The Lord and our child

    Ever since hearing the heartbeat on Tuesday, the fact that in a few months, I will be holding a baby in my arms, a baby that my husband and I made, is all the more real. I've begun to love that child, now that I have heard it for the first time. For some reason, seeing a blob in an ultrasound wasn't quite as real as hearing a heartbeat. Rod will be a daddy, and I will be a mommy. When we hold that child, we're going to be it's caretakers while it's here in our home, for the next 18+ years. Wow, intimidating and very exciting.

     With this new mindset, I was reading the Ensign today and came across a few articles that really struck me. There are several good ones in there, on marriage, the temple patron fund, resolutions for the new year, but the one that got me going about Junior was one on a mother dealing with the birth of her stillborn daughter. She found comfort in the scriptures where it talks about all children being alive in Christ. She pictured her daughter being held in Christ's loving arms. Wow, that really struck me, and I pictured the child I have yet to meet in Christ's arms. He knows my child very well already. I have spent the morning imagining my child held in Christ's arms before he is sent down to earth to join our family. I imagine Christ speaking to Junior, "It isn't going to be easy, but you're going to a family who already loves you and can't wait to meet you. They will help you through, and I will always be there to help you too." 

  What a blessing to know that Rod and I are not venturing into this parenting adventure completely alone. Aside from family members who are willing to help us figure out what to do with a baby, Christ will be there to help us figure out what to do all the time. As I have thought about how Christ already knows and loves this child more than I do, I find I feel drawn closer to Him because He already loves those most important to me. It's an interesting difference, to find that as I grew in my testimony, I was most often drawn to Heavenly Father because "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 Jn. 4:19) Now I am finding that I love Him and am more drawn to Him because He loves those that I love. He knows them better and can help me help them better.
   I haven't even met Junior yet, but I'm surprised at how even preparing to meet him can draw me closer to Christ. Already, what a blessing this child is!