{"id":91,"date":"2012-09-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2012\/09\/05\/fat-baby\/"},"modified":"2012-09-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-05T00:00:00","slug":"fat-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2012\/09\/05\/fat-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/www.weebly.com\/weebly\/apps\/serveAds.php?type=adsense&amp;elementid=847845396455967252&amp;ineditor=0&amp;subdomain=www.thewordthisweek.com&amp;pubid=ca-pub-7110765324531468&amp;adformat=468x60&amp;adtype=text_image&amp;bordercolor=FFFFFF&amp;bgcolor=FFFFFF&amp;linkcolor=0F53FF&amp;textcolor=000000&amp;urlcolor=008000\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">  One of my favourite songs as a child was \u201cFat Baby\u201d by Amy Grant.\u00a0 I\u2019ve put a clip at the bottom of this post\u2026do enjoy the 80\u2019s clothing!\u00a0 I have a memory of singing along to this song as it played on cassette in our car. \u00a0Mum and I were travelling home from an open garden somewhere.\u00a0 I was probably 9 or 10 years old.\u00a0 At the time, I really had no idea what the song was about, but I thought it was a funny subject to sing about!\u00a0 The gist of the song is this.\u00a0 You can\u2019t stay a spiritual baby forever, you need to grow up in order to have a real relationship with Christ.\u00a0 Take responsibility for growth.\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect to be spoon fed for the rest of your life.\u00a0 Oh, Amy said it much nicer than that, it really is a catchy song.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>  Having a baby is exciting, but you sure don\u2019t want your child to stay a baby forever! \u00a0For the adult in the relationship, babies take a lot of work.\u00a0 There are glimpses of real connection but for the most part, there are months and months of a one sided relationship.\u00a0 There is also the joy of watching the baby grow, develop new skills and explore their world.\u00a0 That\u2019s when it starts to really get exciting!\u00a0 You move on from offering a completely liquid diet and start offering some texture and chunks.\u00a0 They start to get physically mobile and you cheer!\u00a0 They start to walk and you are bursting with pride.\u00a0 They fall down many times before they get the hang of it.\u00a0 And all the while, you\u2019re there with them.\u00a0 Watching, guiding, cheering, supporting.<\/p>\n<p>  The stage is similar in your spiritual life, except it involves less mashed veggies! \u00a0God is there with you, watching, guiding, cheering and supporting, and so are your Christian brothers and sisters.\u00a0 The \u00a0bonus here is that you have a say in how fast you move on from the spoon fed stage.\u00a0 There is a time for listening and accepting what you\u2019re told, but God doesn\u2019t want you to follow him blindly.\u00a0 God wants a real relationship with you.\u00a0 He wants you to question, discuss, debate even!\u00a0 He wants you to share with him when you are happy and when you\u2019re not.\u00a0 He wants you to cry out to him when you feel like all is lost.\u00a0 He wants to hear you praise him when you see a beautiful sunrise\/newborn \u00a0baby\/volcano.<\/p>\n<p>  Do \u00a0you feel like it\u2019s time to grow in your relationship with God?\u00a0 There are a few simple things you can do.<\/p>\n<p>  1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Commit to regularly reading your bible.\u00a0 It takes about 28 days to form a new habit, so start by promising yourself (and God) that you\u2019ll read every day for 28 days.\u00a0 Choose a time of day that works for you and schedule it in.\u00a0 Ask God to help you remember.\u00a0 If you\u2019re home with young kids, early morning before they\u2019ve woken, or during nap time are good times or if you\u2019re still mentally alert, after you\u2019ve got them in bed.\u00a0 If you\u2019re out in the workforce, perhaps your lunch break would be a good opportunity, or on the bus during your commute (provided you aren\u2019t the one driving!!)\u00a0 Pray before and after reading.\u00a0 Just a simple prayer will do.\u00a0 Ask God to speak to you through his word.<\/p>\n<p>  2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regularly attend church.\u00a0 Here you will not only be able to hear preaching on God\u2019s word and spend time praising him, but you\u2019ll also meet and have a chance to form friendships with other Christians.\u00a0 It really is important to be a part of the body of Christ, and it\u2019s much harder to do if you\u2019re on your own all the time.<\/p>\n<p>  3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Join a group.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t already studying God\u2019s word with others, now would be a great time to start.\u00a0 Ask a leader of your church to suggest a group which might be good for you.\u00a0 Regularly meeting with a small group to study the bible, share and pray for each other, is a wonderful encouragement. <\/p>\n<p>  4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pray.\u00a0 Spend time with God.\u00a0 Talk to him and give him a chance to talk back.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have a deep relationship with someone you hardly ever talk to.\u00a0 God is ready to work with you on this relationship!<\/p>\n<p>    I would love to hear about your spiritual growth, past or present, and have the opportunity to pray for you.\u00a0 Do you have any other advice for those who are ready to stop being Fat Babies?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;\">\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><object width=\"400\" height=\"330\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/f3M6AZeQvVM\"><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><param name=\"allownetworking\" value=\"internal\"><\/object><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/www.weebly.com\/weebly\/apps\/serveAds.php?type=adsense&amp;elementid=533300880858906431&amp;ineditor=0&amp;subdomain=www.thewordthisweek.com&amp;pubid=ca-pub-7110765324531468&amp;adformat=468x60&amp;adtype=text_image&amp;bordercolor=FFFFFF&amp;bgcolor=FFFFFF&amp;linkcolor=0F53FF&amp;textcolor=000000&amp;urlcolor=008000\"><\/script><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of my favourite songs as a child was \u201cFat Baby\u201d by Amy Grant.\u00a0 I\u2019ve put a clip at the bottom of this post\u2026do enjoy the 80\u2019s clothing!\u00a0 I have a memory of singing along to this song as it played on cassette in our car. \u00a0Mum and I were travelling home from an open &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2012\/09\/05\/fat-baby\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Fat Baby&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}