It’s right to be grateful for another chance.
You might have messed something up or missed an opportunity, so it’s good when another chance comes around to take what had been missed or messed.
Zoë was not that kind of opportunity. Zoë was an expression of something greater for me and greater for us as a family. She reminded us and continues to remind us that in Jesus Christ we have new life. Every morning when we wake up, whether we acknowledge it or not, as we confessed and acknowledged Jesus as Lord we have new life. We walk and talk in a brand new life.
Zoë coming along highlighted that to us in ways we have not appreciated before. So unsurprisingly every time we celebrate her birthday we can come straight back to that reality. As she celebrates her tenth birthday it’s remarkable to see just how she’s changed in those years and how likewise her change reflects the change in the family dynamic. Deborah and Abigail her sisters have come a long way in those ten years. As parents we are not the same as we were when Zoë was born at all. Our style and engagement with our children has differed significantly in those ten years. We’re mindful of the fact that these changes will continue as our children go through their phases of development and likewise as our family circumstances change in the light of the progress we make as parents who are seekers of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
We are here, thoguh and for that we’re grateful to God that He should spare our lives to see this day where the youngest in the household, reaches double figures. She is so bright, so energetic, so vibrant and sometimes so outspoken. To a large degree she is the recipient of the love of all those above her. She knows she’s loved. And that knowledge gives her a platform to display her great creative capacity especially in performing arts.
I look at her and think to myself how amazing is God to put together a human being like this that can have such an impact on those around her. God is truly amazing. When we see all that He’s done for us in the life we have now and the life we have in Christ, then there’s every reason to celebrate that He has given us new life.
The prayer remains as ever that Zoë herself will discover this for herself and enjoy it.
(Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 