SPONTANEOUS LOVE
On Saturday I walked into Health Park Hospital with Grandson Isaac and Granddaughter Lauren to see their new brother Liam Thomas, born at 8:30 on Friday night. He was only 14 hours old when we arrived for our sibling visit. We exited the elevator on the birthing floor and of course turned left when we should have turned right.
A passing physician pointed us in the right direction. New big sister Lauren, in her best "Type A - extrovert" fashion said to the doctor: "We're going to see my brother Liam Thomas, we love him." The physician, who likely has heard a lot of sibling bravado, instantly got the biggest smile on his face. As he looked up from her prouncement I said, "Yes, we love him and we haven't even met him yet."
While big sister's spontaneous declaration of love was precious there was more to come. It seems there are responsibilities that accompany such an outpouring of love like being the first to hold her little brother. When all the pillows were under her arms and daddy placed Liam gently in them, Lauren drew her face close to his and began to sing in a whisper: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star..." She had an offering for him. A gift. A song. And not just any song, her favorite song.
At four years old, I still call Lauren twinkle, twinkle little star. Should I (heaven forbid) use her name instead, she reminds me: "Grammie, call me twinkle, twinkle little star." But on this day, her spontaneous love for a little brother she'd barely met, rose up in a whisper as he slept and she offered him her most precious posession-her name, her song.
In those moments when we have trouble grasping the concept of God's love for us as we are sometimes prone to do, or if there's a moment when we find ourelves stumbling to explain God's love to others, Lauren's Saturday morning is a fitting example of what God's love looks like. Becasue God, like big sister Lauren, loved us before we ever met. And God, like her, rushes to be the first to embrace us. And then it will come as no surprise God, like Lauren, gives us His best; offers us His most precious possessions; the One He loves and His Name. We are known as Christians because it's the name that reminds us how very much we are loved. In fact we are beloved, before we can do anything to earn it or deserve it.
That hospital room was holy ground on Saturday. Surely the miracle of new life makes it holy ground often enough. But on this day, God's love Twinkled through a three year old. Isn't that just like God -- making it all so obvious and so simple.
BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK.
A passing physician pointed us in the right direction. New big sister Lauren, in her best "Type A - extrovert" fashion said to the doctor: "We're going to see my brother Liam Thomas, we love him." The physician, who likely has heard a lot of sibling bravado, instantly got the biggest smile on his face. As he looked up from her prouncement I said, "Yes, we love him and we haven't even met him yet."
While big sister's spontaneous declaration of love was precious there was more to come. It seems there are responsibilities that accompany such an outpouring of love like being the first to hold her little brother. When all the pillows were under her arms and daddy placed Liam gently in them, Lauren drew her face close to his and began to sing in a whisper: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star..." She had an offering for him. A gift. A song. And not just any song, her favorite song.
At four years old, I still call Lauren twinkle, twinkle little star. Should I (heaven forbid) use her name instead, she reminds me: "Grammie, call me twinkle, twinkle little star." But on this day, her spontaneous love for a little brother she'd barely met, rose up in a whisper as he slept and she offered him her most precious posession-her name, her song.
In those moments when we have trouble grasping the concept of God's love for us as we are sometimes prone to do, or if there's a moment when we find ourelves stumbling to explain God's love to others, Lauren's Saturday morning is a fitting example of what God's love looks like. Becasue God, like big sister Lauren, loved us before we ever met. And God, like her, rushes to be the first to embrace us. And then it will come as no surprise God, like Lauren, gives us His best; offers us His most precious possessions; the One He loves and His Name. We are known as Christians because it's the name that reminds us how very much we are loved. In fact we are beloved, before we can do anything to earn it or deserve it.
That hospital room was holy ground on Saturday. Surely the miracle of new life makes it holy ground often enough. But on this day, God's love Twinkled through a three year old. Isn't that just like God -- making it all so obvious and so simple.
BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK.
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