Child of My Child

Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the birth of my firstborn’s firstborn; child of my child, daughter of my daughter, Haylie Marie. I was blessed to be present at her birth and remember it as well as her mother’s birth. It was a day of joy and anticipation. An overwhelming emotion comes over you as you watch your child look into the face of her child for the first time. The miracle that we call life should not be taken for granted.

The magnitude of that wonderful event, as big as it was at the time, did not fully sink into my understanding until I was reading the Bible one day. I'll admit it was difficult to read about all that “begetting” going on throughout the pages of Biblical history. I would skim through quickly giving neither my attention nor the proper respect due to why it was important. To me, at the time, it was just something to get through. Then one day, early in my grandparent years, it hit me; I was a part of that begetting, had done some begetting of my own and now my children were begetting. This was my first authentic connection to the Old Testament. I felt for the first time a part of God’s Big Picture. I was a tiny piece of thread in the tapestry of eternity. Somewhere was a line from me to the man and woman God crafted and created with His own hands. I was family.

Sounds strange now to say I never felt connected to the Old Testament before that moment. In my Christian infancy I felt as if that part of the Bible was more for historical reference. All my life I believed the story of creation, Noah’s great ark adventure, Moses parting the waters and I was certain God lived in heaven. I expected to go there myself. The part of the Bible that applied to me, as far as my ignorance was concerned, was the New Testament. The rest was just a prelude of things to come. I was right and I was wrong. It was a prelude in that it came before what was written about Christ; but it was the foundation, on which the time of Christ’s life on earth was foretold; the roadmap from creation to redemption. It is very trunk of God’s family tree.

Today I will pick up my tenth grandchild, Madielynn Marie, for an overnight visit. We will watch her every move in amazement and wonder as parents and grandparents tend to do. My husband will comment about how much she looks like him and to prove it, he will refer to the picture of our son, her father, as a small boy. It is true, there is a strong family resemblance but it is the big picture of God’s family that we hope to pass on to our children and our children’s children for generations to come.

Happy Birthday, Haylie, my love. You are family and I thank God for you!