Why Wrap the Baby?

Have you ever wondered why the Christian life becomes lonely, painful, scary? None of those are the fruit of the spirit and it is not what Jesus promised us. What went wrong?

When Tanner was born Jim and Doni were living with us while their house was being built. It was only for a short time but we loved having a baby in the house again. I guess it is ok to admit it now, seeing how well balanced Tanner is, but I never put him down if I could help it. We literally held him night and day. It was wonderful. What a bond! Tanner and I were so tight that Doni had to keep him out of church because he reacted to my voice. I loved that. I wish it were possible to spend that kind of time with all 10 of my grandchildren, but that is not reality. Now I am watching Doni and Jodi swaddle Tori and Ryker in those body wraps, pinning them tightly. If I can speak for Tori and Ryker, they appear to love it. They will be growing out of it to soon. Tori’s crawling pictures are a good indication of that. They will want to wander and explore totally independent…until…they get hungry, hurt, scarred or feel threatened. The it will be back to mommy as fast as possible, like Braxton and Zane can only be comforted by their own mommies. Life will force all of them out of that eventually, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a big, powerful, snuggly, loving protector to run to whenever things got scary or painful? The wraps work because the babies are not self aware yet. Ryker, the youngest, is just now discovering that the wiggly things on the end of his hands are his fingers. For the most part, Ryker honestly believes he is an extension of Jodi. Sorry Jodi, but he is on the verge of figuring it out. Enjoy these last moments to the fullest. When he becomes self aware he will naturally want to explore the world on his own. It will be years before he stops coming back to mommy for comfort and security, but eventually that will pass too.
This reminds me of where things go wrong in our spiritual life with Abba, father. When we are “born again” we are so wrapped up in the newness of Abba’s love we become like a baby, dependent totally on him. Like Ryker, we are more aware of Abba than we are of ourselves. Like Ryker we become more self aware and independent again losing a lot of what we can to Abba for in the first place. Unlike Ryker and my other 9 grandchildren, the goal of the Christian life is to NEVER LEAVE the full awareness of Abba’s presence. Loneliness, fear, hunger….the things we came to Abba to escape, are never present when we are focused on His presence. Whenever you start to feel anything that is not the fruit of the spirit and the Joy of the Lord, your focus is not on Abba, it is on the problem. The solution is simple. Climb back into the arms of the father. That is all he ever wanted. He pleads for us to COME. How? Just do what Tori and Ryker do. Cry out. Focus everything on finding mom and refuse to be comforted by anything else. Abba will come running!