Adult Wrapping, Friendship Tips, and a Faithful God

Hey y’all! A new podcast is up! You can find the link to listen at the bottom of this blog post. And/or you can subscribe for free on iTunes. For those of you who prefer reading your ATS news instead of listening, I’ve transcribed a bit of the show for you below and shared a few pictures ripped straight from the headlines. I hope you’ll enjoy…

Hello folks, this is Shellie and I’m delighted to have you at All Things Southern. My best friend Rhonda Perry will be joining me in a bit to talk about friendship and what makes it work; ours in particular, but everyone’s in general. I hope our conversation will both motivate and inspire you in your relationship. Afterwards we’ll close with a few devotional thoughts. Right now, we need to chat…

I want to talk about baby wrapping. Chances are y’all are familiar with baby wrapping or swaddling, as it is often called.  Swaddling is an age-old technique of wrapping an infant in cloth to help the wee one feel safe and secure. If you have missed this trend, just picture the way you wrap food in a burrito but substitute a baby and a blanket. You’re there.

I was initiated into this on my second go ‘round, watching my daughter and daughter-in-law with their babies. We didn’t swaddle our infants back in my child raisings days, I don’t know if the practice had just cycled out of style or what, but my grandbabies mommies were both big time wrappers. I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking “So, this is the swaddling clothes baby Jesus wore”. Don’t judge. Some of us are quicker than others.

Another confession? I wasn’t hip on it at first. I remember thinking my precious grands looked like they were in itty bitty straightjackets.  I may or may not have cheered whenever they managed to get their little hands free, you know— the way you might cheer for one of those escape artists on America’s Got Talent. Squirrel. The other night I watched a fella hang upside down over a couple alligators and wiggle out of his restraints before the ropes holding him high in the air ropes burnt in two and dropped him in their midst like gator bait.  Mind you, the ropes had been set on fire by his good-hearted assistant. It’s hard to get good help these days.

But, back to baby wrapping. Jessica and Carey made wrapping converts out of Keggie. That’s my grandmother name. If for no other reason, I was sold when I saw how well the littles slept in their straight jackets. They learned to fall asleep and stay asleep—and I decided wrapping was a tremendous improvement over the way I used to lay my sleeping babies down and try to back out of the room while still leaving a reassuring hand on their backs. Yes. That was every bit as hard as it sounds.

All this to say, there’s a place for baby wrapping. Babies, I can see swaddling babies. But y’all, stay with me here. There are now people who are enthusiastic proponents of Adult Wrapping.  It’s all the rage in Japan. Grown people are getting themselves swaddled to relive their stress. That was a quote. I saw pictures on the Internet and I can’t unsee them.

Adult wrapping was developed by a Japanese midwife to convince new mothers of that swaddling mimics the feel of being back in the womb and thus produces calming effects. Here’s how it works. You sit on a blanket, cross-legged—and tuck your head into your chin. Then the expert swaddler, yes there is such a person, pulls the blanket up and knots it around you. Wait—I’m not through. Then the expert rocks you gently from side to side. One of the articles I was reading quoted this sweet little Japanese mommy saying it was so peaceful and calming that she wanted her husband to learn how to swaddle her at home.

Yeah, honey, good luck with that.

On one hand, I do remember how swaddling my grands helped soothe them when they got fussy…and, can we just agree, there are an awful lot of fussy people out there these days? As of this taping, the trend hasn’t caught on with the “in” crowd here in the states, but I’m what they call an early adapter, so I think I’m going to swaddle my BFF and see if it calms her down. I’ll try to get some pictures for you and report back. Keep me in your prayers.

*****Breaking news: I was able to talk Rhonda into helping me with market research. You can watch the full video on my Facebook wall but here are a couple pictures. One from Japan where the practice is trendy, and one from our session.

 

BUMPER

INTERVIEW with Rhonda Perry about friendship. (You’ll need to listen to the audio link below or the iTunes podcast.)

BUMPER

SOUTHERN COMFORT

Let’s open the Word together. I’ll be reading from Matthew 8:23-27:

²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Oh, you of little faith…I wonder, although I’m not sure I want to know, how many times Jesus has spoken those words over me…

Included in the many things I look forward to in heaven is the face that this silly heart of mine will no longer betray my Jesus with a doubt. I’ll never be guilty of a panic prayer that reveals a single weed of unbelief.

In heaven, my praise will be pure. I’ll be able to stack up praise to my God that never insults him by thoughts that can wander and waver…And so will you…

In the meantime, let’s ask Him to help our unbelief. He gave us the measure of faith we have in the first place and when we feast on Him and fix our eyes on Him, He can take us deeper and deeper into this life of trusting and obeying, out of a grateful heart.

Blessings, y’all~ Until next week, this is Shellie, with hugs for all!

 

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