
Comment by Chris Michael Angelo — May 16, 2008 @ 5:40 pm |
Chris Michael Angelo
Hey… Tell Bombaletto I said hello.
In other news, contrary to popular belief, “a hot chick that loves the Lord” is not the universal cure for a young man’s troubles. There might be, and I think there are, some other factors to our well being that might be as, or even more, important than a “hot chick”. (We will call your position the “Hot Chick Thesis”, HTC, for lack of a better title.)
We all tend to see life from our own peculiar vantage point. It’s very hard for example to explain certain nuances of life to small children when they are much more interested in bugs and cheese (any kind of cheese product to be more specific: macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese sticks, cheese pizza, just plain cheese cheese, etc.). It might be equally difficult to express to twentysomethings the subtle details involved in healthy masculine/feminine relationships and the incredible and life changing consequences of handling them badly. Now this is not at all to say that you would ever handle them badly, but to say that there are certain ways of looking at male/female relationships that tend toward endings that are less than propitious. If we could think to ourselves about what kind of a schematic for relationships, or what kind of a motivation for a relationship might tend toward being unfulfilling and ultimately unstable for a young man, I think the “Hot Chick Thesis” might be right in the top 2 or 3 options. That you want a hot chick that loves the Lord is great, and as a matter of fact, in Corinthians 7 we learn that for many reasons both spiritual and practical, the Apostle Paul does not encourage us to marry outside the faith, but still, the question is not what attributes a person should have, but really, what kind of a problem are we trying to answer?
All of this is just said to come to this point: the real question is, now that you are a big boy and want to be a good father, is the only needful thing for your purposes an attractive young woman that is sincere and steadfast in her faith in God? The answer, is no. More than this, that won’t help to answer the question at all. First, these are not the kind of questions that we want to try to answer by the method of trying it out and seeing if it works. You need to know these kinds of things prior to any attempt to exercise the hot chick thesis in a real world environment. Second, if you have not already prepared yourself just between yourself and God, and have not already learned to govern yourself as a Godly man, and have not already learned to be patient, satisfied, dutiful, and wise on your own, there is little that any extra person in your life might do to squeeze these properties out of you. In other words, you need to know that you will be a good father, and be determined in your heart and soul to be so, before you are ready to meet the right woman. We might call this the “Prepared Man Thesis” that seems to be the prerequisite to the “Hot Chick Thesis”, that we will now rename the “Prepared Woman Thesis”.
Then you can have those babies to your hearts content. Bombaletto the Italian Teddy Bear would be proud. Until then, don’t date anybody that will still date you if you call them a hot chick.
All the best,
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 16, 2008 @ 10:24 pm |
My children humble me. Each of them are better in every way than I could ever imagine making them if the task were left to me. They are loyal, just, kind, selfless and loving and they surprise me regularly with their capacity for all these things.
…but, they humble me in other ways, as well…
They also inherit the human condition in full. They can be ruthless, self-centered, toy & tantrum throwing, lying, cheating, haughty little things; just like me.
The task of parenting from my perspective is about grace. I’m blessed with awesome kids, yet I see my nearly complete inability to be all a parent ought to be for their sake. I earnestly pray that God will make up for my lack while I, with all the diligence I’m capable of, work out my own salvation with fear and trembling and simultaneously train up my girls in the way they should go.
It is really nice to see my oldest girl becoming one of my favorite people. It’s astonishing really. The youngest is coming up in the same mold and I am honored to be such a big part of her life as she becomes what God has ordained her to be.
I pray unceasingly for my children and for yours.
LNB
Comment by L. Nathaniel Brooks — May 16, 2008 @ 11:35 pm |
Don’t know how well this relates to your “Hot Chick Theory”, but I’ve found that a person you come to really love becomes attractive to you even if you weren’t physically attracted to them when you first meet them. I think attraction has more to do with personality and the connection of the spirits (I’m not getting new-agey here. I’m referring to the spirit inside us that connects with the Holy Spirit.) between two people. Whether or not someone is physically “beautiful” is of very little consequence in my opinion. Physical beauty lasts only so long anyway. It’s all about where the person’s heart is for me.
Anais
Comment by Anais — May 17, 2008 @ 9:08 am |
one of the cool things about babies is new baby smell.
The other thing is to think “I’m responsible for this guy?” Oh Lord help me.
Triple
Comment by Triple — May 17, 2008 @ 4:17 pm |
Triple
It’s a responsibility unlike any other, isn’t it? As much as you think you know what it’s going to be like, you don’t really know what it’s going to be like. There’s this little person that is looking to you and you alone, sometimes a bit presumptively, for all of their spiritual, physical and social needs. I mean, we don’t really think about it when we do it for ourselves. That’s easy because it is so “self oriented”. Babies demand that you become “other oriented”. I think that is one of the reasons that God designed the system the way that He did; to provide us with gradual natural character building and sanctification built right into the human experience, so to speak. These phases of life seem to be organized to produce something wonderful in us.
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 17, 2008 @ 4:39 pm |
Hey Chris,
I think Anais has your number on this one.
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 17, 2008 @ 11:03 pm |
Hey I like cheese!
Chris
Comment by Chris Michael Angelo — May 17, 2008 @ 11:05 pm |
Speakin’ of little ones: http://www.reformersandpuritans.com/2008/05/18/chloes-favorite-psalm/
Comment by Josh — May 18, 2008 @ 1:47 pm |
Chris Michael Angelo,
Expressing the glories of cheese was not really the pupose of the post.
All the best,
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 19, 2008 @ 8:19 pm |
Josh,
The video is wonderful. Everyone should visit your site and watch it.
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — May 19, 2008 @ 8:20 pm |
Thanks for the kind words, Christopher.
Comment by Josh — May 20, 2008 @ 3:41 am |