My Daughter Is 'With Child'

Seeing Ruth and her husband at the airport yesterday was moving and a bit surreal at the same time. She's about 6 months along and possesses that mystical beauty and glow of an expectant mother. I have always thought that special look was a blessing from the Holy Spirit, a promise of the greater blessing to come, and now my daughter has it! The amazing thing is that he has it too! He has the glow of an expectant father!

Watching her down by the beach last evening was humbling. To see her changing body and witness her changing spirit as God transforms her into a mother is similar to watching the same thing occur in Kelly 24 years ago. Knowing there's a little person in there who's waiting to come out and be part of our lives is wonderful and frightening at the same time. Wonderful in knowing God has a plan for this little life, Psalm 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.. Frightening in that God, in His wisdom, has not chosen to reveal the nature of that plan to me. I have to just trust Him in watching His plan work its' perfect outcome out in this baby's life, just as I have to trust Him in the same manner for all the rest of us.

I remember, as an expectant father for the first time, wondering how I could ever love someone I didn't really know. When they handed her to me in the delivery room, I was overwhelmed by how quickly everything had changed. When we arrived at the hospital, there were two of us. Now, in the twinkling of an eye, there were three. That mysterious bulge in Kelly's stomach had become a person! It had become a new member of our family and oh, how much I loved her! The love was just there! I didn't have to conjure it up. I didn't have to cultivate it. All I has to do was allow it to flow through me.

I had the same thoughts and sensations when Jason was born. It wasn't until after he joined the family that I realized that God expands the capacity of our hearts to be able to love the new members of our family. As usual, He does the work, we get the blessing!

Seeing Todd, Ruth's husband, reminded me that God is not limited to increasing our capacity to love only those naturally born into our family. He's a great guy. More than that, he's a good man. The calling to the ministry is heavy upon him. As a father, I am constantly reminded of the blessing of seeing my daughter marry a godly man.

I'm excited about what the future holds for them and for this new addition to our expanding family. I'm excited to know that God will continue to expand the capacity of our hearts to love. As the family grows, His love grows within us.

Knowing this, it's also exciting to know that God can help us to love those who are far beyond the limits of our immediate families. He does the work, we get the blessing. All we have to do is let Him have His way in us!

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.