Baby Symphony Has Arrived!


2017 started with a flurry of emotions as we endured our first miscarriage.  But I must admit something: that experience has given me--and I think the rest of my family too--a much stronger sense of appreciation for the special gift of creating a child.

Our new baby Symphony Joy was born on November 27th, and she appears healthy and happy.  And once again, I get to see the extraordinary talent that my wife has for caring for infants.  Christine is just so wonderful at loving on the baby and keeping her on a consistent schedule.

I was overwhelmed with emotions on the day Symphony was born--even more than the day my first child was born.  I just felt so grateful that she was healthy.  For whatever reason, there was even some surprise mixed in there.  I don't exactly know why I thought something might go wrong, but I definitely didn't take for granted that everything would be fine.

I felt similarly when we performed our musical Rhythm City for the first time on stage.  We had all of the rehearsals leading up to it, and the cast and crew were well-prepared, but still... it's live theater.  Anything could happen.  I remember seeing our cast members arrive at the theater for the final performance.  Each person who arrived represented one more crisis avoided.  I would have thoughts like "Oh good.  There's a group of dancers that arrived together without a car accident," or "Phew!  Our leading lady hasn't lost her voice," or "Nobody has thrown up yet."  It's not that I was paranoid about those things happening.  It's just that they've happened enough times in my experience that I don't take their "not happening" for granted anymore.

Now Symphony is three weeks old, and she is doing fine.  She sleeps, cries, grunts, squeaks, poops, and sometimes fusses inconsolably--just like all our other babies have.  Nobody likes to hear a baby cry of course, but even when she's crying, and I'm trying in vain to calm her down, I find myself so very grateful to be her father--to once again be granted the privilege of raising another person who I value above my own life.

God is so good.  I love that he designed such a beautiful system.  If I do nothing more with my life, I can find continual meaning in knowing that I helped to make the world better by loving and raising these miracles.

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