Becoming a parent you never realize just how much a baby will teach you.

Parenting has taught me much over the past 8 months, but the thing it has taught me the most is this:

I am nothing without Christ and I can do nothing without Him.

I laugh at myself now when I think of my naive way of thinking prior to May 27, 2009, the day of Little Bug’s birth.

I was so naive. SO naive.

I really thought parenting would be a breeze. After all, I’d been holding babies and changing diapers since I was ten. I’d babysat more children than I could count and I’d always felt so natural with a baby in my arms.

I just couldn’t wait until that baby was mine and not a baby I would babysit and then hand back over to the parents.

Well, that day came on May 27th, 2009. A baby was placed in my arms. She wasn’t just any baby though!

She was my daughter. My Little Bug.

And so my parenting journey began.

I brought this little creature to my home as my daughter and … well, life hasn’t been the same since.

There is no way to describe the love one feels for their own child.

It is indescribable.

When I look at Little Bug I am overwhelmed with emotion. I see a beautiful baby girl that miraculously favors her parents. I see a determined little girl and I wonder just how God will use her determination and natural curiosity of the world as she grows up. I can already see a beautiful baby girl that will one day grow up to be a beautiful woman who loves the Lord and desires for her life to glorify Him.

And then I think of my role in that process and it scares me to death.

Children are so moldable and teachable, it’s scary!

I realize the power I have to mold and teach Little Bug the ways of the Lord.

And, more than anything, I do not want to fail in the least little bit.

There is nothing I desire more than to see my baby girl grow up to be a woman who fears the Lord and a woman who desires to see her life be used for God’s glory.

Maybe this is why God uses the trying times of parenting an infant to remind us that apart from God we can do nothing.

Apart from God, I cannot raise Little Bug in a way that teaches her that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and we are to allow God to use our lives for His glory.

Today I am reminded that without Christ I can do nothing. I cannot parent without God’s strength, direction, stamina, patience, endurance, wisdom and peace.

I cannot muster even a drop of those things from my own strength. They must come from the Lord because …

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

- Elaine