Stop Milking It - Wean for the Win!ಮಾದರಿ

It's lycra time!

For each letter of the word ‘weaners’ I will bring something we need to do to make sure we win as we wean.

‘W’ – is an encouragement for us to wrestle. (Hold back from grabbing your mankini/leotard just for a second!) The Royal Rumble is a WWE annual wrestling event, and as Christians we are members of a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) so I felt the ‘royal’ rumble reference was fitting. You may now go and change into some lycra and get ready to rumble (perhaps shut your curtains – especially if you are donning a mankini!).

Wrestle with God a bit. Weaning isn’t supposed to be easy, by nature, it’s uncomfortable. If I’d suddenly swapped my daughter's milk for mushed up carrot and she just said ‘ok thanks mummy’, I’d be concerned. Weaning provokes a reaction in us – so get ready to do the royal rumble! Ask God the difficult questions, but ask with a view of wanting to know God’s heart and plan for you.

Often I feel like we tiptoe around in our careful conversations with God, when the reality is that we feel angry, anxious and distressed. God knows our hearts and he knows exactly how we feel. You can engage in a raw wrestle with God without disrespecting him. Jesus cried from the cross – ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46). This was not a sanitised prayer – this was an honest cry of despair. We too can pray like this when we are in the throes of weaning and perhaps feel abandoned by God.

A word of warning – I believe we should wrestle, but we shouldn’t have tantrums. WWE involves a lot of fake drama and I’m not advocating for that kind of shenanigans! Wrestling involves the back and forth of two people. Hissy fits are self-indulgent, they don’t give room for communication or response. When my daughter is full-on in tantrum mode, she does not want my input, she literally wants to roll around getting red, snotty, shouty, hot and bothered. Hissy fits do not allow for dialogue. Wrestling, however, invites participation, struggle and allows for response from both sides.

Stay humble, but let’s rumble!

Reflection

What are your ‘why’ questions surrounding your weaning experience? Take some time to wrestle these out with God now.