Dear baby boy, It's safe and protected where you are right now. You are rocked to sleep as I waddle up the stairs with laundry. You don't know how tired I am...from where you are, it feels but warm and soothing. And that's how it should be.
In a few short days (or perhaps even hours!) you will enter the world in which so many friends and family have anticipated your arrival. Our arms will be welcoming and my breath will be warm on your cheeks. But darling, this world is not a soft and gentle place. Your skin will immediately know the dryness of the air...but my dear, that is just the beginning of it's harsh influences.
You will arrive in a world that is conflicted. It isn't sure what is truly right and what is wrong. It doesn't always know what's worth fighting for. Nor does it understand the purpose of existence. It's a world that can't solve the problems it creates for itself. It is a world that prides itself on self-sufficiency and power, and yet is helpless to find lasting joy or meaning in any of its acquisitions.
You will arrive in a home that is full of imperfect people. A home that is constantly toggling between the sounds of boys yelling and boys laughing. Sometimes it's hard to tell which is which. Sometimes it's hard to enjoy. It is a home where tears are often prefaced by anger, but almost always end in confessing and forgiving.
You will find yourself loved by a group of people who want to love well-- they want it so badly that they often try to do it by their own means and fail altogether. You will be loved selflessly. Ands sometimes selfishly. You will find a quiver-full of brothers who sometimes hit the mark, and sometimes have no clue where they're aiming for.
Your mom and dad will look at each other adoringly when you arrive, sweet boy. But, don't be alarmed when, in a moment of discouragement, they turn and blame one another for the stress and difficulty in their lives. They do that sometimes. But, they know the difference between lies and truth, and truth always wins. Remember that, sweet one.
Of all the things I could tell you, there is nothing more important than this: You will enter a family, within a home, within a world that is all less than they were meant to be. But, God--who formed you in the secret-- makes all the redeemed more than they could ever hope to become. That hope is the one thing that is not of this world--Christ. The miracle of you, little one, is the reminder that we are but dust and creatures in the Creator's hands.
This week...you will not be born simply into this world and all the error of it's ways. You will be born into the Hope that gives new life, that that will right every wrong, that takes all that is less than and makes them more.
In fact, He makes us new. Not just sweet, dewy-fresh baby skin, but new from the inside out.
We can't wait to welcome you.
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Now let's link up in community...
Welcome to GraceLaced Mondays, a link up dedicated to sharing any and all blog posts by like-minded lovers of grace--God's grace! Grace is found in the everyday when you are intentional about taking note of it...and I invite you to share your story, great or small, of how everyday moments are full of Grace.
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