Dedicated to my friends at Thornapple MOPS. 🙂
I’ll never forget the Hazens. We knew their family when we had preschoolers and babies. They had big, burly boys, who absolutely loved my kids–especially our new baby, Cade. They would ask to hold him, and would make these cute little baby noises and try to get him to smile.
It was the most adorable thing ever.
It was obvious that the Hazens loved babies. The parents loved babies, and they had trained their kids–even the boys–to love babies. I think there’s something something special about that.
Not every family loves babies.
They worry about the spit up and crying and dirty diaper smells that come along with the baby you’re bringing into their home. They’re the type of friends who might invite you out for dinner–and also suggest a good babysitter they know of.
And while there’s nothing wrong with that, I think there’s a beautiful humility displayed in a family that loves babies.
In fact, when Jesus was gently correcting his disciples–who were arrogantly arguing about who was the greatest, he called them together in a room, and said, “If anyone who would be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
And then, as an object lesson, he took a baby boy and put him down in the midst of them. I imagine the baby began to whimper as he looked up at those thirteen men, all crowded into the room. And then, to emphasize what true greatness is, Jesus–the King of Kings–reached down and picked up that baby.
Have you picked up a baby today? Have you wiped his little nose, or changed his diaper? If so, Jesus could use you for His object lesson. To a group of people arguing about who is the greatest, Jesus could point to you and say, “That’s what true greatness looks like.”
Are you mom, who struggles to find significance in the role of caring for preschoolers? To encourage you, I have written a FREE 3 part Bible study as a follow up to my speaking topic, “The Significance of Crumb Sweeping and Nose Wiping”. It’s written with young moms in mind, but is helpful for anyone who struggles with finding significance in serving.
The study is called ‘Compared to Her’ and is available to download as a pdf here. If the link doesn’t work for you, feel free to email me at shanpopkin@gmail.com and I’ll attach the pdf to an email.
The study is intended for personal use; please do not make copies without written permission. For more information, click on the ‘Resources’ tab. And if you do the study, I’d love to hear from you!