This is an eventful week. The day is marked on the calendar. Invitations mailed. Venue secured. Shopping completed. Family gathered. The star of the show doesn’t have a clue it’s all for her. Story’s first birthday.
It barely seems possible it’s been a year since we kept vigil at the hospital. She wasn’t aware of the anticipation and joy she was bringing. When she finally made her debut, the celebrating could not be silenced welcoming Story Cash into our world.
We’ve loved watching Story grow, ooh-ing and aah-ing as if no other baby has accomplished what she has. Countless books guiding parents through the first year are pretty much on target of what to expect. Yet these pages merely record what the Author of Life already established.
Story has reminded me that God is Lord of all and in control over every stage of her development. God had to remind Job of His sovereignty by asking him a series of probing rhetorical questions about creation. Ponder a few of them here:
- Did you give the horse its strength?
- Does the hawk fly by your wisdom?
- Does the eagle soar at your command?”
- Do you control the constellation and its orbit?
- Who endowed the heart with wisdom?
- Who gave understanding to the mind?
- Where were you when I designed and built the earth?
Job’s complaining was silenced as God described various elements of creation. Reading through God’s oracle in Job 38-39 made me think of a few questions of my own that point to God’s sovereignty over our baby girl.
- Who commanded her instincts?
- Who taught her to smile?
- How did she know to grasp our finger?
- Who told her it was time to roll over?
- What made her realize she could sit up alone?
- Who controlled her desire for mobility?
- Who prompted her to crawl?
- What signal did she receive to stand up?
- Who caused her to take those first steps?
- Who timed the stages of her development?
Our attempts to count the wonders of God are limited. He leaves me speechless as I consider the miracle of Story’s birth and development. All I can do is praise Him. Psalm 139 says it beautifully.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being formed in secret, as if embroidered with various colors. Your eyes saw my unformed substance and in your book all the days of my life were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. I will praise you at the wonder of my birth. God’s works are wonderful. I know that full well.
Are you amazed by your children? Stop to consider their wonder. Marvel in the color of their eyes. The shape of their nose. The length of their lashes. Be aware of their strengths. Study them. What makes them smile? What are their likes and dislikes? Each child a miracle.
Stand in awe of the Creator who made them with distinctive characteristics. Give glory to God who caused them to be…and to grow…and who planned out their lives before they were born. With purpose in this world.
This is a week of celebration for both sides of our family. Celebrating the creation of one Story Cash. Celebrating the God who fearfully and wonderfully made her. He will receive all the praise! Because she’s one in a million. And if you don’t believe it, just ask her grandparents!
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, STORY CASH
