Children

Children's children are a crown to the aged
...Proverbs 17:6

We feel like we've been crowned abundantly... adorned by our grandchildren. We are grateful to God for our grandchildren, we are grateful to God for our children!

This past Monday, August 31, we were thrilled to welcome baby Joshua into the fold. (The "fold" now also conjures up beautiful imagery of a shepherd carefully tending his sheep and taking care that each one comes safely into the fold at night...ah, the Good Shepherd tends us so beautifully - see John 10:1-18; Luke 15:1-7). We are grateful.

Life is redolent with imagery and my focus here initially was to be the metamorphosis of a butterfly.


This beautiful monarch butterfly caught me by surprise when it landed on a planter-unfortunately it only came once this summer- taking long but nervous sips of nectar from a favourite flower. I was happy to get a shot at him, even though not perfect for sure. Click on the butterfly to enlarge and see the amazing symmetry, proportion and beauty of this flighty papillon*.

butterfly......papillon...Schmetterling...mariposa
Just as a butterfly emerges from its tightly-knit cocoon, so an infant comes into this world out of its watery, snugly fit - designed especially for this purpose-cocoon, but not as an adult. The infant is totally dependent on its mother, its parents for nurturing and training, growing and developing under their careful guidance and love.

We love to be involved with our grandchildren, in their little lives so full of wonder and awe. It is a pleasure and a privilege. At times when they are over and need a nap or come for a sleepover, they now have a choice of two beds, both in the same room.
The pink bed:

The cars bed:

Al and I, the "aged", are in the wintertime of our lives. Our grandchildren, full of hope and promise, are just beginning their springtime pilgrimage.

Springtime flowers in front of our house taken two years ago:

Further readings pertinent to the importance of children:
Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble.
Psalm 8:2 the Message

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
Ps 8:2 NIV

Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
Matt 19: 14 NIV

Whoever welcomes
one of these little children
in my name welcomes me...
Mark 9:37

See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.
For I tell you that their angels in heaven
always see the face of my Father in heaven.
Matt 18:10 NIV or from the Message ...
You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?