“TOSSING BABIES” – July 6

“O Israel, trust in the Lord!  He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!  He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!  He is their help and their shield.”  Psalm 115:9-11

Baby Toss (Photo credit: Valdemarick)

Squeals of delight; shrieks of admonishment.  Most every father has heard both of these sounds at the same moment.

I do not know what possesses us fathers to throw our children but it must be written in our DNA.  Fathers have this strange obsession with making their progeny fly.  If it were not for the concerns of mothers and grandmothers, we probably would have made it into a sport.  I can just imagine the World Championships of the Baby Tossing.  It probably could be an Olympic event.

Like any good sport, there are some fundamentals to baby tossing that need to be mastered:

1. The power for the toss comes from the lower body.  So, a good explosive movement from bent legs is essential.  A tosser might even exhibit a small hop when transferring his upward motion into the frame of the toddler.
2. The release needs to be crisp.  Entanglement on a diaper or the clinging of small hand can send the tossee into the most irregular of patterns.  The energy is then wasted into flailing rather than soaring.
3. While the soaring occurs, the tosser has to keep his eye on the child.  ADD dads might struggle at this stage but it is critical not to become distracted while the full delights of flight are expressed in wonderful squeals of youth.
4. The most critical of all the baby tossing stages is the catch.  The arms should be extended high so the catch can be accomplished as early as possible.  This enables the speed of decent to be consumed into the arms and legs of the father as they bring their joyful child back to ground.

Baby Toss (Photo credit: deltaMike)

The most important factor in baby tossing is trust.  The child must trust his father.  For the child to fly, he must trust that his father will not drop him.  Flying can be terrifying if you are afraid of being dropped.  There can be no delight in flying upwards when all you can think about is tumbling downwards.

Therefore, trust is the difference between experiencing delight or fear.

Trust is defined as an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

The child who loves being tossed has an assured reliance on the character, ability,  and strength of his father.  He knows that he will be caught.  He can enjoy the flight because he is assured of the catch.  Mothers’ concerns arise because they do not have the same assured reliance in the father as their child.

The uncertainty of this world can often feel like being tossed in the air.  There are a variety of emotions that can be felt when we are tossed about but I have known very few who have described it as delightful.  I wonder if the reason we fail to enjoy the flight of a good toss comes from being so concerned with the catch.  Our unwillingness to being tossed into the unknown often has more to do with trust than prudence.

Happy Baby Toss (Photo credit: Kables)

Do you trust your Father in heaven?

Consider God’s character, his ability, his strength, his faithfulness.  We can be delighted in all of our circumstances because we have an assured reliance on being caught.  He is more than able to catch us.  He has the power to lift us high.  He has the ability to make us fly straight.  He will never take His eye off of us.  He is faithful to make everything work out for good – He promises to catch us.  Our problem is that we often don’t trust the promise.

We can soar through this world in the strength of the Spirit if we will just trust in our Father.  The difference between living in joyful delight or fear resides in trust; an assured reliance on the Father.

Who are you trusting?

PRAYER: Lord, open my eyes.  I know that I hedge.  I know that I can become so afraid of crashing that I never enjoy the delights of fully trusting in you.  Father, you are more than capable of catching me.  Lord, help me to trust You when I feel like I have been tossed high.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ.   Amen.