This is the time in the year, in this annual season,
when you are tired, my child.
I see it on your face, hear it in your voice …
you carry it on your shoulders.
Your shoulders …
they were what I noticed first when you were born.
They were unlike those of your sisters.
I remember marvelling at how straight and strong they appeared.
You were a long anticipated gift from God.
Each day of your pre-birth life prayed over … for the next day was not guaranteed.
Each movement was cherished.
Your birth, peaceful and unhurried.
unhurried … you have, from your beginnings, had your own timeline.
Then you burst into this life with robust cries, fists clenched and man shoulders to boot.
You were embraced, kissed, held (and had your eyes poked by your adoring sisters).
A boy born to three motherers and a father … who were so thankful to have you with us.
Your heart is soft. Your shoulders are strong.
As a child you played with little figures of super heros, watched their movies and shows, dressed as them at Halloween. You have grown into one who is bothered, grieved by injustice.
You want to make right the wrongs. You desire to fix broken pieces. You yearn to be personally involved in seeking justice. Your eye is ever on the ideal, what is best.
This is who you are, in the most natural way.
May you use these gifts of strength and gentleness in your whole life. May you seek to find where God can best use this combination of strengths in our world.
Know that you have been loved since your very beginnings.
Don’t ever forget the gift that you already are to so many.
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.
It occurred to me recently that we tell our children their stories when they are littles, curled up in the safety of our laps, but maybe … just maybe, they need to hear their stories even more when they are grown, but still in need of the security and encouragement of their own coming into existence. Maybe a glimpse of their past will give strength for their future. Or, as fellow blogger, Carolyn Collar, says, maybe “God can help us find new meanings to old stories.“
itsawonderfilledlife 