It’s almost as though God knows I need reminders of grace all the time.
Today is the birthday of the firstborn child God blessed us with. Deborah Christina turns 13 years old today. It’s a marvel, it’s a wonder, it’s miracle, it’s an exhibit of God’s grace.
I don’t know how my Dad saw me when I was her age, but I got the impression my Mum always expected great things of me when she saw my potential at that age especially in drama and writing. She really wanted me to become something using the gifts and talents she saw in me. That’s not to say my Dad wasn’t supportive, he certainly was, but he never verbalised it or otherwise declared his aspirations for me. What is not in doubt is their unstinting love for me. It’s incredible when I think about it and brings tears of gratitude when I think further on it. So there’s another exhibit of grace right there.
I say all that, though, because when I look at Deborah and consider her, I see someone so amazingly gifted. I see someone who has the capacity to go far by the exercise of the talents with which she has been abundantly blessed. At this precocious age of 13, it’s no longer about the innocence of childhood in my perspective. Conversations with her show she’s developing that ‘mind of her own’. Responsibility for her actions isn’t something I think she has to wait to be 18 to function in. I am not in a rush to wrap up her childhood and get her into a factory to work a week’s wage, it’s just that the growth I see in her leads me to consider carefully how I engage with her and encourage her as the call of womanhood beckon.
Yet even as I look at these issues, I am still stumped to be looking at her at all. I remember the time of her birth very vividly. In so many ways I did not deserve my firstborn child. For so many reasons beholding her as a 13 year old girl is a true gift of God. Seeing the goodness of God all over her life makes me lift my hands in praise to a merciful and compassionate Father. That she is a brilliant girl is largely down to Him.
She is not flawless, of course, (don’t tell her that, though) and the reality remains that as she comes into her own and grapples with issues of life, so she is to deal with the fact of sin. It’s not something I shy away from with her, because it’s part of the story of the human condition. She has to develop her own conclusions on the matter, but at the very least I’m informing her of that which I perceive and believe for her own benefit.
My desire remains that she will see that condition and turn to the one who came to solve that condition ultimately. It’s my desire because it would be tragic for her to accrue accolades and maximise her talent in the eyes of the world but never receive the reconciliation offered by the Redeemer.
Even if this did take place – and I certainly hope it does – it will be another exhibit of grace. Truly grace has a lot to answer for and I am grateful as I celebrate another day and another year in the life of Deborah Christina Dryden, my dear firstborn child.
(Photo by Charles 🇵🇭 on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 