And So It Begins...

Summer has come and gone. The months that I have dreamed about and waited for have flown by in a beautiful blur and it is now the early beginning of fall. I can't get over how quickly this year has passed. So much has changed and so much has yet to change. Life is Huger in every way than it has ever been.

All that was, still is, except now:

I am the excited expectant mother of a little tiny girl, due to be born on March 13th, 2010.

Somewhere in the middle of me is the beating heart and growing fingers and toes of a little baby Abel that followed us home from Hawaii. She has bones. And fingers. And a spinal cord. And a nervous system. And a nose. And eyes. And all of her little baby insides. She is working on fingernails and fuzz, and starting to think about breathing. She can hear me talk to her and sense light moving on the outside of her cozy little bubble. She can make her presence felt and wiggle her perfect tiny fingers. And all of this in 4 amazing months.

What an incredible thing life is. Into a completely lifeless something, God can breathe life. He can create a soul where there was nothing. Give a meaning, calling and divine purpose to an exquisite set of cells and call them one of His children. He can look at that formless potential and see all the days He ordained for HER when she has not yet lived one of them. He can hear what her voice will sound like, He knows how many hairs she will manage to grow before she makes her grand appearance. He knew that His little baby was a daughter for Ryan and Ruth Abel even before our parents were around.

What an enormous gift.

He gave us a piece of His heart to learn to love and care for. He gave us a precious priceless creation that could only be bought by the blood of His Son. He gave her to us. He is even now, knitting her together as only He knows how, breathing into her all of His love and creativity and passion for life.

She is His before she is ours. She has a purpose and a specific part to play before we even knew she was there. She will have her own opinion. She will have her own tastes and thoughts and preferences and ideas. And God has given us the responsibility to form her perceptions of who He is. Of what it means to live. Of who she herself is. Of why she is here. Of what Love is. I can not even begin to process how huge that is. What a responsibility.

God has given us the opportunity to understand a little bit more how much He loves us, and not only that, but how much He loves Jesus. We have been given a glimpse into the heart of our Father.

rA.