(guest post by my lovely wife, Christi. Originally posted on Meleea.com on August 3, 2013)
by Christi Straub
Family is our first experience of being connected to another in love – it’s the most selfless, grounding, strengthening, wings-to-fly kind of love.
But love starts out in a funny way.
We’re born into a strange world through a horribly painful process. We emerge from a dark tunnel to find two strangers who take us into their home – and there we find a home set up just for us.
We, tiny humans, demand love, food and attention – though we do nothing to earn it. We take and take and expect our needs to be met without the slightest thought about what that love costs – until we’re about 30.
Then we have our own tiny human.
We endure a horribly painful process, and push something the size of a watermelon through a dark tunnel the size of a magic marker. We find a tiny human stranger – that looks oddly like E.T.. We take them into our home – where we’ve lovingly created a special home just for them (costing us a small fortune). And we begin to care for our tiny human’s needs.
We notice quickly that our tiny human does nothing to thank us and gives us little in return. Instead it cries and screams incessantly. It wakes us from our precious few hours of sleep and demands we do something for them. It demands food whenever it wants it. It emphatically resists our attempts to help – a standard diaper change and a doctor visit – it doesn’t understand and doesn’t care to. It wants to be held and rocked and cuddled – it doesn’t care how tired our arms are, or that we haven’t eaten yet today, or that we haven’t showered in days. And then, it wants to eat, again. “Feed me!”, it demands — and then it spits up on us.
And this is how love begins?
Why would any mentally sound and moderately intelligent person sign up to take care of an ungrateful, helpless, thankless tiny human?
Tiny humans demand a lot and give back very little. It sounds far too sacrificial to me. And yet this is what begins a family? Who’s idea was this?
Abba, Father. Our Daddy.
Paradigm shift.
He is our Daddy. We are but tiny humans.
He gave us a second birth through a horribly painful process called the Cross. We, tiny humans, emerged from a dark tunnel of sin and utter hopelessness to find a Stranger who took us into his Home. He cares for all of our needs, yet we do little to thank Him and give Him nothing in return. We, tiny humans, are so consumed by our needs, we cry and scream to get Him to do something for us. He seems to be sleeping when we want His help, so we cry loudly so He will get His schedule straight. We demand blessing, comfort, and favor whenever we want it, though we’ve done nothing to earn it. We emphatically resist when He bothers us – dealing with the consequences of our behavior and spending time in prayer are not what we planned for today. We resist His attempts to help us because we don’t understand – and we don’t care to. We want to be pampered and loved and have the greatest of things, because that’s just what we want. We don’t care that His arms have been holding us all along, or that our selfishness is hurting others, or that our wants are ultimately making us miserable.
We’re in want again. “Feed me!”, we demand — and then we spit on Him.
And this is how Love begins.
We, tiny humans, demand love, food and attention – though we do nothing to earn it. We take and take and expect our needs to be met without the slightest thought of what that love costs – or how to offer it.
Until we realize who Love is.
Love is patient and selfless; Love keeps no record of wrongs; Love is not resentful or irritable; Love is sacrificial. Love signed up to take care of billions of ungrateful, helpless, thankless tiny humans.
Family is our first experience of being connected to another in Love – the most selfless, grounding, strengthening, wings-to-fly kind of Love.
It is a Love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things –
– even tiny humans.
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Christi Straub, M.A., M.B.A. is a wife, newly-minted momma, writer and speaker who blogs at meleea.com. With a background in kinesiology, cognitive-behavioral therapy and marriage & family counseling, Christi is convinced that living a balanced life physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually is essential to living life to the fullest. Her daily journey to find balance and live life to the fullest has motivated her to invite other women on the same journey. Passionate about her generation, Christi desires to see young women rise beyond the mundane to live lives of impact. Her honesty, wittiness and transparency are contagious. Christi is “Mummy” to Landon, and married to her best buddy and better half, Josh.
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