My baby LOVES to be held. A few people have dared to say that she is spoiled. I think she just knows what she wants. She's a baby who likes to be held. Who am I to ever argue with that? I'm holding her as I type this actually. And, I am not ashamed of it.
With that said, there are times that I would like to put her down but, as soon as there is a couple of inches of air between my chest and her cheek she wakes up. So, I've developed a few tricks to use when I lay her down that make her continue to believe that she is being held.
1. I spread her blanket across her cradle leaving enough room for her upper body.
2. I make sure her passy is either in her mouth, in my hand or easily accessible once she is laying in her cradle.
3. I begin to slowly loosen my hold on her while moving both of our bodies closer and closer to her cradle. Her arms usually flap about 7 times during this process.
4. While her arms are flapping I put the passy in her mouth.
5. Once she is in her cradle {my upper body is practically on top of her now} I slowly move away while placing my hand softly on her cheek to compensate for the loss of contact from my chest.
6. I hold my hand to her cheek until her arms stop flapping and she appears to be completely limp again. At this time, I slowly remove my hand from her cheek.
7. I gently wrap her blanket around her and tuck it under her.
8. I make sure her passy is in her mouth, in my hand, or easily accessible.
9. I turn on the fan while trying to avoid making it make a clicking noise.
10. I walk into the living room and give myself a pat on the back.
I have to go through all of this because she can since when she is not in my presence. Her whole world would be shaken if I just quickly laid her down on a cold, hard, surface and walked away.
I have said many times, especially in times of despair, "I don't feel like God is near. I feel like he's left me." Today, while I laid my baby down and went through my careful routine, I felt like God was saying... "I'm always right here. You're always in the palm of my hand. You've never known what it's like to be out of my presence. If I ever removed my hand... You would know it."
As I laid the baby down and slowly and gently moved my hand from her cheek, I knew God has never removed his hand from my cheek. He's never gone far enough from me that he would need to. Even now as I write this, I can almost feel his hand on my cheek. His hand is on your cheek too. When you lay down at night he has no reason to do anything but hold you. He has no where else to be and nothing else to do but sit with you.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. (Ephesians 3:18 NLT)
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV)
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