The Wonder of It All

About two and one half years ago our daughter went into labor, seven hours away. Her dad and I hit the road quickly when the much anticipated phone call came announcing the barest hint of the big event. Jessica Ann has never been one to fiddle-faddle around and she was true to form that night. We were less than an hour away when our son-in-law called to let us speak to Jessica via speaker phone in the delivery room, moments before Grant Thomas made his entrance. After we hung up, silence fell in the car. Phil reached for my hand as we checked off the last miles with tears streaming down my face. We were missing it. The kids, for that’s what the new parents still seemed like to us, would experience the miracle alone, the two of them becoming three.

Monday a week ago, I cried again as Jessica and Patrick welcomed a second son into their family, although this time the tears fell for an altogether different reason. Not only were we present, but in a surprise gesture we hadn’t expected or requested Jessica invited us to stay in the room for the actual birth— at a discreet position behind her head. Together we watched transfixed as Baby Connor came into the world before our very eyes.

I’m still processing that heart stopping moment. I’m determined not to lose the wonder of it all. See, I know, as well as you, that it’s all too easy to become desensitized to the miracles around us. Here we are, about to celebrate the birth of Christ, God in the form of a baby, born to reconcile the world to Himself. And yet, the very busyness of this season can dull us to its majesty, if we let it.

May I make a suggestion? Much like I’ve determined to remember Connor’s birth, I believe a simple but conscious decision to stop and marvel at the miracle of Immanuel, God with Us, can keep us from such unintentional but dreadful negligence. Join me, will you? May we never lose the wonder of it all.

My hugs and His Great Blessings! Merry Christmas!
Shellie