Why I am Not Proud to Breastfeed my Son

I have been thinking about writing this blog for a while.


I will start from the beginning. In April of 2013 I found out that I was going to be a mommy! From that moment on I started to think about what kind of mommy that I wanted to be. I started researching all things baby related. I decided early on that I was going to make breastfeeding my number one choice for feeding my baby. I wanted to make breastfeeding work for me. I took in any information I could. I watched movies and videos, I read blogs and articles and I listened to advice from other moms. As the time of my precious little man's arrival drew closer I got together everything I needed to start my breastfeeding journey.

On November 22, 2013 at 2:48 in the afternoon my heart learned a love, a love that changes you forever, I learned what it meant to love a child. My Child! WOW! That day was the most amazing day of my life! The first time I saw him will be forever burned into my memory. Joy unspeakable!

My little man took to the breast like a champ! We needed a few lessons with the lactation consultant to make sure he was getting a deeper latch and after that we were good to go.

The first few weeks were such a blur. After a while I began to get into a rhythm with him and things have gone really well for me since the beginning. As I watched my child grow and be nourished from me I was completely humbled at God's design. It has been such an incredible experience. It has also been a very personal experience. It is something special that I share with my baby. It is our bonding time. I take the this time to tell him things, pray for him and cuddle him.

I am not trying to make a statement by breastfeeding my son, I just want to feed him. When it comes to feeding my baby in public I avoid it at all cost. I don't like it, not because I am embarrassed but because it is not relaxing. My son pops on and off several times while eating. He also wiggles and pulls at my cover. It is not worth it to me.

But I know it can be unavoidable. Sometimes you just have to feed while you are away from home. I also know that you can breastfeed out in public without causing a commotion. Without making everyone around you feel uncomfortable and weird. I believe breastfeeding is one of the most natural and awesome things that women can do. I don't believe that you should be shunned and sent off to a dark corner or bathroom to feed your child. I do believe there is a way to feed in public with grace and love for the people around you. It will look different in every situation. Here is something to think about: Romans 14:13-23


¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. ¹⁴ I know and am convinced ^[f]in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵ For if because of breastfeeding your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your nursing him for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be ^[g]spoken of as evil; ¹⁷ for the kingdom of God is not breastfeeding, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So then ^[h]we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. ²⁰ Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of breastfeeding. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the woman who breastfeeds and gives offense. ²¹ It is good not to breastfeed, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. ²² The faith which you have, have ^[j]as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if she breastfeeds, because her breastfeeding is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

In everything we are to glorify God and for us, ladies, that includes breastfeeding. In the above scripture I took out the word food/drink and replaced it with the word breastfeeding. Ladies let us honor the Lord with our breastfeeding. Don't cause the other people around you to stumble and fall into sin. Let's be aware of our surroundings. Be sensitive to others and treat the people around us with love.

I do not believe we will win people over by gathering in mass, exposing our breasts to feed our children and forcing others to watch. I also don't believe it is fair to throw our children into the middle of this issue.

On the other side I don't believe any women should be ostracized for choosing to breastfeed in public. I believe if we do it with consideration of others and our surroundings it won't happen all that often.

 I am humbled by the way my body provides everything that my child needs to be nourished and grow. I am humbled to have the opportunity to do this for my child. I am so thankful God has given me the gift of motherhood. I pray that as I grow as a mother that I glorify Him in everything I do.

God gave His life for us, so He could give His life to us, so He may live His life through us.

I may have been a little Crafty :)

I am really excited about being crafty!!! I love to decorate and make fun things. I made a couple of wreaths today and I thought that I would share them with you!

These are the things I used to make my Halloween Wreath.

 I started the wreath by using the garland already on the wreath to attach the mesh. Then I used floral wire to attach the ribbon and all of the other things on the wreath. I had so much fun playing around with the the ribbon and mesh!

This is the finished product! I added a broom and of course and owl ;)

I also started a Christmas wreath last year and finished it up today!

I decided to add this basket to the wreath that I had already started. Here are a few pics of the finished products! I can't wait for Christmas time when I can put this out!!!!

I am really super excited and cannot wait to do more crafty things!!

Let the Rain Fall

It is raining right now. The thunder is soothing. The sound of the drops hitting the roof. It is wonderful. I am currently curled up in my bed watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. A great way to end the day. I got to have lunch today with my cousin who recently returned from Afghanistan. It was so wonderful spending time with family.  Now it is time to go to sleep. I would love to update some more but I can barely keep my eyes open. More to come soon.

AWWWWW

So I just got home like 20 minutes ago and well this is my post for wednesday. I am sooo excited about Crave this weekend. it is going to be soo great!!

Am I too old for this?

We had our first game tonight for our city league volleyball team. Let me tell you that I am going to be sore tomorrow! For not practicing and never actually playing in a competitive league I think that we did pretty good. Our team is some of the people from our Sunday School class and we have all played together at church but these people are serious. They do the whole bump-set-spike thing. We held our own tonight. We didn't win over all but we did win the second game and had a lot of fun. I am really excited for the rest of the season.


On a different note I am still working on the office. I am being very meticulous. Going through everything to make sure that it is something that I want to keep. It is going to look so good when it gets done. I would love to paint the room. It would look good as a gray/blue color. I am really excited to see the outcome.

Now I think that I am going to go to bed. I am going to need some sleep after all that volleyball.

Goodnight

I didn't forget!!!

I am so proud that I didn't forget to post today. I know I am getting in right under the wire but it is still Sunday! I have been working on getting the office all reorganized and still not finished. When I started I thought that I would just get everything put back up and be done with it, well that isn't quite what happened. When I started picking up I thought it would be a good idea to go through some scrapbooking supplies that I bought from a friend and then that let to cleaning out the armour (sp) so that I could reorganize it to hold all of my scrapbooking and sewing supplies. Then I decided that I wanted to rearrange the bookcase and the armour. So it has taken me longer than expected to finish what I started. I am periodically taking pictures and will post them when I am finished. It may take me all week to finish with everything that I want to get accomplished but I know that I will be so proud of myself when I do. And Amanda will also be so very proud of me!! I hope that you all have had a great weekend. Monday here we come!

it's been a while.....

I guess to blog you have to have something to say. I don't always feel like I have anything to say that people will want to read or care about. But maybe that is not why people blog. Why do I blog? I think I haven't been blogging since I am not really sure what I want to convey here. I guess it doesn't have to be something really compelling all the time. I really love reading my friends blogs and keeping up with their families. So I am going to try to blog everyday for the next week. I think it means that I need to do things this week to blog about. Try new things. First thing I am going to do is start working on my "junk" room also known as the office. It is the only room in the house that is a total mess and something has got to be done. I have been avoiding for a while. I think I will even post before, during and after pictures. Time to go reorganize! Update to come!!