While in a patient’s nursing home room this week I heard an announcement over communications system:  “Bring a mop to the dining room.”  To those standing nearby I commented that that sounds like my house with all the little girls that we have frequently congregating around our table where food and drink disasters can happen at any moment.  But that is alright; we are glad to have all those little ones around.  And the circle became larger and the chances of more messes in the dining room became greater recently as little Raegan Leighanne entered the world (of all the days she could have been born, she arrived on Friday the thirteenth!).

Needless to say, there was plenty of excitement in the room as we gathered around Jessica’s hospital bed and waited for the arrival of that precious little one.  After a brief wait that seemed far longer than it really was, a proud daddy presented a kicking and screaming little bundle of joy for us to lay our eyes on for the first time.  We did not have to take lessons to learn how to love her; that took place immediately.

Someone commented to me today that I should not spoil the baby too quick, but I had to tell him that it was already too late—the spoiling has already taken place.  There is a steady stream of arms waiting their turn to hold her and make all those silly faces and noises that must surely make absolutely no sense to a week old little girl.  Then we all get to go home for a nice quiet night of rest while Jessica and Will have to deal with a wide awake little Raegan who loudly announces in the predawn hours of the morning that she wants more attention!

When I look at those little pink toes and fingers I wonder what life will be like for her and how God will talent her and use her.  It is impossible to know the answer to those questions right now, but I can rest at ease that God has a plan for her life just as He does for you and me.  Psalm 139 expresses clearly and beautifully the work of God in creating human life:  “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (verses 13, 15, 16, New International Version).

A lot of memories float through the mind in those moments when life changing events take place.  As I watch Nana holding her newest granddaughter she looks so natural and confident in that role.  Yet it seems such a short time ago that our children were born; it is hard to believe that our oldest child celebrated her thirty-eighth birthday a few days ago.  Time marches on and we can rest assured that God has a plan for each of us.

I, like many of you, do not hesitate to humbly affirm that God has been good to my family.  That does not mean that all has been smooth sailing everyday; we all know what it is to have to navigate through the rough seas of life.  But when we face those challenges with genuine faith in God we gain fresh confidence that He will successfully see us through. 

In those moments when we realize the excellence of God’s creative power we can appreciate the words of David in Psalm 8:1, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!  You have set Your glory above the heavens.”