|
| [The Cry-Out Method] Babies cry. Babies cry all the time. Crying is the first thing that a baby does as soon as it is born. It is one of the four things they do really well: eating, pooping, sleeping, and crying. Sammy was a crier from the first minute he was born. He spoke no words; he conveyed too little with his nonverbal cues; no quick side glance or a motioning of the hand… he cried. By just the 3rd day since his birth, we established a pattern of parenting: baby cries, you move. It was an automatic command that required our complete attentiveness and readiness to do whatever had to be done. Whether it be giving him more milk, or changing his diapers, rocking him to sleep, propping him up to burp…all initiated by his crying. After spending the first four weeks, we were exhausted, beaten up, and comply with his incessant demands of our constant attention. We had heard about the cry-out method from various parents as well as some experts online. It is a simple concept of not attending to the baby immediately when he cries, instead, you allow him to cry a little bit teaching him to be little more on his own. Babies do not like to be away from their parents, they want to be held constantly…well, baby being baby. As painful as it is to endure the cries of our baby, you gotta do what you gotta do. During our most recent visit to the doctor’ office, I was asked whether Sammy is sleeping through the night. Sleeping through the night? That is our dream. He sleeps from 8pm-3am, gets fed, then sleeps until 5 or 6. She plainly told me that I need to stop feeding him when he wakes up in the middle of the night and let him cry out. “But he cries if we don’t feed him.” Doctor: “he won’t die…let him cry, he’ll have to learn to sleep through the night. When he cries, you may go to him and assure him of your presence, but you don’t have to do any more than that.” I think I was more assured than anything. And excited about the possibility of Sammy sleeping a whole 10 hours. Crying him out……for the past 4 nights, Sammy woke up at the same time where he used to wake up in the middle of the night. Instead of going to him with a bottle and arms to cradle him to sleep, we let him cry. And we stayed awake nervously waiting for his cries to cease. As painful it was to hear him crying for mommy, milk, to be held, and/or whatever more… we stayed in our room praying “Sammy, go to sleep. Daddy and mommy are right here. We love you so much. Sammy, you can do it!” The most difficult thing for me is that I don’t fully know that HE knows that we love him and that we are not neglecting him. With every passing second, my heart sinks deeper with each cry, at the same time, there is also an assurance that he’ll make it… and that he’s learning to grow up slowly but surely.
You may sometimes feel like a crying baby—scared, worried, wondering when daddy/mommy will come to comfort you, or to bring a fresh bottle… you’ve had a long day and you simply want to be held. You want an answer to why things haven’t been going your way…you cry and cry, you cry to be heard…
What is God doing? Why isn’t He coming to rescue me from my pain, despair? How long must I go on my heart aching? How much more will I have to cry out to be heard??? God will let you cry out, so you won’t have to cry any more…… “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1) | | |
| 
Meet Nosefrida. This little Swedish magic is a lot more amazing than its rather primitive appearance. Sure it involves little engineering for it’s comprised of a skinny rubber straw, even skinnier and smaller sponge filter, and a plastic tube. Do not be deceived. This little gadget is a powerful and even more valuable necessity in any home with a baby. As its simple design indicates, you simply aim-insert-inhale (with controlled force depending on the severity of congestion). Prior to discovering nosefrida, we had used a normal aspirator to clean out Sammy’s nose. Boring. The force of the traditional aspirator was strictly limited to how much air the aspirator could hold, but with nosefrida, man, it’s 1000X matter. A person with mere capable lungs would probably be able to manage even the stickiest booger. We were recommended this product during Sammy’s battle with his first cold, and the regular ball aspirator was just not getting the job done. But nosefrida changed our lives. It changed Sammy’s life. While Wife and I rave about this little magic, baby Sammy would have a whole different tale to tell. “I mean one day, mommy and daddy showed up with this hideous device sucking the life out of me. What happened?” Sammy’s getting stronger these days and it requires one to hold down his arms while the other one continue shifting his aim to be sure all the nuggets and juices get cleaned out. Sammy absolutely hates. He kicks, he cries, he wildly swings his arms, turns his body in attempt to escape by all means… I mean he fights for his life. I would be amazed by just how much he dislikes having his nose cleaned. I’d say “Sammy, you’re not gonna like this, but we need to do this. I know you don’t like it, but we need to clean you up so you can eat and sleep better. Baby, you can barely breathe right now. This is for you…” Too bad Sammy doesn’t understand my words yet, well, he doesn’t even care: “hey, just get the darn thing out of my nose. Leave my nose alone. Leave me alone!!!” And I’m still saying “baby, this is for you. You’ll thank me later…please hold just a few seconds.” But in Sammy’s eyes, I am still the villain for that moment of me holding the nosefrida. I wonder if and when he will know of my good intentions… 
What about us? How do we respond when God comes over to us with the nosefrida wanting to clean us up? To relieve of us all unnecessary junk and the uglies of our lives? We kick, we push and pout, even curse… Daddy’s saying “hold on, just for this moment, you’ll feel a whole lot better when I’m done.” I wonder how much pain and shame we lug around because we don’t allow Him the moment of undisturbed, uncontested nosefrida. The Bible says of God: a faithful father, a wonderful counselor, a mighty Savior… Man, I sure do need some nosefrida. God, come. I’m ready. Hold me down, “ready, aim, clean…” | | |
| -12 hours 14 minutes...that's how much time left until the biggest match of the year. ManU vs. Barcelona. though last year's rematch with Chelsea would have been nice, there is no comparison of how crazy this match will be. A lot of people are expecting a close game while giving a slight edge to ManU's defense. I agree. Park is officially on for tomorrow. After being robbed of hte opportunity to play in the finals (in spite of his superb play in the semis), he'll finally have the chance to showcase his skills. not to mention he'll be the first Asian to play in the finals history. While all of you reading this blog has and will have no interest in tomorrow's match OR futbol (albeit ricky ok), I feel responsible for sharing my joy and pride of being a fan. Yeah yeah, hte Lakers, Cavs...Kobe, Lebron... whatever. I am talking about the biggest sport in the world. Kobe is like DJ Mbenga / Lebron -> Aleksander Pavlovic compared to the star power represented by the two clubs. Yes, I do feel immense responsibilty to share the truth of loving the most beloved sport (or activity might i say) in the entire world. I don't think I can sleep tonight. I have been thinking about a dozen ways how the match will play out...many ways which I want Park Ji Sung to score goals. (My prediction? 1-0 Man U. my wish? 5-3 while Park records a hat trick. haha) I better get some rest. I need to be sharp and completely focused for the game tomorrow. GLORY! GLORY! MAN UNITED!!! | | |
| Exactly 365 days ago... that's how long it's been since my last post. i am contemplating to move over to wordpress.com. why? i don't know. fresh start? (what do you think??) i've been not very good at writing this past year, and I am hoping to get back on track. My leadership team has pushed me to start a pastor's blog... And it certainly has been fun to be writing again... [May 14, 2009] Started to garden again. Since moving to our new house six months ago, we had pretty much abandoned our lawn as well as flowers and other random greens that are scattered throughout our property. After spending some time pulling out the weeds and readying the soil, I transplanted the little greens which my mom passed on: sesame leaves, sagebrush, jalapenos, and some wild flowers.
Gardening has always been one of the more enjoyable things I do during my spare time. It all started with a small pot of jalapeno tree (?) about 9 years ago. I love watching the plants grow day by day—I mean to see the little plant to grow bigger, budding flowers, and to bearing of the fruits…simply amazing. Much like working out, it is perhaps my fascination with growth.
After potting the plants in the backyard, I checked to make sure each of them was properly placed and that it had plenty of space for growth. Then, I connected the newly purchased spray gun to the hose and began watering one by one. I had to make sure that I didn’t do it with too much force for it could have wiped out the baby greens. I wish I could just drench the soil leaving plenty of water for a whole week even longer. But that’s not how it works. It takes daily attention, proper monitoring. It seems tedious, but that’s the only way for the plants to grow.
How bored are we with our spiritual walk? How mundane and tedious do our spiritual commitments seem? To be in full devotion to God daily…to meditate it in His Law day AND night, to have His words never depart from our hearts, and being in constant seeking of His will and His guidance. What do we do for the growth of our spiritual bodies? I wonder how many of us look for ways to drench ourselves now and just cruise the rest of the way. Watering the garden daily seems redundant, exhaustive, and “not fun”.
Proverbs 30? “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I may not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.”
I am tired of living on the bread of yesterdays. Dwelling in the past glories at the expense of new adventures… where is the joy of discovering Him today? “just enough for the day…” God draws us to the fountain each day. To Him… it’s perhaps the meeting not the filling. Fresh presence, fresh revelation. NEW…
O LORD, give me my portion for today…and draw me to you again for another “today”.
| | |
| Following ricky's recent confession, I've decided to come clean as well. My name is Scott and I am a soccerholic. Today was the final game of the Champions League, featuring the two best teams of the English league, and it was also the first time ever which two English teams have met in the final game. It was a sensational game! ManU dominated the first half and Chelsea the second. Two goals were scored by arguably the most popular players on both teams (C. Ronaldo & F. Lampard). The heavyweight bout lasted as dead even at the end of overtime. I hate PK's because it's too dramatic. My heart can't take it in. Of course today was no exception! Ronaldo misses on a 2-2 tie, allowing Chelsea to pull ahead 4-3 with only John Terry (captain of England) to go. He could have sealed the victory, capping two victories over ManU, paying back for ManU winning the Premier League last week. Not that simple!! Terry slips on wet ground and misses it completely forcing more shootout. 
ManU capitalizes on the game-turning miss by Terry and goes on to win it! IT WAS PURE EPIC!!! No words to describe the moment. I can barely put into words b/c each time I think about it my heart goes racing completely numbing my mind. You couldn't have asked for a better ending. 
Look at Rooney! He looks crazy stoked!! 
Park, Ji Sung won't get a medal b/c he didn't suit up for today's match. Really sad, but I think they have a shot again next year. I am getting ready for the Euro Championship this summer. It is going to be buck wild! On another note. I have another confession to make. I have secretly been following the L*kers. I'm not saying I've left my beloved Clippers to join the band wagon, but they have been pretty darn good. But I have been a Kobe fan this whole time. (Not a disclaimer) He's been insane. His maturity as player has made the Lakers as the favorites to win it all (after tonight's game, I, too, am a believer). For loyalty purposes, I'll NOT use the word 'L*kers' on my blog. And as far as I know, I'm cheering for Kobe. 
Kobe 1:0 Spurs | | |
|
