​​​Parenting… Something that I thought would be one of the most challenging things of my life. The Bible gives us parents the very big responsibility of bringing up children in a godly manner. Genesis 18:14 tells us, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” No, there is nothing too hard for YAWEH! He is the one who gives us children, for they are a gift from Him. Thus, He gives us the capability to bring them up well and nourish them in every way. 

Many of these principles of parenting are ingrained in us, so that they pop up when needed. Just like how a seed has the potential to germinate and has the strength to overcome every kind of challenge that come against it. For example, never have I seen a corn plant complain of carrying their "babies" on their backs! What did the Lord say concerning Abraham? For I know him (Abraham), will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, too do justice and judgment: that YAWEH may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him. (Genesis 18:19).

The Bible says that we are children of Abraham through faith. If so, then the Lord trusts us in giving us children, for we will do exactly what our Dad (Abraham) did. We will teach them to keep His ways! To be sincere, parenting has taught us many lessons. Since it is a task from our heavenly Father, praying for His strength is a must. Praying to be filled by His Spirit is mandatory for we are dealing with souls. We are to depend on Him for small as well as big decisions concerning those souls.

One day I told the Lord: Lord teach me. He told me: Look at your child's growth and learn spiritual life. So I opened my eyes wide to learn wisdom. First, a newly born baby drinks from its mother's breasts. The baby sucks milk from its mother's breast over and over again without letting go? Why? Because without milk it cannot survive. That is a true baby. That is one mark of a baby. On the other hand, we have spiritual babies. Those born from above. The true children of God. They are willing to drink from His Word, pure milk in order to grow. Willing to be taught by those who have been taught by our Lord Jesus (the church). They have no other source except Christ. Anyone born again exhibits this mark: full dependency on the Lord for growth.

We have watched our daughter grow big, though she was very tiny weighing only 1.8 kg when she was born, she now weighs 11kg.The power of mother's milk! Amazing! Secondly, we started weaning our daughter so we had to give her balanced foods. For instance, foods that contained proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins. Now, who knows our spiritual needs more than we do? Is it not our Lord Jesus Christ? He knows the conditions which we ought to have in place in order to grow healthy spiritually.

Thirdly, we started being concerned. Oh, our baby is not sitting! Oh, our baby has not started crawling! Oh, it has taken long for her to walk! Oh, she is going back to crawling again! What might be the cause of her going back to her previous stage? It worried us a great deal! It really did! You see, God wants us to grow. It really worries Him if we are always in our nappies. Wallowing in our own dirt. Not showing signs of crawling, let alone walking and learning. Babies who are not ready to be weaned and have meat! This grieves our Lord, but He is gracious, full of love and compassion, more than any parents can be towards their children. Since we are vessels of His love, grace and compassion, we know that our children are in need of the same from us. No matter how long it will take, we will have to wait. The church is our mother. Born again children of our Heavenly Father should go to church and drink from the church (the body of believers who trust in Christ and fellowship in the Word). That is where they can get instant growth and add more weight every day.

Lastly, my daughter holds my forefinger any time she attempts to walk. At first, she started taking her own steps, then fear took possession of her, thus she is depending on my finger to walk. When I look at the whole situation, my finger is not helping a great deal, but according to my daughter it means the world. I am praying for the time when I will have to withdraw my finger and let her know that she was walking on her own at last. God wants us to know that we have the help within us, in our hearts and that is the Holy Spirit. That we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. You see I am learning at such a big rate. I will have to wait for the next stage to learn more from her.... yet, I am learning now! She is crying for her mother, crying for the blessed milk! Amazing! Spiritual children cry for spiritual milk and the Lord grants them access!!