Babies Are The Worst. So Am I

Few things make my wife happier than babies. Not just babies in general but the tiny, newborn, helpless and completely dependent kind of babies in particular. My wife spent years as an RN working in labor and delivery and is exceptionally gifted at caring for mothers and newborns. I on the other hand get very nervous about newborns. In my opinion, babies, from birth until 2-3 months old, have a far better reputation than they deserve.

Think about it for a minute. What do babies have going for them?  Apart from being cute they don't have a whole lot to offer the world. I have spent more time thinking about this than is healthy, but I feel an obligation to bring some realism to the discussion. So let's put cute/cuddly/chubby on the "pros" side and see how it stacks up against the "cons".

Babies:

• are nearly constantly making messes, usually involving body fluids and always creating laundry. If the poop/pee/throw-up were contained in/on the baby it would be one thing but that stuff ends up everywhere! That faint sour milk smell that new parents have isn't exactly pleasant and neither are the other things spewing forth from babies in frightening volumes.
• destroy sleep patterns affording little/no opportunity to think or otherwise function as a normal human being. I have felt myself on the brink of a nervous breakdown twice in my life. It is no coincidence that both occurred while I had new babies in the house. 
• empty wallets and bank accounts with great efficiency. With older kids you  can fight them with a discussion on needs versus wants but with babies everything presents itself as a need! 
• hurt themselves. A lot. Razor sharp fingernails, unparalleled ineptitude with hand/eye coordination, and unbalanced bodies due to over-sized heads lead to tears, scabs, and bruises on a daily basis. Get it together babies!
• make lots of noise. Sometimes its cute when they are babies but most of the time even that is quite accidental. More often if it isn't crying or screaming it is more explosive noises that indicate that new laundry has just been made.
• express no gratitude for the care they receive. They only demand more. 

It doesn't take to much insight to realize that babies are quite literally the worst roommates you could ever have.

And yet....

And yet there is a peculiar affection towards babies that renders the "cons" insignificant. A lifetime of tomorrows offers the promise of hopes fulfilled and love freely given and received. I imagine that God looks down on those of us who are in Christ with similar hope and love.

There are some profound parent/child dynamics at play in that list that mirror God's relationship with His children. We don't really have a lot to offer. Nothing, in fact, apart from His care and provision keeps us moving from one day to the next without total chaos. Just like babies we are messy, whiny, ungrateful, and expensive for God to love. Add in my absolute inability to present myself as "cute" and I have even less going for me!

The stark contrasts between a parent's selfless care and a child's complete dependence on that care are of deep spiritual significance for those of us who acknowledge that apart from God's grace we are headed for complete ruin. 

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."