SELF SOOTHE

Everything is available these days for babies.  We opened a survival kit from Katie’s aunt last night because Baby Bear had a stuffy nose.  In it was everything from Tylenol, nose drops and even gripe water.  Gripe water, I laugh, to soothe the baby when he or she is fussy.  When the girls were little and they fussed I picked them up, rocked them, fed them or changed them.  We are in the day of self-soothing!  Not for this grandma!

I decided to read about this self-soothing.  It is not a means of abandoning it is just a case of letting the baby have his or her space.  It is helping the baby to develop their own individual coping strategies in the presence of a loving parent.  It is a way to support the baby by letting them cry in your arms or find their own paci.  This self-soothing allows babies to actively take part in their care to the best of their ability.  (www.janetlansbury.com, The truth about infant self-soothing)

God does a lot of self soothing.  He is here for us just like a parent, however we have to find what soothes us.  He won’t just jump in to the rescue and change things for us or save us immediately.  He will allow us to learn strategies to help us survive in the real world.  He knows that when we have faith we are competent and capable of making wise choices.  He is the observer that watches hoping that we use our strengths and don’t cave in to our vulnerabilities.   

When we have faith and trust in the Lord we know exactly what we need to self soothe.  Focus on Christ and what He would want us to do.  God soothing takes practice, but the more we go to Him the better we are at dealing with life situations. 

Psalm 121:1-2 New International Version (NIV)

1 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

    where does my help come from?

2 

My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth.