Just Let Her Cry

Wow.... that's really all I can say is wow. What a startlingly thought provoking perspective on the "crying it out" issue.

This is somewhat of a side-note but still related. The other day I was putting Annabella in her Moby Wrap (one of the carriers I use to wear her) on our way into the grocery store. As I was getting the car locked up and about to head into the store, a woman approached me and thanked me for holding my baby. I was very surprised to hear someone thanking me for such an innate simple thing! She said she was a nurse and that it just breaks her heart to see so many babies sitting in their carseats ALL the time (from car, to store, back to car, to doctors office, back to car, to post office, back to car, etc... all the while never being held). She said that human touch is SO important that my baby will be so much happier for the fact that I hold her, and she thanked me again. Annabella smiled at her. :-)

Wow... so profound. In an age when people are STARVING for community and connectedness and relationships and dare I say... touch, why is it that some can seemingly so easily deprive even the littlest ones of this fading commodity? In an age of people taking anti-depressants like candy and spending hours chatting online with people they've never even met half-way around the world searching for fulfillment and connectedness why must we continue to feed this monster of "separate-ness" and independence to our children when they're so young?

Will a hug fill these voids in peoples' hearts? No. Not entirely. Will holding a crying baby solve their every need. Possible, depending on the need. Will smiling at a stranger help save their life? Possibly? Who knows what they were thinking or what they were about to do.

I know more than ever as I get older that only Jesus can truly satisfy these deep longings for wholeness.... BUT..... He never meant for us to be alone, even with Him. He meant for His people to live in community, in relationship, greeting each other with a "holy kiss."

Oh that our culture would value people and relationships over convenience!

Start the New Year out right..... Go hold a crying (or not crying baby), give someone a hug, and give a stranger a smile!