Alive in the World
I’m home alone.My wife has gone to attend the birth of my 3rd grandson. My firstborn is giving birth to her firstborn. She is the treasured one in the picture above – my mom and dad hold her, all smiles in 1988. In the same spirit, I am eager to see this next one being born today, to bless him out loud with my voice, to have him pulled close to my chest and let him know that he is safe, loved, valuable, and deeply wanted.This reflex to bless is in the blood. My father treated me this way. He perked up when I came into the room all the way up to his final days. The last thing he said to me was the enthusiastic recognition of my voice on the phone as he called my name, “Christopher!” He loved me and I will love this next one that is breaking out alive in the world.I look forward to the proud look on his father’s face as he holds him for all to see. I look forward to the tender and protective watch of his mother’s eye. She will be changed by his arrival. She will graduate as mothers do, into a level of selflessness that she didn’t know existed.Like the coming of a new year, there is hope in the coming of these small, eternal beings that God sends us. We love to study their looks and their ways. “He looks like his daddy!”, He has his momma’s eyes!”, “He looks like that picture of grandpa when he was a kid!”. One experience at a time, we delight to show them the wonders of earth. We anticipate the gradual gift of seeing them walk and hearing them talk but especially their laughter. We are lifted high above the curse in the wash of it.He already has cousins, perfect in their own uniqueness. In the years to come I imagine how they will conspire together. Little boys traversing Pop Pop’s acreage; discovering God’s creation and getting into occasional trouble. Imperceptibly slow, they will awaken to the voice of God. They will know his presence, for He is as close as the dirt that will gather under their fingernails.As we all like fellow travelers begin a new year, I pause to consider what do I want to model for children and grandchildren alike. At the door of this new year, what do I want them to observe in me?
Embrace every new year with possibility
It was Jesus, the King of Kings who consistently pointed to vibrant expectation as the trigger to heaven-high possibilities in our lives. Be on guard against your cynicism. The best advice about life often gets shot down at the starting gate. More than once others have attacked my “bumper sticker” solutions and “fortune cookie” prescriptions as being too simple. Usually though, these are people who roll their eyes and skim this step. They are frustrated with life and want deeper answers. When you bring up the obvious, they are indignant about it.Remember that Jesus pointed to the children and said, approach life like these little ones. Simple wide-eyed belief. To the one who believes, anything is possible. It sounds like Disney from the 50’s but it was Jesus (who is worthy to be praised) that said it.
Deep and Wide
Every step wider must be kept by a step deeper. Let every resolution of broader accomplishment be upheld by a deeper devotion to hearing and obeying God. Ambition is a common instinct shared by all. But Godly ambition is not proven by the size of your external resolution alone, but by the size of your prayer foundation. Every new year is tempted with the desire to move faster for wider results, but in God’s Kingdom hurry is not required. I can’t think of one time when the scriptures say that Jesus ran. In the Kingdom of Jesus, the speed of your accomplishment is shepherded by the speed of your of your devotion to God in private.
Live Simple Conviction
Can I keep it simple? Am I living a consistent message? When they are watching me and I’m unaware, will I be modeling my conviction without compromise? In thin seasons, in election years and though the culture may swing wildly, will I be found living one message?Every new year is a ripe moment to remember what you are all about and reset the message you are living to the world around you. For life boils down to these in between moments. The one who guards their conviction is fighting the right battle. Like the scriptures say, “Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flows the springs of life.”So, come! Both beloved grandson and 2023.I’ll watch the football games alone today and wait for news from the hospital. But don’t blink, this new year will fly by, and he’ll be walking soon.
