Oh Baby: 14 Devotions for New ParentsSample

Someone is Praying for You

Come near to God and He will come near to you. JAMES 4:8 NIV

Parenthood comes in a blur of emotion. It's awe at the tiny miracle wrapped in your arms. It’s overwhelm at all there is to learn and the incredible importance of keeping a baby person alive under your watch. It can be loneliness—of navigating new parenthood without the help of family … or of being the only one in your age group with a baby. It can be desperation at translating the cries of a newborn or at needing more than four hours of sleep each night. It can also be joy—so much joy, interspersed between the hard—bursting like fireworks as your baby smiles for the first time or learns to sit up or eats her first spoonful of peas.

Nobody, repeat that: nobody knows how to parent before they become parents. All the observations in the world, all the social media experts, all the advice in books or over the phone cannot prepare a parent for their child. Because your journey is your own, it can feel so isolated. And those feelings can be exacerbated by well-meaning people assuring you that time flies, and to enjoy it while you can, and just wait until she’s a teenager or flying the coop.

But you can find confidence in this: there are people praying for you. Jesus Himself is before the throne of the Father, speaking on your behalf. Your prayers matter to Him. He knows what isolation and overwhelm feel like. And He will be the first to tell you, this is a season. An important season that is growing you, maturing you, enriching you, and blessing you in ways beyond anything you can imagine right now.

There are times in life when we walk more by faith than others. The foggy, sleepless, strange, new parenthood time is one of them. Be blessed, and know that this time will soon become one of the richest memories you’ll carry for the rest of your life.

Prayer:

Father, I will remember that You see me even when I feel invisible. I will wake up each day with the hope of feeling You near, partnering with me as I learn to parent this tiny gift.