Celebrating the End

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:19

This last week has been full of celebrations, ends and new beginnings. With a reflective spirit, I've been pondering all of these events and storing them away in my heart. I sound a lot like Mary. I'm sure the mother of Jesus felt some sadness as she watched her firstborn grow up. But with my sadness has come such joy and peace because I understand that endings produce new beginnings.

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

This precious little baby turned five last week. My firstborn. The one that has been the experiment...the one that has had it the roughest because we simply had no idea what we were doing. Yet he loves us anyway. Isaac- sweet laughter.



When I sit to think about it, it does seem like these last five years have gone so quickly. Yet, there have been many times I didn't know how we'd ever make it to this point. Sometimes, in the midst of trying to figure out how to be parents and how we wanted to bring this little man up, it seemed like all that we were pouring in wasn't sticking. It's hard to see fruit in the midst of sowing. For parenting is constant, day in and day out sowing, without much immediate result.

But here we are and the foundation has been laid for good and for bad. I'm sure we've done some things right and others poorly. But ultimately we've tried to put a solid foundation under Isaac's feet so that when he's old and on his own, whether he turns to the right or the left he will hear a voice behind him saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21. We won't be by his side then. But our hope is that the foundation laid in his first few years, will be strong enough for him to lean on when he does not know where to turn.

We've come to an end. Yet instead of mourning our loss and reveling too much in the past, we must look forward with great hope to the future. And we must celebrate this end for it shows how far God has brought us and how faithful He has always been to us. In light of that celebration, we will continue to sow but the sowing is now building. We don't know what these years will look like. We know where we want to go but don't necessarily know exactly how we'll get there. Lucky for us, we've got Someone else guiding our steps. So much depends on our obedience and diligence yet so much more depends on Him. We can find comfort in that.

So we build...one brick at a time...paying attention to detail and taking joy and ownership in our work. Not that our craftsmanship will produce a happy, smart, well-adjusted kid. No, those things are great but not essential. Our goal is that God will catch Isaac's heart and that he will learn to love wisdom and walk in His ways. We can pray for that fervently and then keep laying down mortar and piling on bricks, one by one by one.