Sunday, June 20, 2010

sweet baby James



I will always remember today. Last night I got the call that it was time. It seemed to be happening faster than we thought so I got dressed and ran to the car. She had just gotten to the hospital but it looked like he was coming soon. It was a dark, hot night; quiet, except for the brilliant fireworks display I watched from the window as I neared the highway. It seemed fitting I think for his arrival. I prayed for this little child, my nephew that would enter the world tonight, that he would be safe and strong that he would grow in truth, justice and a deep love for God. I prayed that he would enter the world peacefully to the family waiting to love him. I got there fast and stepped into the same place I gave birth to my three and how quickly those moments flooded back. How is this possible that my little brother who I remember being born and treating him like he was my own baby, was becoming a daddy?
It was time for her to push and I held in tears at the sounds of her pain. Anxious , waiting... and then it came his first cries. What a magnificent sound! He was here after a short and smooth labor. And all at once her hard work changed to a tired and beautiful smile. All the waiting was done, he was finally here. He was perfect and angry and cried until they placed him on her chest. Sweet baby James arrived at about 12:30 this morning on his mommy's birthday. The best gift ever for his dad's first Father's day. As we all miss our dad we welcome this new little boy and marvel at this precious life full of promise and hope. We're so happy you're here. We love you to pieces already.



"I think babies really do make you believe in God. They make you believe in God because there's something just beyond understanding about their freshness and fragility and their smell and their toes. When they take their first breaths, and when they land floppy and slippery on your chest under the bright overhead light in the otherwise dim delivery room, when you watch their tiny sleeping selves, when you hear their thin wild animal cries, you know, you just know in your guts that God is real, and that babies have been with him more recently, have come more directly from him than our worn out old selves have."
~Nieguist~