It seems like the whole world has been watching and waiting for April the Giraffe to give birth to her long awaited baby. I have been. ☺ Are you?
As I’ve checked on her feed each day and received the updates on my phone, I can’t help but either smile at the sweetness, or shake my head over the ridiculousness of the comments scrolling up the screen. Especially frustrating were some of those early discussions on the first week when the feed originally went live… Did you SEE the continued discussion over whether giraffes laid eggs or gave birth?
I’m just guessing, but I wonder if that question started when someone made a comment about giraffes laying eggs as a joke? Then maybe someone else picked it up and BELIEVED it, and went on to share it as truth? However it got out there, others were soon discussing giraffes laying eggs as if this were a normal occurrence.
{By the way, this is a good example of what happens when someone says something on the internet or TV that isn’t true, and others – or we – listen, then believe (without checking the facts), and repeat it as truth. Eventually, the falsity becomes accepted as reality. Does this sound like anything else going on in the world around us right now?}
As the world watches and waits and discusses and makes its opinions known concerning this mama giraffe and her habits, April just contentedly continues living. We (and especially moms responsible for the care and rearing of young ones) can learn at least three important lessons by observing this laboring giraffe:
1. On Waiting
Does April know she is waiting on this baby? I wonder. Is she as anxious for its arrival as the rest of the world is? Whether or not she is concerned over how many days remain until its birth, she is doing three things we would be wise to do when we find ourselves in a period of waiting: She is eating, resting, and walking.
As the Lord has us in a waiting place, we also need to do these things. We need to:
Keep Eating {of the Word} – We must stay in the Scriptures as our daily food. It is our most valuable source of nourishment. Moms… you will have nothing to give out unless you are filed up, and nothing fills you up like God’s Word. (For “How to Start a Daily Time with the Lord” click here.)
Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:16. (AMP)
Keep Resting {in the Lord} – We must lay our weary hearts and heads down onto His eternal shoulders, trusting in God, His timing, His love, and His plan for you, and for those you love. What a blessed gift it is that as moms shepherd their little ones, the Lord shepherds us.
You, Lord, are my shepherd.
I will never be in need.
You let me rest in fields
of green grass.
You lead me to streams
of peaceful water,
and you refresh my life.
You are true to your name,
and you lead me
along the right paths.
I may walk through valleys
as dark as death,
but I won’t be afraid.
You are with me,
and your shepherd’s rod
makes me feel safe.
You treat me to a feast,
while my enemies watch.
You honor me as your guest,
and you fill my cup
until it overflows.
Your kindness and love
will always be with me
each day of my life,
and I will live forever
in your house, Lord.
Psalm 23 (CEV)
Keep Walking {and don’t give up!} – We must just keep putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing. It doesn’t matter if we can’t get far… We just can’t give up.
Looking at them, Jesus said,
“With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible,
but not with God;
for all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:27 (AMP)
2. On What Others are Thinking and Saying About You:
Be Who GOD Says YOU are.
April isn’t trying to adjust who she is or what she does based on what others are saying. Neither is she trying to be a different animal. She is content being the giraffe God made her to be.
How about you? Are you content being the you that God created? The Mom that God called YOU to be? It’s so easy to look around and read around, compare, then base our value on what’s most popular at the moment. We must remember that God formed each one of us intricately on purpose, in our own mama’s wombs, for a specific work He wants to accomplish through us being us. We must contentedly rest in who God made us to be, and stop letting our own comparisons or the silly opinions of others distract us from completing our God-given callings. Everybody has an opinion on how you should raise your children. You make sure you are seeking God first, then Godly council, and the Lord will lead You to be You in parenting and in everything else that you do.
For You shaped me, inside and out.
You knitted me together in my mother’s womb
long before I took my first breath.
I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation,
filled with wonder and awe.
You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
You see all things; nothing about me was hidden from You
As I took shape in secret,
carefully crafted in the heart of the earth before I was born from its womb.
You see all things;
You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb;
Every detail of my life was already written in Your book;
You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it.
Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God!
I cherish each and every one of them!
Psalm 139:13-17 (VOICE)
3. On Laboring Long: Keep pressing on for as long as it takes, knowing that your labor will not be in vain.
Can you imagine being in labor as long as April? But aren’t there times and struggles when it feels like we are laboring just as long or longer with no end in sight? Our gentle giraffe continues to keep pressing on day after day, not giving in, nor giving up… and she WILL deliver that calf… one of these days! There will be a baby giraffe at the end of her labor. April’s labor isn’t in vain.
The same is true for us, moms and everyone. We labor, we keep pressing in to the Lord, His Word, His work, His heart, and we keep pressing on as we wait and trust… with JOY… all the while knowing that our own labor as we serve the Lord in the callings He has fashioned us to fill will NOT be in vain.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. {or as the NIV puts the last phrase “because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”} 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
April is doing what God called her to do, no matter what anybody else in the world has to say about it. Their opinions aren’t altering her carrying out her God-given-mom-calling one bit. As she labors and waits, she continues to eat, rest, walk, and press on… knowing that this labor is not in vain. Isn’t that how all of us should be living?
How about you? Which of these lessons can you apply to your own life today? I’m certainly working on a few of these for myself. 🙂
_______
PS: on a lighter note, I found these funny memes of #AprilTheGiraffe on Facebook. Hope they make you smile today!!
