Baby does not live on milk alone...

"And [the Lord your God] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years." Deuteronomy 8:3-4

I have been reading through Deuteronomy lately in preparation for writing my thesis. And this verse has really stood out to me. I keep thinking about it from time to time throughout my day, and realize how much motherhood is similar. Other parents have told me that you learn as you go - and that is what we are doing. When Jakob does something I am not sure what to do I quickly go to my baby books or my friend Google to learn about it. Jakob was sleeping through the night for about a month or so and then started to wake up in the wee early morning. So what did I do... consult my friend Google. Then I learned he was just going through a growth spurt and I just needed to feed him more, so I did. Then he started to get cranky this past week. So I asked my friend about teething, and Mr. Google told me all about the symptoms and remedies to ease the discomfort. I've read about so many different things. Spit up, breastfeeding, teething, rolling over, eczema, etc. And to Mr. Google's credit the information I do find is helpful and does aid me in my motherhood abilities. But it is temporary and short lived because then Jakob grows or changes and I have to learn something else.

This verse came to mind the other night. It was 2 to 3 hours into Jakob crying because he was teething. That and his eczema was probably bothering him, and he was overtired, and he keeps flipping over so he is uncomfortable trying to sleep his back. I couldn't do anything for him and and saddened me. But then I came across a friends blog and an entry she did about praying for her baby and the various prays she prays. That's when the verse came to mind. I was trying to live on "bread alone" in my parenting of Jakob. And this night reminded me that as much as I tried to do it on bread alone I couldn't. I felt sheepish to realize that I haven't been praying for dear Jakob. I may feel out of control in this path through motherhood, but God is in control and can surely comfort my son when I cannot.

As much as I try to fit Jakob into the "normal baby" that Mr. Google tells me about, he will never completely fit. Just last night he drank 14 oz. of milk in one sitting! Oh no, that's not what Mr. Google calculates... he says it should only be 5 oz.... ha ha... maybe this means I should research more? But my research will never be complete because I am merely a man and I can't know everything. And I think God made motherhood that way so that I don't try to live on "bread alone" but on God's word.