Feeding our Little Ones

   I was talking with a friend today about what to feed babies when.  It can get a little confusing at times.  Who do you listen to?  What is the right way?  I was thinking about what I told her and how it relates to the Christian life. 
  When you start feeding a baby "solid" foods, you need to make sure they can digest the food.  God gave us a nifty way to know if a little one can digest food, they get teeth!  Imagine that.  God made it so that when a baby can eat, he can actually digest the food.  God is pretty smart.  We need to be on the look out for evidences in peoples lives around us to know if they want to be a part of Jesus' life.  The evidence for this can be obvious at time and sometimes not so obvious.  One good clue is that they ask questions.  People who ask questions about God are usually more willing to hear about Him and how He can be a part of their lives.
   The second thing that you have to do is make sure you give the baby foods in the right order.  Even though it is popular to start with grains, they are typically more allegenic and harder to digestfor a little one, even rice cereal.  Many parents also like to start with fruits.  The kids usually is very willing to eat something so sweet and it is easy for them to digest, so it is perfect, right?  Not really.  If you start with sweets, the child has a tendancy to desire more and more sweets.  They may only accept fruit because it is so good, or something mixed with fruit.  All they want is the good stuff, een when they get older! :)  I like to start with vegitables, mostly sweet potatoes.  They are great for new eaters!  Not too sweet, easy to digest and full of good vitamins essential for a growing baby.  You can also adjust the cosistancy to the needs of the baby and when they get a little bigger, just cube it and let them use their fingers. :)
  We need to be carefull of what we "feed" to new believers just as much as what we feed to our babies.  If you give them 'grains' right away they may find it hard to digest and turn away.  They may also have an aversion, or 'alergy', to things of God.  If we only teach the 'sweet' stuff, they may think that Christianity is going to be a snap and they should always get nice things.  They may avoid anything difficult or 'not sweet'.  But if we start with the basics, the Gospel, we will give them nutients for their bodies.  They will learn to eat the good things of God as well as things that are good for them.  They will learn that not everything is always sweet, but it is good.
  So, We need to be careful what we feed young Christians and when we introduce 'solid' foods, just like we do when we have a new baby.

God Has a Plan and is in Charge of that Plan

My kids are always trying to tell the others kids what is going to happen during the day. But, they are very young, They don't know what I have planned and have little influence or sway in what actually happens. So asking my 6 year old what we are going to do on any given day isn't a good idea if you want to actually know what we are doing. Now, sometimes she knows. But, the only reason she knows is because I have told her and she has listened and believed that what I said was true and that I had the power to make those things happen. This is just like us with God, except much bigger and more concrete. God doesn't just plan out a day and leave it up for change, He has planned all of eternity! Also, He has the power to carry out that plan. I may make plans for a day, but than something comes up and I change my plans. God has never had to change his plans because of something that just “came up”.  The problem is that we don't always know what God's plan is for us. Well, when my daughter wants to know the plan for the day, what does she do? She asks me about it because I know more than she does. We need to do the same thing. Go to the One who knows more than we do.