Birth

Our first child was born while we were living in the suburbs. Our second child was born while we were living in the inner-city. The different settings made for totally different experiences.

For example, when living in the 'burbs, the Andersons were having a baby. While living in da 'hood, my wife was having a baby. That may sound subtle, but it played out in quite a variety of ways.

This was made clear even before the baby was born. On more than one occasion when telling someone of the pregnancy, I was asked, "Who's the father?"

Wow! ---- in sooooo many ways.

That question is normally the first question asked about a pregnancy in the inner-city. For that matter, it's usually a piece of information that people might not know. But you would think that people who know me and/or my wife could have skipped that question and gone on to more productive conversation. For a moment, I guess they forgot who they were talking to.

Sometimes I think about my own prayer time and the questions I ask God. They make sense to me and are the kind that are normally asked in my world. But if I would stop for half a second before I start talking and remember who I'm talking to, I could skip to more productive conversation rather than ask some questions that would cause "Wow! ----- in sooooo many ways" to reverberate across the heavenly realm.

I ask "Where are you, God?" when I know he has already promised to be with me always. I ask "What should I do?" without first considering how his Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I ask "God, why don't you ________?" even though I know that my thoughts are not His thoughts and my ways are not His ways.

Fortunately, I also know that I live in His grace. Being born into this world is a totally different experience from being born into life in Christ. The first happened many years ago in a sterile hospital environment with doctors and nurses and a crib and crocheted baby booties waiting for me. The second continues to take place each moment in a messy world that's not always hospitable or accommodating to this new creation.

And when it's all over, my hope is that no one will have to ask about me, "Who's his Father?"

Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Help me to always remember who You are.