Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Nursing a Baby & Your Students

{So, after week 1, my goal was to blog once a week.  Last week's blog time was spent on the phone (mostly on hold) with the insurance company.  Oh the joys of adulthood!  Needless to say, blogging didn't happen last week.  :) }

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When it happened once, it was funny.  But, this situation happened to me a SECOND time with a different baby and a different youth group.  Both times, Chris was out of town, and I had volunteered to teach for him.  I love teaching so I enjoy being able to prep a lesson, think of fun illustrations, come up with interactive games, etc.  I was ready.  I felt back in the groove being able to assist Chris when he needed me and not being already busy with the babies.  The first time I had Maddy with me 'cause she was 1 month old.  I thought, "No problem, she'll sleep, the students love my kids."  Yeah.  She got fussy so whats a mom to do?  So, I covered up and feed my poor baby 'cause that's what you have to do!  Oh, the look of HORROR on our poor students' faces!!!  They were trying so hard to be attentive and listen, but they could not even look me in the eye.  I kept reminding them that this is normal and natural, but it didn't matter.  :)  The second time, Jack was 4 months so he was in the nursery.  I was good.  Got all the kids dropped off to their classes, had time to chat with students, got started with the lesson...they bring Jack down 'cause he is inconsolable and of course, he needs to eat!  So, I sit down, cover up, and continue to teach.  I'm not really sure what the students heard or if I got my point across because I was now distracted, hot, and flustered.  But, they were all very sweet.  To me, it was hilarious; for most of them, it was a completely new experience.

And that is what stuck with me...why was it a new experience for our students?  Thinking back to when I was a teenager, I rarely remembered seeing someone breastfeed because all of my friends' families were past that season of life.  I didn't intentionally interact with young families as a teenager, expect to babysit.  I hung out with other teenagers.  As I think about our current church culture, are we simply shipping everyone off to their own age group?  Many people talk how their church is multi-generational.  I would much rather have an inter-generational church.  I looked up the definitions on Merriam-Webster's.  See what you think...

"multi"- many, multiple, much
"inter"- in the midst, carried on between, occurring between, involving two or more
"generation"- a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously 

Don't you love the definitions of "inter"?!  That is the kind of community I want to be a part of!  I want/need older women who have journeyed this path to teach and prepare me for what lies ahead.  I want to live out in front of our students what the next steps in life can look like.  Sound similar to the charge given to us in Titus 2.1-11?  I certainly don't have all the answers.  But I do know that something as everyday to me as having to feed my baby, got me thinking.  How are we living in front of our students that is inter-generational?

2 comments:

  1. So true. I would love to see the different generations interacting, as if it's completely normal and not a strain on anyone. A place where the older generation doesn't get annoyed at crying babies, and the younger generation doesn't feel like the "old" people don't understand them. Hmmm, something worth thinking about!

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  2. Aha. I really appreciate your comments about the difference between multi-generational and inter-generational churches. I agree wholeheartedly. :)

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