Mothers and Fathers

We have heard a lot of advice from Paul lately for wives, husbands, children, slaves, and masters. Two sentences jumped out at me today:

"We cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did."

"With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life."

Heidi and I have been talking about gender roles. Are men a certain way? What about women? Is it possible to take on the perspective of the other, to plumb the depths for more understanding? Since we have a boy and a girl, we've also spent a fair amount of time discussing mothering and fathering, same gender and cross-gender. Do I treat Adeline the same way I do Malachi? Should I? Does Heidi treat the kids the same way I do? Definitely not. Should she? I don't think so.

God made us the way he did, but it certainly is complicated. Men and women are very different. As Kelly pointed out, we live in a culture other than Paul could have ever imagined. Heidi and Kelly are stay-at-home moms by choice. Kelly is just further down that road. Is mothering a full time job? The answer is a firm yes. What about fathering, since almost all dads work full-time outside the home too?

I think that's why we need sisters and brothers in Christ so much. Ours are now the only little kids in our immediate neighborhood. They need friends in Christ. With each garden baptism we have, I am reminded that it takes a church family to raise a child.

On a completely different note, our college friend, Laura Gifford, found out she had a brain tumor one year ago. I was successfully removed on Aug 11th, but she's having wicked side effects from the medications she's on. Please pray for her:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lauragifford