I've always been so excited at the idea of having children. My dad was such an amazing father, and there was never any doubt in my mind that he loved my mom, my sisters and me. I've always wanted to pass on the love he shared and the countless number of lessons that he and my mother taught me. I can't wait for the opportunity to see Jude take his first steps, say his first words, here him laugh for the first time, read stories to him, tell him jokes, teach him to throw a ball, take him to his first ball game, pray with him, teach him to ride a bike, take him fishing, take him to the zoo, take him to church and explain to him how much God loves him and let him know how much we love him. There's so much I want to say and do with my son.
Allison started having weekly ultra sounds and checkups a while back and it was so cool to see images of our son even before he got here. He has tons of energy like me and sometimes he squirmed and moved so much that the nurse had trouble keeping up with him. We could see his brain activitiy, his blood flow and his heart and all sorts of cool intricate stuff. It was so awesome to hear his heart beat for the first time and see him grab his foot. We joked about how hairy he would be and sure enough the ultra sound picked that up too. Ha!
We were expecting Jude to come on June 10th, and I thought that he couldn't get here soon enough, even though I knew I wasn't ready. On Thursday May 19th at 5 a.m., I woke up to Allison screaming to me from the bathroom. It was actually the third time she had to wake me up, because I thought I was dreaming, and I kept going back to sleep. She thought her water broke, and after calling the doctor and getting our bags together, we headed toward the hospital. It was a pretty crazy day!
Allison started having contractions in the car on the way to the hospital, and the entire time I felt like I was still in a dream. We got there, and they had to give her medicine to speed up the process because she was only dialated 1cm. It was a little intense at times, and for those considering having children or expecting, an epidural is a great option! :) The labor went on all day, and Allison did awesome! I can't imagine the pain that she went through for our son.
The nurse said that she thought the baby would be here within about 30 minutes of Allison pushing but at maximum it would take an hour and a half. My wife's amazing, because there's no way I could have done it. You could ask the labor and devlivery nurse, because I almost didn't make it through Allison doing it. At one point the nurse said, "You're not going to pass out are you? You look a little pale." Thankfully that didn't happen. Allison pushed for an hour and 40 minutes!
Then all of sudden at 9:10 pm there was our son. He was so amazing with his cone head and all. I couldn't stop looking at him and thinking, "Wow! That's my son!" It was the first time I had seen him, and I already loved him so much. He was so amazing! Allison and I prayed with Jude as a family, and there was nothing like it. I couldn't help but cry tears of joy. I can't describe to you what it felt like, because it's really beyond words. People had told me there was nothing like it, and they're right. If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about, it's incredible. There's nothing that I wouldn't do or give for my son.
Not only has the birth made me think about my love for Jude, but it's also made me think about how much God loves us. These are just a few verses that have really hit home for me. It makes me so grateful for the love of Christ and the hope, peace, meaning, reconciliation, life and forgiveness I've found in Jesus.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1
"In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." Ephesians 1:4-5
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13
For many people, they think about God, and they're immediately turned off by thoughts of some lifeless, joyless, religious system that's full of rules and regulations and all it brings to their mind is chains that keep them from enjoying life. Others get a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach, because they're tired of religious hypocrites who say they love God, but there is no evidence of a love of God in their life. Like many of us, they're tired of all the noise and unless they see love in action it's all a stupid, pointless facade.
This isn't about a religious system, and this isn't about the hypocrite who gets on your nerves. This isn't even about being a good person or a bad person, because when you get right down to it we're all completely screwed up. We've all been hypocrites, and we've all done things that we no are awful and we'd rather others not even know about all the junk we've got hidden in our closet.
This is about a God that changes everything! A God, who has seen us from the very beginning, who knows the number of hairs on our head and was there when we were put together inside our mothers' womb. A God who knows exactly where we've been and knows about all our junk, but he loves us anyway, regardless of what we've done. He loves us so much that despite our mistakes and our screwups he died for us anyway, and he longs to adopt us as his children. As much as I love Jude, God loves you and me even more, and he waits in eager anticipation for you to place your faith and trust in Him for salvation and be adopted into His family.
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