The Mind of a Child

I was reading an article the other day that left such a huge impact on me. It was about Donald Winnicott who was a psychoanalyst and pediatrician in the early to mid 1900's. He worked with children and their mothers and discovered many deep concepts such as the "holding environment" (how a mother handles her baby and how that "handling" forms her baby's ability to connect to people on a deeper level) and the "transitional object" (security blanket), etc. I didn't read the article that thoroughly because who has time for that?! ;) But as a mother, nothing fascinates and scares me more than the impact I have on my children. Teaching them about the Lord is so important, but I see so many Christians put how they interact with their children on a back burner because they think teaching them about the Bible will make up for their failures. What they don't understand is that as parents we are programming our children to be either open or closed to God. Most people understand that children often view God the way they view their dad. But has that thought really saturated your mind recently? Have you considered what that really means for your children? If you respond to your child abruptly or impatiently that leaves the child feeling rejected and unimportant. As I watch and try to read my 2 month old daughter I can see so clearly how that process has already begun. She focuses on my face and sees me focusing on her, and when she smiles, I smile. When she crinkles her nose, I crinkle mine. When I talk to her and say her name in the sweetest way possible I see her precious little spirit open up to me and she coo's and caa's her love for me. That tiny little spirit is so wide open right now, and I am dreading the day when I absentmindedly crush that vulnerability, leaving her feeling those very first pangs of rejection. I know it is inevitable because even the most attentive mother is just human and will fail miserably at times. And that is where we need to really get through to our children that our heavenly Father will never fail us like we fail each other. What a sweet and unbelievable thought that is. It's so hard for me to accept that perfect love that He has for us, but will my children be able to trust that love if I don't trust it? Probably not. So that is where I need to thoughtfully catch the times that I fail and make sure that I tell my babies that the Lord will never fail them. <3