New Blood

I've had too much to do, too little time and not enough sunshine, then add to that, not seeing enough of my people. When one of our sons invited us all to his alumni basketball game, I was pumped. Somebody came down with Covid, game got cancelled and we decided to meet up at Hudson's BBQ anyway. Two of our four children, their spouses and progeny crowded up a big table and started swapping stories. There was much laughing and joking at each others' expense. It was fun all around, but when 7-year-old Eden plopped down next to me, after the food was done, and said, "I came down here so I could talk to you..." well, my heart grew three sizes. 

Children tell you the truth. They don't care what you look like or what you've accomplished in your lifetime. It's no wonder that Jesus told us that we had to become like a little child, to get into heaven. Kids come out of the womb squalling and demanding, sucking all the life out of you....they're not innocent, no matter what anybody says...but they are also raw, open, real, at least until they start getting their cues from their peers or us, their sinner parents. One of the best things about grandkids is the way we get to experience life all over again through their unjaded eyes. The wonder of the stars; the fluffy, warm fur of a puppy; the delight of any form of water they encounter...their wide-eyed discovery of the world's secrets is a joy to behold. I'd like to quit my day job and just make rotations around to them all.

Our daughter and her new husband had a beautiful, magical wedding in our yard, back in June, despite Covid, and came home from their honeymoon with a surprise package. Their first child will be born about mid-March, nine months and some change later. With all the hoopla (or maybe poop-la) this past year has given us, there's those who would shake their heads in dismay. Truth is, a baby brings both lots of trouble and lots of good. Parents have to die to themselves, to slow down, to take care of a thousand little humble things to bring up a child. I've seen folks who shirked, despised and gritted their way through all that minutiae, and then I've seen folks who opened their hands and hearts to the blessing that is a child, no matter the woes. There's mess, manure, and a massive intrusion into a life, when a baby enters. But it brings with it one of the sweetest gifts: hope. There's crying, laughing, suffering, pain, joy, mercy and the promise of a new day. "Suffer the little children to come unto me..." - Jesus