1/1/21

Originally Published in 2019

 “In the Beginning…”

            In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,  the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters…               

                                                                                    Genesis 1:1-2

Where does my story start?  Does it start with my son’s diagnosis?  Maybe when I met my wife or first became a Christian?  Does it start when I was born or do we look at backstory and context?  Maybe my story starts with my parents or my grandparents and the decisions that they made.  My father’s parents sat down in their home in California and had a decision to make:  Would they move their family to Alaska or Australia?  A different choice and my story takes a very different path.  Our lives are shaped by those who came before us.  We do not choose to whom we are born but we do inherit their legacy, both positive and negative.  We are the heirs of thousands of years of choices.  In the beginning, at the very origin of our story, there was God’s choice to craft this reality and create a family.

     So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.                                       

  Genesis 1:27-31

After creating the cosmos and developing the earth’s diversity of landscapes and creatures, God the Father turned his attention to His children.   From the first man and woman to those who are most recently born, God has been creating through all of our history.  Every baby born, every little boy and little girl that comes into this world is looked at by their Heavenly Father with pride.  You can see Him turning to the angelic host, beaming with pride and saying, “Come here!  Come here!  Look at this little one!  Look how tiny she is.  Look how exquisite he is…perfect.  Just perfect.”  His Love and Pride radiate over every single one of His children.  Every single one.

God does not make mistakes.  There are some who are born with bodies that are broken or minds that are scattered.  There are some whose lives will be short and difficult.  There are some who experienced trauma before they were born.  God does not make mistakes.

The world will often look at these little ones with pity or with scorn and give them labels like “Special Needs,” “Disabled,” or “High Maintenance.”  We as parents are given condolences and a therapy regimen to help our children have something that approaches a “normal life.”  We are faced with countless professionals who try to help our children because they are not developed enough here or proficient enough there…  

Instead, God looks at our children with Love

                                                                        and with Joy

                                                                                                and with Pride and says,

“Come here!  Come here!  Look at this little one…perfect.”

“Just perfect.”

A moment to reflect:

Welcome to a brand new year!  Take some time to simply sit in the truth that both you and your child are God’s beloved children and He gushes over you and adores you just like a new parent.


Refrigerator Art of the Day

D age 3

2021 update:

    This devotional was a passion project for me...a useful tool for my own growth and development and, hopefully, a comfort and encouragement for those who read it.  I started working on the entries in the Fall of 2017.  That was 4 years ago.  I thought that in 2021 I would go back and update my entries.  What still resonates?  Where has my thinking changed?  What have I learned as my son is transitioning out of his teenage years?  So this year I will be reposting my blog with some current reflections and seeing what we see.

As for this first passage, it continues to ring profoundly true.  God does not make mistakes with our kids.  They may have places that they need to grow.  They may have habits that drive us crazy.  They may keep us up at night with worry.  But they are Perfection.  They are the height of God's creation and they have been entrusted to us.