New train of thought...

Lately I have been thinking about things with Genesis in mind.  I mean by that, that I have been wondering how did men and women do certain things from the beginning of time.  This has been freeing to me, because I have found in thinking that way that many of the things we take as just matters of the way things should be done may actually just have come around the last century or so.  This is of course very important I think in the way we raise our children.  Unfortunately I will have to continue this later, because my wife needs to use the computer.  I will definitely continue this later.  

Ryan

Best option available

When something is not directly spoken of in the Bible, we as christians have the responsibility to use the principles we know along with the best knowledge we have at the time to make the best decision on the issue at hand.  In all of this we should always ask God to help us think through the decision or set of decisions.  Yet, does God promise to tell us the answer to every question?  I don't think so.  We can however, trust that God is working through us as we trust Him.  "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Phillippians 2:12-13).  From this verse and many more I think we find that God is much more concerned with us being concerned with our attitude than the actual decision at hand.  If we seek with honest sincerity to please Jesus then we will please Him in the decision.  This does not mean that we do not need to really think through some decisions.  We do. This means that we can have the assurance of knowing that our Father is in control, that He works through us in our limited frames.  He has never promised that we will have perfect knowledge here on earth.  Instead the new testament says that we see through a glass dimly lit.  However we can have the assurance of knowing that we are never on plan B with God if our heart is turned to Him.  He works even through our mistakes for our good and His glory.  (Romans 8:28)  Now should this lead us to presuming on His grace.  Absolutely Not.  I should never go jump off of a mountain and then pray for God to catch me. 

 I say all of that because, I have found in raising children there are a lot of things that the Bible does not speak specifically to.  It gives us a great set of principles and then says raise them.  There is no labor manual in the Bible.  I'm pretty sure C-sections were not performed during the years when the Bible was written, so many of the babies that are able to survive because of them today would have probably died back then.  So does this mean that needed C-sections that save babies lives are outside of God's will?  Well, if you make that argument you need to go protest the hospitals that are allowing doctors to treat cancer patients too.  I don't think that Luke was condemned for having lack of faith in God for being a physician.  You know he wrote one of the gospels under the Holy Spirit's inspiration.  There is no babywise section there either.  It never shows Sarah laying little Isaac down to cry himself to sleep.  To my knowledge it never tells us about a rocking chair either.  What do you do?  I'll tell you one thing that I don't think is smart:  raising any book to the equivalent of the Bible in instruction.  It seems many of us christian parents have done this with Babywise.  Christian author does not equal inspired author.  I'm not saying the book is wrong.  I don't know.  I will say that some of the instruction tends to make parents go against nurturing instinct, but what do I know.  My B.S. degree is in physical education not child raising.  But that in it self is a good point.  Must we really be educated to know how to care for our newborn baby.  Sometimes I think all the new found insights just make us question our God-given instincts.  I can't imagine

God handing Adam and Eve a manual and saying "now Eve make sure you read this thoroughly prior to Cain's birth.  Man what the heck would she do when she got to the section about feeding every three hours?  She better learn quick on how to read the Sun.  Or maybe clocks came about quicker than what history says.  Now I seem to have contradicted myself, because just a few types ago I was saying how medical knowledge is a good thing, and that God doesn't condemn physicians and stuff like that.  But I think there is a difference between medical science and child raising.  Who knows?   Anyway I kinda went off on a side road for a little bit.  All of the stuff about the question I have with Babywise are mine alone.  In fact we still use some of the methods.  I just have some questions that I'm not afraid to ask anymore.  Pray that the babywise god will not get me.  If you see it differently, and I'm sure many of you good parents do, I will not ask you to meet me somewhere to fight over it.  The second paragraph was just illustrating my point about unspecified issues that we face as christians.