Tuesday, October 11th, 2011, at 6:36pm, my son, Caleb Joshua, was born. He weighed 8 lbs., 12.9 oz. and was 20 in. long. Big boy! He has the face of an angel and is just the sweetest little guy I’ve ever met. God has truly blessed our family with this little dude. He has long brown hair, and lots of it! He even has side burns going on. I just know that I’ll have to run off all the girls when he gets older. He has a sweet temperament and usually sleeps unless we wake him up to change him or feed him.
My wife said this to me before, and I thought it would be worth sharing because I really see this now that he is here. For those of you who know about Jesus Christ, just sit and think about this… Having your first born son, laying there, cuddling in your arms and looking up at you, puts the loving heart of God giving His son, Jesus, to the world into a whole new perspective.
See, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18 – NIV)
Think about how much God loves us, how much he loves Jesus, and how he sent him down here to endure the bloodiest, gruesome, torture and execution, just to save our stupid hides and bring us back to Him in heaven, then think about that little boy in your arms. Think about how God endured the pain of watching Jesus being ripped apart by the Roman death dealers’ whips, having his hair and beard ripped out, long thorns wrapped into a “crown” shoved into his skull, and then being nailed to a cross to die slowly… And yet, He did that for us, all out of love.
When I held Caleb for the first time in the hospital, I thought about this and couldn’t help but sob. This little guy was perfect in every way, and yet I know I couldn’t watch him go through that. I know that our son is a gift from our Loving Father, and I thank God for him several times each day, as well as for my other kids. Thursday night, I sat there, holding him in my arms, and prayed to God. I told God that this little guy was His. I dedicated Caleb to Him, and asked Him to help lead us in the right path to raise him up to be a true warrior for God. I like baby dedications in church, but, to me, I needed to do this from all of my heart and mind.
Now, for the best part…
