Oh Baby: 14 Devotions for New ParentsSample

Relish Your Moments

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him. PSALM 127:3 NLT

Before you know it, you'll look back and wonder where the time went. It will all seem like a flash of diaper changing, nursing, potty training, first days of school, holidays, birthdays, and summer breaks. Amid all the highlights and memories will be the ordinary, every day days … the ones when it seems that no one slept through the night or everyone forgot their homework or lunch …when naptime is held as carefully as gold and bedtime is secretly anticipated. Because even though you love your kids with every fiber of your being, for heaven’s sake, a small break just to think without interruptions would be stellar. You’ll remember that moment when you looked into the eyes of your child and felt that you couldn’t love him or her more, only to find out a few minutes later that he or she had managed to destroy something you thought was unbreakable while you were in that luxurious three-minute shower.

Every season of parenthood carries its own challenges, but it will fly by. The very best thing to do is savor every moment as much as you are able. Relish the sweet quiet times, the rowdy fun times, the hard grumpy times. Because simply having those times means that you have children—gifts from the Lord, truly.

And you know what? You’ve got this! The Lord is on your side. There is no need to be afraid. God has gifted this child or these children to you and He will never leave you to do it all alone. Your reward is in heaven. While you can’t know the full effect you are having on each child each day, the efforts you are making to parent well do not go unnoticed by your heavenly Father. He loves your babies even more than you do, and He loves the work you are doing to raise them well. Love on. Pray on. Heaven is going to be such an incredible revelation.

Prayer:

God, there is so much ahead that I don’t know about yet. But with You, it will be fun. It will be possible. It will be hard and amazing and wonderful. Go before me to make a way, and I’ll follow You on this adventure of parenthood!