Spiritual colic

We can't tell you how much we are loving Carter. He has been so much fun to be around. We wake up many days pinching ourselves by the privilege it is to be his parents. And he seems to change in his physical appearance just about every single day.

But it hasn't always been easy, especially since Carter has colic.
For those of you who don't know what colic is (I didn't until Carter was born) it's not a huge problem or condition, but it sure is difficult to deal with when your child has it.

Colic is a medically undiagnosable condition where newborns cry incessantly for no particular reason. Doctors don't seem to know why babies have colic, but it is fairly common (1 in 4 newborns have it). Technically, it's when newborns cry for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week for more than three weeks at a time.

It seems he gets overstimulated, confused in this new, strange world he now lives in and doesn't know what else to do but cry. No, I take that back: he doesn't know what else to do but scream.
Yesterday during one of his fits I pulled out the camera and got a close up of the action. (Just be grateful that there isn't sound attached to this picture!) Fortunately he doesn't cry all the time (he does sleep and eat, you know). I'm exaggerating here...he doesn't cry all the time, but it is a lot. Trust me, when he's not crying he really is cute.

It can test the patience of even the calmest of parents. (Ask any parent  who has had a colicky baby).
It begins when a newborn is about two weeks old, peaks between six and eight weeks and (fortunately) most babies outgrow it by three to four months of age.
Carter seems to fit that criteria pretty well. 
No matter how much consoling, diaper-changing, shushing, rocking, swinging, singing, swaddling you do, nothing seems to get the screaming to stop.

Just last week I was holding Carter, bouncing him around, walking around the house - doing anything possible to get him to calm down during dinner (he seems to know when mommy and daddy are trying to have a quiet dinner and then he decides to try out how strong his lungs are).
I was shushing him and said to him in his ear in the most consolable voice I could muster: "What's the matter, buddy? You're dry, you're clean, you're warm, you're safe, you're fed, you're swaddled, you're comforted and safe and you're loved so much by your mommy and daddy. What more could you want?"

And it was one of those Holy Spirit moments - not an audible voice, but a prompting that was as clear as day.
A prompting that communicated to me, "J.R., if your ears could only hear what your mouth just said. That's what I've been trying to communicate to you for a long time. I've tried to communicate to you that you're safe, you're cared for, I've taken care of your needs, I've blessed you, you're comforted, you're loved so much by your Heavenly Father...what more could you want?"

I realized that in that moment, between the headache-inducing screams piped directly into my eardrums, that God was teaching me, J.R. Briggs, through Carter's screaming. It was so jolting I almost wanted to take my shoes off, feeling as though I was on holy ground.
God has used my six week old son to teach me about my own spiritual colic.
If I could only grasp just how much my Heavenly Father really loves me, I might actually stop crying, complaining, worrying and getting so worked up in my own life.

And then I thought of two passages I had read recently:

"If you then, though are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?" (Jesus, Matthew  7:11).

"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise." (Jesus, Matthew 21:16)

I'm grateful that God used Carter to make me aware of my own spiritual colic.

Comments

[Josh]

What amazing things we can learn from our children, even from such a small age. Praying for you guys and Carter.Josh and Kristy

[Leigh Ann]

This post made me cry (not quite like Carter but...) What an awesome revelation to have. God is so good to meet us where we are and teach us always....
Love to all of you!

[Kjersten]

Wow. The voice of the Father continues to amaze me. I've been asking Him to deeply know His heartbeat, and I think I just had a glimpse...Peace to you all.

[Kjersten]

Wow. The voice of the Father continues to amaze me. I've been asking Him to deeply know His heartbeat, and I think I just had a glimpse...Peace to you all.

[Ashley]

Wow. Amazing how the Holy Spirit uses Carter to speak to J.R. to speak to me (and probably so many others). Indirectly, Carter was the best teacher I've had all week. Thanks!

[Lesley Johnson]

It's funny, because I don't think I have learned so much about myself and my relationship (or lack of) with God until Cayden came along. We think we are given these little people blessings to raise them and teach them, only to find out quickly that God is using them to raise and teach us... it only continues, but I have to say that having my babies was the only thing that truly brought me to the Lord...

[ally]

What a sweet blessing. I love how sneaky God can be in the most tender moments. I feel and hear things like this from him when I pray lately. Stuff like "Hi, kiddo. I love you. That's enough. Shhhh..."

Maybe that's why Jesus spent some time talking about children "getting it."

Good luck with Carter's colic. I was wondering how things were going.

[Stan]

Incredible ! Praise the Lord for the sweet screaming child. Told you being a Dad was so awesome, and I am so old I have a grandchild, and it still is. God Bless your beautiful family.

[DR]

What an awesome word from God ... You are seeing how much even a new dad can learn from his son ... but I have seen that for the last 27 years ... and it is only increasing!

[DougG]

Good insight, Hannah's version of colic also meant that I could only hold her a couple times in the first few months, she would only trust Faye and I would make it worst. I developed the "Bear" theory, that I had to teach her to trust the big bear instead of being afraid. DougG
PS For Dan, one time my desperate prayerful solution was to move his legs ... then he let out a huge amount of gas and went to sleep ... I don't think you will find that one in any sermons on the role of a father.
PPS Hannah was really helped by a strict feed-wake-sleep cycle every 3-3.5 hours
PPPS They both had their day-nights reversed, that was fun to break.

[Kevin Finnemeyer]

Thanks for sharing that with us, that's cool and the God we serve is AWESOME.