Really – we were parents! Gary quickly became one of the proudest fathers I’d ever seen. I couldn’t believe how he would boast about Matthew and how blessed we were to have had him.
And me? I could not believe how my priorities were changing. I was a mom and loving it! I had previously hated being around other young moms because it seemed as though the only things they talked about were poopy diapers and how wonderful their kids were. Yet now for some reason this all didn’t matter to me in the slightest!
I was so thankful for my sister who was able to give me all sorts of tips on what to do at certain stages. I felt so clueless sometimes. How could you understand what was wrong when your baby was crying? Yet we learned there’s that certain bond that gets strengthened between a parent and a child, and often you were able to figure out what the problem was – a lot of times just by trying everything you could think of!
As the days passed I was becoming more and more comfortable with “mommy-hood.” We learned that Matthew loved to swing, and just seeing him in his little swing that we had in the kitchen would fill me with such joy.
And the first time we got to feed him solid food – WOW! We quickly discovered that he seemed to love everything. To watch his face as a new taste went into his mouth was just such an awesome experience to behold.
When he started to roll on the floor, and then crawl, another new dimension opened up. Everything was so exciting to him. It really is true that you should try and look at life like you’re looking through the eyes of a child…
A really fun thing was that my precious sister gave birth to their third child just three weeks after Matthew was born. They had a little boy, as well, and since we lived so close to each other at that time, we made it a point to try and get the 2 boys together at least once a week to play.
Since her son, Erik, already had 2 older sisters, he was maturing quicker than Matthew as far as learning to walk, run, jump and climb. It was fun to watch Matthew keeping his eyes on Erik and then quickly try to do the same things. They had so much fun together.
Life at our new church home was going great, as well. I was making some incredible friends there and was getting involved in women’s Bible studies. How interesting it was to actually study the Bible! Plus, Matthew really loved to be with the other kids in the nursery.
As Gary and I continued to become more involved in our church – and me in my Bible studies – I found myself starting to really pay attention to how the other women around me talked and acted. Soon I began to proficiently “talk the talk” of a Christian (in my mind, of course).
Then Gary and I began talking about how it might be a good thing to actually become members of the church. We found out that to become members you needed to take a mandatory class which talked about what the church believed. Okay, no problem!
But then a huge stumbling block came crashing before me – baptism…
The God Of All Comfort 