Pay it Forward

Looking at all of the things a baby "needs" can be a little overwhelming to a first-time mom. Standing in Babies R Us, I honestly just don't know yet how to distinguish between needs, wants, nice luxuries, and unnecessary expenditures. (Moms out there, I'd LOVE to hear your opinions...) Because of space and also our personalities, Luke and I prefer to keep things simple as possible, which, incidentally, seems challenging when preparing for a baby. When registering, we are trying to select things of  good value that seem like they'd last, or grow with our child - it's just so hard to know!

One thing I thought was really sweet, but just didn't register for is a baby papasan chair, since it seems like they'd help for such a short amount of time. Later, several people told me that this is one of the only places their child would nap for the first few months, etc. Not wanting to spend $50-100 on a short-lived item, I went on Craigslist and found this one:

I thought it was really sweet and it was only $12. So, I met the lady at Target yesterday to buy it from her. It turns out she's a dispatcher for a local department, and she was running late, and didn't have time to change the batteries to make sure the vibration and classical music component worked, so she just gave it to me, and told me to pay it forward to someone who looked like they could use some encouragement! I got home, threw the fabric portion of the seat in the washer, wiped down the metal part, and put in new batteries, and we have a sweet, cuddly infant seat for our little guy. 

One of my favorite things about pregnancy so far is the overwhelming support we have received from our community. Something as huge as parenting can seem ridiculously daunting, but things as small as a stranger with a free baby seat encourage me that God is already providing for us as parents, and that though Luke and I have no chance of being perfect parents, He will give us the grace and support to do the best we can. 

Luke and I have started keeping a list of unexpected blessings of the day on the dry erase board in our kitchen to keep track of all of these encouragements, lest we forget to take the time to recognize and appreciate the little gifts given to us along the way. In moments when I start to think "How are we going to do this?" or "How are we going to afford this?" that list helps me keep perspective that He is caring for us always and has blessed us with all we need.