Parenthood & Being Thankful

As you can imagine, for the past few weeks life has mostly revolved around the adjustment to parenthood. Deron continues to serve as a Member Care counselor but I have taken a month-long maternity leave and am enjoying the break.

Fortunately, we have a pretty amazing daughter and parenthood, while challenging, is not as stressful as I anticipated it might be. Of course there are lots of doubts and second guessing, but we are adjusting pretty well ... most of the time.

Yesterday, however, I was giving myself a hard time about the things I feel are going wrong:
"I'm so stupid for not catching that sickness sooner."
"Nursing is so hard -- it should be easier by now."
"I wish she would be more consistent with her sleep patterns."

I was feeling pretty miserable, actually.

Then some Bible verses started coming to mind:
"Be joyful always ... give thanks in all circumstances." (I Thess. 5:16-18)
"Always giv[e] thanks to God the Father for everything..." (Eph. 5:20)

"Why do you always focus on the negative instead of the positive?" God seemed to be asking me. "Don't you remember you're to have an attitude of thankfulness about everything?"

So, instead of dwelling on the "problem areas," I started focusing on all the wonderful things about my daughter and her development. And there are lots!

• She's healthy and growing.
• She's strong and alert and is already focusing her eyes on faces and objects.
• She isn't sensitive to lights and sounds so can sleep through almost anything.
• She gets passed from person to person at parties without getting upset or fussy.
• She switches easily between bottle and nursing, which apparently is an issue for some babies.
• She never cries inconsolably or for long periods of time.
• Her "awake time" hours are during the morning, not at night.

And the list goes on. It's so easy to compare myself and my baby to books and articles and other mommies and babies, but that'll just drive a person crazy! Instead, I'm learning to thank God for the blessings and pray for His wisdom in the challenges.