"Fearfully and wonderfully made"

              The “newest” baby that I ever saw—other than our own—is the third child of a former student of mine.  I met Janice more than 20 years ago while I was tutoring at the Writing Center of a local community college.   We became friends that semester, in part, because she needed an encourager in her efforts to succeed in college, a path only she, one of ten siblings, tried after her family came to America from Vietnam.  My husband and I became her American family, and we saw each one of her three children in their first days before they left the hospital.

               But John, the youngest of the three, we saw when he was only an hour old.  Janice had a planned C-section that morning more than five years ago now, and we were called to go in to see her while she was in a recovery area.  But then the nurse came in carrying the baby and shortly thereafter, this little one was in my arms.

               Our first grandchild was born just over three years ago in the mountains of North Carolina.  We had timed our visit to begin just before his due date, and because he did not pull any surprises, we were “on the ground” from Henry’s first minutes of life.  Our second grandchild, little Mason, was in a bit of a hurry and arrived about three weeks before her due date.  We caught our first “live look” at her when she was just 8 days old.  Our son proudly walked her out to our car when we finally arrived after a long but exciting car ride to Alabama.  Yes, we have traveled far and wide to share even a bit of such special moments of life, and being there was worth every mile driven.

Among all of life’s blessings, the safe arrival of a healthy little one is among the greatest and grandest.  Indeed, the handiwork of God always amazes.  Little fingers, tiny toes, works of wonder each one.  And we are deeply grateful.

On our drive back, we were sent on a detour along highway 139 not too far out of Nashville, Tennessee, where we had spent the night.  After seeing the 139 sign several times, I decided to take a fresh look at the words of Psalm 139, some of which are very familiar.  God is depicted as the Masterful creator as the psalmist declares, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (139:14).  Such an intimacy is described between God and his little creations.  “Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (139:16).

Our beginnings with God are quite intimate, and just as we as parents long for closeness with our children, God’s desire is for continued closeness with His children.  Choosing to stay close, to continue in love and gratitude with God and with each other, are surely imbedded in “the days fashioned” for all of us, each and every one.