For weeks, “Speaker of the House”, as I’ve dubbed my favored nine-month-old baby where I volunteer, and I have been in a war of words. He keeps screaming “Da, Da, Da, Da, Da”; and I keep correcting “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma”. Whenever I walk into his sight, this ball of energy looks me straight in the eye, smiles and unleashes his “Da, Da” litany. My “Ma, Ma” retort only encourages him to turn up the volume and continue his chant.
While “Speaker of the House” and my fiery debate is a game we both love playing, it is, also, grounded in a sincere empathy on my part. You see, I volunteer at a home for young and alone pregnant/recently delivered girls and their babies. These bundles of blessings have a loving mother, but daddies do not exist in their lives. My personal admiration for these young women choosing life and to raise their children on their own is strong. Thus, my heart breaks when they hear their little ones’ first word is “Da, Da” not “Ma, Ma”. From this root grows my intense effort to re-write the universal order of first word uttered by a baby. That was until the night God reminded me, He is the Creator of life, and His order is not flawed – nor is it negotiable. From this, the following was perceived.
“Da, Da” is the first recognizable. sound a human being speaks. Mankind, in their self-centered thinking, assumes the baby is referring to a human father; but is this fact or fiction? Could it be that all human beings were created to FIRST and foremost recognize and call out to “Da, Da”, their Father in Heaven?
What God wants most from each and every one of us, His children, is a “Da, Da” Father/child relationship where, in all we say and do, HE is our first – not last. Never again will I overlook the prospect that a baby’s first word is meant to praise Creator “Da, Da” in Heaven, not a human father on earth. From our first word to our last breath, God created us to praise His name and proclaim our love for Him. Why do we overlook, forget or ignore this?
After God’s lesson, which broadened my perspective on first words, He assigned me homework. While the young moms at the home all appreciate the energy this old grammy is exerting to teach their babies to say “Ma, Ma”, I am now charged with reminding them that God, our “Da, Da”, wants us all (regardless of our age) to call His name as a first response, not a last resort. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (ESV)
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 