Taking advantage of the head start God has built in by nurturing our child’s spirit in the womb will create a spiritually sensitive child.  Since so much of our culture’s media and shopping centers are permeated with a defiled spiritual presence and overt witchcraft which offends and burdens our children’s spirits, this calls for vigilance on our part as parents to protect and to continue nurturing their spirits.  Let’s keep in mind that this is a marathon, not just a sprint through pregnancy.  Raising a strong-spirited (and, therefore, strong-willed!) child is a demanding job.  However, the rewards are great.  Other parents may lament their child’s rebellion during the teenage years, but those who have continuously nurtured and protected their child’s spirit will be reaping the benefits with joy.  These children-turned-teens love God, stand strong for righteousness, and recognize and reject evil.  Nurturing a child’s spirit, starting in the womb, and continuing through their growing up years, with love, wisdom, Scripture, the counsel of the Holy Spirit, and blessing is the antidote to rebellion.  However, rebellion is just the negative side of the number line.  What we want to achieve is a strong-spirited child who is whole.  From that point of internal wholeness, our children will be positioned to hear and to walk in the fullness of the calling God has designed for them.  We are not simply talking about insulating them from rebellion; we are talking about raising spiritual Olympic champions.  This is the righteous objective.

In this new frontier of raising strong-spirited children, we have learned that they are affected in extreme ways by components such as sound and time.  So, in order for more parents to walk down this path of raising spiritual champions faster and more effectively, we present the following tools which were unearthed in the lives of real people raising real champions.  We bless you as you go forward on this demanding, yet rewarding journey!

Teething

While the purpose of this section is to outline different spirit issues that affect our children, there are still physical issues which need to be considered.  We need to expand our understanding of spirit issues, while maintaining balance, knowing that physical issues affect our children as well.  One mom considered that all the generational work they had done was surely flushed down the drain as her easy-going, happy child turned into a growling “bear” for about two days.  She wondered, “Had they not disciplined enough?  prayed enough?  fasted enough?”  When he returned to normalcy, it turned out that culprit behind his “bear” behavior was his teeth.

So, your baby may be nurtured in the womb, but from two to six months, he or she will start the normal process of teething which can temporarily cut into their usual joy or peace level.  Until he or she is three, teeth will continue to arrive!  If your baby seems to have a personality change and you’ve prayed, run through the list of potential spirit issues, and still see no relief, check their teeth (and ears, too, since earaches often do not appear till they are full-blown).

Please note that the “terrible twos” do not have to be a reality in your home!  When you nurture your child’s spirit, he or she will have a base-camp of joy, peace, and hope.  Yet, your child will experience life.  This will include pain and fussiness from teething, bumps, bruises, and not getting their way from time to time!  A key factor which creates the “terrible twos” is frustration over the lack of ability to communicate.  This is a real issue.  Their spirits know so much more than they are verbally able to express.

(excerpt from “Balancing the Physical and Spiritual” in Perfect Peace by Crystal Wade, copyright 2010)