Little Ones (Penned 3/06)

By now you might've heard that Arianne & Tony believe that Joey will have a little brother or sister in early December. Though yet to be confirmed, Papa and Nana are just a little excited already. But in talking about it yesterday, and joining in prayer and blessing over this little life, Annie and I decided to make a conscious effort to order our conversation aright regarding this little person. He/she is here. Now! We have another grandchild right now! Do we see this precious little face yet? No, but it's there! And we should speak accordingly. (Our own little brand of PC talk.)In the debate in our country about when life begins, we vehemently argue that it begins at conception, and yet we believers still use terms like, "I wonder if it will be a boy or girl." In my opinion, this hurts (if not kills) the entire cause. A more appropriate statemtent: "I wonder if it's a boy or girl."
Or how about, instead of, "when he is born" (in our minds-when he begins to live) "when we see his face," or "when he's in the air-breathing world with us," -to remind us that he's been around for awhile, just breathing something else. Just imagine if all of God's children began talking this way. Would it not be just a little harder to visit an abortion clinic?
In this thread of thought, life has a 9-month prelude which we don't (yet) count in documenting age, and if we broaden it further, an infinite postlude because the spirit never dies. Those who we have helped to usher into this phase of life thus seem less gone; less seperate from us, and life suddenly becomes so much bigger and more wonderful.
" I hear babies cry, I watch them grow, they'll learn much more than I'll ever know, and I say to myself, "What a wonderful world!" (Where that came from, I have no idea, but it's true, huh?) So when you hear me talk about my two grandchildren, don't ask if I'm speaking things that be not as though they were. They were!