Daddy's Voice

I mentioned in my last baby update that although it's hard to compare with other babies, I've been experiencing the joys of what I think is a very active baby.  I can't quite tell which body part it is that is doing the movement, but she seems to be having lots of fun kicking, punching, and twirling around in there.

I'm also starting to notice a particular pattern to her movements.  She usually seems more active after I eat and it seems like one of her favorite times to work on her gymnastic routine is right before I want to go to sleep.  The one that's been most amazing to me, however, is the way she responds to Brad's voice.

I'm really serious about this.  I've noticed over the past few months that whenever we are sitting in church and she hears Brad's voice in a microphone, within minutes, my girl starts having a party in my tummy!  (She's probably saying, "Amen, Daddy!  Right on!  Indeed!") :-) And even though she's become more active in general over these last few weeks, there's definitely a distinction when Brad is speaking in a microphone verses when someone else is speaking.  When it's Brad, she's a lot more active versus someone else for whom she will barely move if at all.  I truly think it's quite incredible.

Two things about this that made me think:

• I can't tell you how much it delights Brad to hear about her movements.  He loves knowing that his little girl knows his voice.  It has to be just a small glimpse of how our Heavenly Father must feel when we take the time to listen and respond to His voice.
• My mother-in-law was telling me that she heard that sometimes it's hard for the baby to hear things really clearly in the midst of all the amniotic fluid and heartbeats and all those other sounds that constantly surround her.  Maybe there's something to Brad using a microphone that helps her to recognize the voice she's been hearing since she grew ears. :-)  I was thinking about all the things in our lives that can tend to drown out the voice of God from day-to-day . . . busyness, anxiety, emotions, tiredness, celebrations.  They can seem like good or bad things, but either way, they certainly seem to shout above the consistent, quiet voice of the LORD.  I think praise is really the microphone that helps us to hear God's voice in the midst of these distractions.  Inherent to praise is choosing to take our eyes off of our current situation and on to Someone much bigger.  And because He abides in the praises of His people, all competing distractions must flee.  God is always bigger.

All these things my baby is teaching me about Jesus and she hasn't even been born yet.  I can only imagine what a teacher she'll be for me when I can actually see her little ears and hear her little voice. :-)