babies

Today we visited the newborn nursery at Parkland and had the privilege of examining a 1 day old newborn. She was so precious and such a good patient. She never once cried or fussed as 7 strangers poked and prodded at her in all sorts of places. She was so fragile and adorable. Even the tiny stethoscope that we used melted my heart. As we were timidly examining her, the attending physician kept saying, "Don't worry, you won't break her," knowing that we were all fearful of pressing too hard or pushing too forcefully. She was like this precious jewel shining in the light, and we were all dirty miners just gawking at her beauty.

The whole time I thought about the mother and father who conceived this child and the care they must have put in and will put in as they watch her grow into a beautiful woman. I thought about what she will be like in the future, how many other siblings she may have, her dreams, goals and aspirations. She is a healthy baby now, but what genetic predispositions does she have that will put her at risk for chronic illnesses later on in life? All these things reminded me of how someone comes to life is truly miraculous, how there is possibly more going against us to live than there is for us. The numerous mutations or slips in our DNA that can wreak havoc on our bodies and cause deformities or dysfunctions none would wish upon their worst enemy.

But then we see that in Romans 8:31-32, Paul says," If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his only Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Indeed, life is too precious of a thing to waste--it is a gift from God. And the greatest gift is Christ himself. To know that he came down from heaven's throne to take the form of man, to be born as a healthy baby just like this little girl is amazing. To trade a glorious eternal life with the Father to become someone so helpless and fragile boggles my finite mind. The mystery of life, the beauty of the Son in flesh, the love of a heavenly Father--all these things point to the God who is for us and graciously gives all things to us. Hallelujah!

How fitting that all this happened just before the Advent of Christmas! May we eagerly anticipate the day that marks the birth of our Savior and remember how precious and beautiful life is!

ugly pride

I deal with pride all the time, but it usually doesn't show its ugly face in very obvious ways. I am prideful of the things I think I'm good at (which isn't very much), things like sense of direction, cooking, baking, sense of fashion, spiritual discipline, intimacy with God (when I actually feel close to him, that is), and the list goes on. When such aforementioned things are questioned or criticized, I get very defensive and condescending and judgmental. I can't think of any better way of describing my attitude than repulsive. It absolutely is. I would not want to be around me when I get that way about these things because you can just sense from my tone of voice how ugly my pride is. Part of it is because I feel like when I suggest something, it doesn't happen often and people should value my opinions (i.e. follow my advice). However, when that doesn't follow through, my pride gets hurt and that ugly side comes out.

This is something I am very aware of and it's been hard to change, but I need to keep reminding myself of the verse in Romans 12:3 that states, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you to not think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned" and the verse in Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

So if you find me taking pride in any of these things, feel free to rebuke my ego, and hopefully God will help me to seek humility and not think of myself more significant than others.