Healthy Development

Thanks for your prayers while I was in Barcelona. I'm pleased to report that my disk injury didn't cause any trouble while I was there. It's still a little painful, though, so I'll try to rest it a bit more this week.

The seminar went well, and it was a privilege for me to be able to reach and influence Spanish families in this way. The short time available allowed us only to give a brief introduction to the vast area of understanding human development, and so they've asked if I could perhaps come back some time in the future to offer a longer seminar on this topic.

I've always been fascinated by the fact that God's plan for our healthy development as human beings seems to be the same, no matter what country or culture you are in. Whether you are in Africa or Asia, in Britain or in Spain, children develop in the same way and have the same needs at their different stages of growing up. As we understand these ages and stages, we can be more effective in sharing God's love and truth with them.

When I lived in Cape Town, and we got our two border collie puppies just fifteen months apart, we watched the similarities in their growing up and we used to joke that we would soon be able to give seminars on canine development too. Now, thanks to Tamba, I may soon be able to add feline development to my repertoire!! Did you know that newborn kittens double their birth weight during the first week of their life? They're typically around 3 - 4 ounces (100g) at birth, and have reached around 200g by the end of the first week. So it was kind of cute to come back home after Barcelona and see that the new babies were slowly beginning to look like cats and not just fur-balls. By next week, their eyes should be open and they will be beginning to stand up.

Recently I was reading the New Testament letter to the Hebrews. In chapter 5 vs 11-14 and chapter 6 vs 1, we see that God doesn't only have a plan for our physical development, but He cares about our healthy spiritual development too. He doesn't want us to be spiritual "babies" for our whole lives, but wants us to grow in knowing Him, understanding the Bible, hearing and obeying God's voice.  As we spend time with Him and read His Word regularly, He will help us to "grow up" in a healthy way and reach maturity in our relationship with Him.