The Work Has Just Begun

It all had been a quick ordeal...the first of 3 children born to me. The phone call at work around noon, the rush home, the delivery a short 4 hours later. As the evening progressed, the pictures have been taken of each one's chance to hold him. Now family and friends have retired back to their homes to resume the normalcy of life.

But now I am left alone in the room with my wife. Visiting hours have come and past. I lean over and kiss her forehead, tell her how proud I am of her...how much I appreciate her being my wife. Tell her to get some rest until the nurse brings Keanan back for a feeding. I explain to her that I am going to go check on the little one in the nursery before I head back to our little two bedroom apartment that will soon welcome home a new face.

I approach the glass, raise my little badge to the nurses to identify myself, declaring that I want to see one of those with the little feet...the little hands. As a small crib is rolled to the edge of the room, a little face comforted in the arms of sleep, nested in his little cap and wrapped tightly in a blanket, comes into view.

Like a sudden storm crossing a lake, a well of emotions spring up within me, sending tears cascading down my tired face. The weight of awesome responsibility and reality sets in. This tiny gift that God has given me. How can I expect myself to raise him, nurture him? I feel so small now. Just hours ago, I was the great image of a proud papa. Now, I am a bubbling mess trying to reconcile the gift with the responsibility. The heaviness of my heart seems unable to withstand fact that now the work has just begun. The journey of parenthood and all that it entails has now hit me square in the chest. I must look after him. I must protect him at all costs. Lord, continually remind me of this moment so that it will always strike a chord in my soul...the work has just begun...

The sanctuary lights are low now...the tissue boxes placed neatly in their spots. The flowers surrounding the platform have been carefully put back in their original position. The sound system is silent, the instruments have become quiet. I look back at the altar. It looks like a place of calm and serenity now.

Just minutes before, tears of labor were shed here. Sacrifices of painful memories were laid down, a hurt caused by a friend. A prayer for a wayward daughter...anguish for a misled son. Burdens were lifted on the nicely carpeted steps. Wisdom and direction for another on the front pew. But in the midst of all of this, God, you found a repentant heart. Someone acknowledging their sins to you. You honored that, Lord. Tears of new found forgiveness streamed. Your church, through its sensitivity and because of your willing Spirit, birthed a new creature today. Friends and family rejoiced...celebration images of a new arrival etched in their mind.

Now it is quiet again. Emotions have settled and silence has once again gripped the room. Family and friends have retired back to their homes to resume the normalcy of life. Remind us again, Lord! Don't let the awesomeness of your delivering power wax cold so quickly. Rush the weight of our responsibility far beyond the newness that we witnessed today. As I recall the pictures in my mind of a teenage son with his hands raised, the tears flowing down the face of "Daddy's" girl, and the cute antics of an 18 month old boy jumping, clapping and raising his hands in imitation of those moved by a spirit he does not yet fully understand....remind me again...that the church had a delivery today...and again...the work has just begun.