Monday, December 13, 2010

Losing Dignity



I have this thing about baby talk. And it's this: I hate it.

By baby talk I mean that high voice people tend to morph to when they talk to babies. I hate how they add "ie" to everything. Horsie. Doggie. Blankie. And I hate when they use a "W" sound when it should be an "R," Like all babies are training to be Elmer Fudd.

With McKenna, my first, my husband and I vowed NO BABY TALK. We did pretty well. I'm certainly guilty of utilizing the high voice on occasion, but I've never said to her, "Look at the horsie." And McKenna seemed kinda baby talk neutral. She would smile at me regardless of what voice I used, so it was a pretty easy choice.

And then, 5 months ago, Connor came along. Connor is a tougher nut to crack. Or at least for me. I figured out pretty quickly that the higher my voice goes, the bigger his smile gets. The stupider I sound, the happier he is.

So what do I do? I choose to sound stupid. Because I care more about seeing Connor smile than I do about sounding dignified.



And it reminded me of King David.

In 2 Samuel chapter six, it says, "Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing."

Then later it says, "Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets."

When his wife, Michal, saw him behaving like this, the Bible records that she "despised him in her heart." And she later confronted him, saying, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

And then David responds, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

David had perspective.

He cared more about how he was viewed in God's eyes than the rest of the world. He even cared more about God's opinion than his wife's. Because of that, he allowed himself to be without dignity.

I love Connor, and making him smile is worth every ounce of dignity I lose. How much more so should I embrace that sentiment with regards to the Lord?

Stephanie Morrill is a twenty-something living in Overland Park, Kansas with her husband and two kids. Her only talents are reading, writing, and drinking coffee, so career options were somewhat limited. Fortunately, she discovered a passion for young adult novels a few years ago and has been writing them ever since. Stephanie is the author of The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series and is currently working on other young adult projects. To check out her blog and read samples of her books, check out www.StephanieMorrillBooks.com and www.GoTeenWriters.com.

3 comments:

Rita Garcia said...

Great analogy! Thanks for the inspiration!!

Stephanie Morrill said...

Sierra, because of writing this post, I've had the blessing of having that song stuck in my head all day! I love David Crowder.

Lol about the baby talk. Poor girl!

Anonymous said...

I had so many notions of what I would and wouldn't do about parenting before I had my daughter. Then I realized I'd do just about anything to make her happy. Her little smile lights up my life like nothing else. I think God's that way with us sometimes.