Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged;
parents are the pride of their children (Proverbs 17:6).
Over the last several months Deb and I have received so many words of encouragement and affirmation as we waited and prayed for our daughter and her husband’s (Rebecca and Nate) first child to be born. “You’ll love it!” “There is nothing like the joy of holding your first grandchild.” “Your lives are about to change all over again!” “This is the best time of all!” We were intrigued by the ebullient manner in which these sentiments were shared with us.
Now we know why. Nathaniel Walker Gibson, son of Nate and Rebecca Gibson, was born on Tuesday, July 28 at 8 pounds and 20 inches.
It’s hard to comprehend loving someone as much as your own child, but it becomes immediately possible when you hold your grandchild for the first time. Those curious eyes awaken in you a surprising sense of continuity as you realize the emerging spirit of this child has come from a long line of human living and loving of which you are just one small part. The parental desire to provide and protect overwhelms you all over again!
The experience of receiving the gift of little Walker into our lives, has left us with a fresh awareness that life, in all its wonder and complexity is (as I am wont to say), a “windfall,” something we did not anticipate or engineer. It’s the recognition that we would not be who we are or where we are without the love and generosity of others. It has given me a fuller understanding of the word “stewardship,” and it has given me a renewed sense of partnership with all of you and our participation in God’s mission of healing and reconciliation in the world.
In the midst of our joy, I invite us all to renew our prayers for pregnant mothers within and beyond our reach and for God’s compassion and mercy on those who are mourning the loss of a pregnancy or a child in recent months. May God renew their hopes for the future with quiet confidence and peace.
Rick+
P.S. I like the “crowning glory” of the above verse in Proverbs. Not quite ready for the “aged” part!
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Several months ago, I came across an arrangement of the theme from the film Schindler’s List, the 1993 American epic film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The arrangement is by the renowned Australian guitarist, 
