A Baby Changes Everything

My new grandson.

My daughter had a baby boy! The little fellow kept trying to come early and the doctor kept trying to keep him in a little longer…but on Sunday, December 9, he decided he was ready to make his grand entrance – a couple of weeks early! Rowan Knox Kirkpatrick was born at 4:04 pm – 7 lbs, 3 oz, 20 inches long with a dusting of blonde hair with just a tinge of red. He is beautiful! And I am one proud grandmother!

A baby changes everything, doesn’t it? Rowan’s big sister, Lucy, now has to share Mommy and Daddy.  She’s already discovering that she isn’t the center of the universe any more.  She moved out of the nursery into the spare bedroom, and her once girly room will soon become a room filled with trucks, cars, cowboys and superheroes. A baby changes everything.

When we arrived at the hospital shortly after Rowan’s birth (we didn’t have enough notice to get to the hospital in time for the birth), we were impatiently waiting for our daughter and grandson to come from labor and delivery to her room. There wasn’t much activity on the floor at first, but suddenly people went into action everywhere. Nurses and assistants started darting in and out of the room that was assigned to her, and we knew it wouldn’t be long until we saw our daughter, son-in-law and new grandson. Suddenly the elevator door opened and there was our daughter on a stretcher cradling our grandson with proud dad walking along side. I walked toward the stretcher and the nurse asked us to wait just a moment before we entered the room. I couldn’t wait to hold Rowan and to kiss my daughter, but I did manage to steal of glimpse of his sweet little face. A baby certainly changes everything – perspective, priorities and plans. A baby also creates a sense of urgency and expectancy.

I couldn’t help but think about another birth over 2000 years ago. I’m sure Mary and Joseph had a sense of urgency and expectancy, especially since their delivery room was an animal stable! There were no doting grandparents waiting for the first glimpse of their beautiful grandson. No sterile equipment or attending nurses or doctors to assure a safe delivery, no clean bed linens or pain-relieving drugs. Only a starry night sky, animals, angels, shepherds and the cry of a baby that pierced the stillness. God went into action that night – He became a man and forever everything was changed.

Yes, this baby certainly changed everything.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.” John 1:14