A Song for Jack, A Hope for Life

From this...

Jack, little  boy, our surprise number three,

I'm so glad God planned you to be:

Our special blessing, our little boy.

You bring Mommy so much joy.

You came three weeks early and gave us a scare.

Tiny and weak, you needed some prayer.

But now look at you, so big and strong.

With smiles and independence as you move along.

Jack, little boy, I'm so glad you could be

Exactly as God planned you to be:

Our special blessing, our little boy.

You bring our family so much joy. 

To this...

This weekend as we celebrated our youngest child’s second birthday, I sang these words to him.  They are familiar words – ones that I sing to Jack often at his nap times, bed times and cuddle times.  They are words that speak from my heart to Jack’s about who he is and what he means.

Every time I sing Jack’s song to him, I recognize anew what a gift he is to our family – a gift we were not expecting, but one that God had planned especially for us and one that we are so grateful to have accepted.

Although it should not astound me that God knew better than Mike and I what we could handle and what our family needed, it does.  When we realized that Jack had been conceived, we were not confident about the timing of an unexpected third child.  Our lives were in a state of flux and challenge.  It was hard to trust that another baby coming into our lives was “right”.  

Faith encouraged trust and trust brought blessings.  God proved to us what He so often does:  His timing is perfect even when it does not coincide exactly with ours. 

From the timing of Jack’s conception, to that of his birth, to so many things since, surprises keep on unfolding.  More often than not, these surprises are joy-filled ones.  Always, they reinforce that God’s timing is magnificent, even when it is not in line with our own.

Today, and every day when I sing Jack’s song to him, I marvel at what a perfectly timed gift he continues to be for our family.  I give thanks for his existence and pray that my simple words help him and his sibling to understand that being open to life is one of the greatest gifts any of us can receive (and gift forward!)

Indeed, as I sing to Jack – and to Nina and Luke as well, since each of my children has their own song – I sing with praise, gratitude and hope.  The hope being that my children will always embrace life as the gift that it is.  The hope that all people will.

To whatever he is dreaming and He has planned...

What traditions and teachings help you help your young children to know and value the gift that life is?