The headline on a popular online news site caught my attention:
Summer 2014 Was the Worst Ever! From Ferguson to Gaza to Iraq, this summer has been hellish. A recap of three months we’d all rather forget.
(The Daily Beast)
Notwithstanding any of the tragedies, but the summer of 2014 was actually the best summer ever for our family! On June 22, my daughter and son-in-law gave birth to our first grandchild, Poppy Ja’el Pester.
Our lives changed forever.
There’s a Welsh proverb that says, “Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.” It’s true. People have told me that being a grandparent was the ultimate experience. I have to agree. Every time I’m with Poppy, or even look at a picture of her, a warmth comes over me that it is indescribable. One of the most powerful handclasps I’ve ever felt is when she takes hold of my finger. I believe the idea that no one is perfect is a view most commonly held by people with no grandchildren.
Poppy’s parents took the preparations for her arrival very seriously. From crib to stroller to car seat, everything is carefully Googled, researched, compared, and discussed. They left absolutely nothing to chance. (I chuckle a little here because it’s amazing my wife’s and my kids made it at all. I remember bringing them home from the hospital in my wife’s arms in the front seat!)
This morning my thoughts are about the arrival of Jesus. What was it like to get that incredible news? Mary was going to need time. Time to break the news to Joseph and explain to her parents. Even though she immediately said yes to God, she needed time to prepare her own heart to become the mother of the Messiah. And for the people of Israel who had been waiting 500 years for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise of a Messiah, what was it like to get the incredible news that their savior was born?
Their lives changed forever.
But change is not easy. Doing things differently, thinking differently can be very difficult for people. Forever the people of Israel came to God through priests who vicariously offered their sacrifices. God was distant. Untouchable. But now He lies in the arms of his mother. Vulnerable. Precious. Human. And as He grew He showed compassion on everyone. No one was beyond his reach. He would eventually say, “If you seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.”
The writer of Hebrews summed things up this way,
He opened for us a new way, a living way…
(Hebrews 10:20, GNB)
Instead of wondering where God is or if He’s even aware of us. Instead of hoping we’re good enough to be accepted by God. Instead of doubting God’s existence, God comes to us. He’s made Himself known. And He’s still doing that! Right now His spirit is with us making an ongoing relationship with God possible.
Like I said, a baby changes everything.
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