"Ba Ba"

I want to praise God for a little thing that happened recently. I was putting pjs on my fourteen month old who is constantly on the go so this can turn into a wrestling match/training ground. Exhausted I had handed him a phone toy to play with hoping to avoid any "work" this time. He would babble pretending on the phone and then say "bye". He doesn't say, "ba ba" for "bye bye", but says "bye" in one slow syllable... almost with a Southern accent. He lost interest in the phone and laid STILL (!). Looking up at me, he began saying "ba ba." I handed him back the phone and tried hard to figure out what he was saying - our little game recently. As the last snap popped on the pjs, a light went off in my mind.

"BIBLE! Do you want your Bible?" I asked since he recently started saying this word.

Gabriel grinned and giggled. I handed him his little Bible, and he repeatedly said "ba ba" as his little fingers clumsy flipped through the pages. It has just been a month since he completely weaned from nursing, and I added Bible reading before bed. Sometimes this last all of 30 seconds, but I have been trying to give him a taste of this goodness. I tend to worry because he isn't interested in books in the same way Charis was. He won't sit long, and it is harder for me to find time to read to him like I did with Charis... so I pile on a little guilt here and there on myself.

When this happened the other night, a conversation about raising children came to mind where a friend shared wise advice she had heard - "Do what you can when you can." She was talking about being faithful when you can and trusting God for the rest. I may be making too much of this, but I felt encouraged by God as a parent and filled with hope for Gabriel. How I hope this is the beginning of him falling in love with God's word and of the Holy Spirit working in his little heart.