From Generation to Generation
Early on April 19th, 7 month old Henry went into surgery to have a passage for spinal fluid opened. There was no choice for his parents but to submit to such a seemingly frightening procedure. Henry came through it well. Henry is our fourth grandchild. He was named after Steve's father.
Two days later at 4:30am the phone rang. Our fifth grandchild was soon to be born. This little girl was to be named Elizabeth with the nickname of Libby. The second Libby Doe was born about 9:00a.m. The first Libby Doe was Steve's mother. The afternoon of her birth we traveled to the hospital to see this little girl. What a gift. This mother of 2 active boys may have been blessed with a baby who fills her days with eating and sleeping. Libby Doe. We marveled that we were now going to be able to call a second person by that name.
I was able with Aunt Jessica, cousin Grace, and cousin Henry to visit Libby and her family on Tuesday. Although her two brothers, Matthew and Jacob greeted us as if nothing had changed, soon it was clear that this soft pinkness of sleeping delight was for at least this moment the center of this home's activity.
This morning I was gazing at the buffet that had belonged to Steve's mom. On top of the buffet I had placed birds from Libby Doe's collection of small bird statues. They were bordered by 2 Willow Tree figures. Since Steve's Mom had loved the ocean, I had picked a little girl holding a conch shell to her ear. The second statue was a girl holding a large bouquet of forget me nots. She looks like she is taking a deep breath of the flowers' fragrance. I have no idea whether or not the flowers smell but I could envision myself taking deep breaths savoring the richness of our memories as we think back on Libby Doe and others who went before. Let's see where do I begin? The taste of cinnamony snicker doodles, the aroma of bread baking, fresh from the garden veggies neatly sliced and steamed to perfection, the table set with a tea pot, each place with ornate sterling silver utensils, flowers just cut from the yard - these are only a few of the images that fill my mind as I think of the first Libby.
Rich as these images are they are not the most important thing about her. As thrilled as she would be to see the daughter of our youngest son and know that this baby bears her name, she would be more pleased to know that this is the sixth in a line of her family to be taught the gospel, taught to rely on the saving and sustaining work of Christ. She would be pleased if Libby and her brothers took an interest in planting flowers as well as reaping a harvest from a well laid out vegetable garden. She would be more pleased to see them delve into God's word and be blessed by the rich harvest He provides. As I get to hold Libby, I rejoice in the memories of the first Libby and even more rejoice in the promises of God. In order to see this blessing continue, we must look to Christ alone. As we marvel at how blessed we have been by the people in our lives, we must remember that it's Christ who sustains us and nurtures our families from generation to generation.
Two days later at 4:30am the phone rang. Our fifth grandchild was soon to be born. This little girl was to be named Elizabeth with the nickname of Libby. The second Libby Doe was born about 9:00a.m. The first Libby Doe was Steve's mother. The afternoon of her birth we traveled to the hospital to see this little girl. What a gift. This mother of 2 active boys may have been blessed with a baby who fills her days with eating and sleeping. Libby Doe. We marveled that we were now going to be able to call a second person by that name.
I was able with Aunt Jessica, cousin Grace, and cousin Henry to visit Libby and her family on Tuesday. Although her two brothers, Matthew and Jacob greeted us as if nothing had changed, soon it was clear that this soft pinkness of sleeping delight was for at least this moment the center of this home's activity.
This morning I was gazing at the buffet that had belonged to Steve's mom. On top of the buffet I had placed birds from Libby Doe's collection of small bird statues. They were bordered by 2 Willow Tree figures. Since Steve's Mom had loved the ocean, I had picked a little girl holding a conch shell to her ear. The second statue was a girl holding a large bouquet of forget me nots. She looks like she is taking a deep breath of the flowers' fragrance. I have no idea whether or not the flowers smell but I could envision myself taking deep breaths savoring the richness of our memories as we think back on Libby Doe and others who went before. Let's see where do I begin? The taste of cinnamony snicker doodles, the aroma of bread baking, fresh from the garden veggies neatly sliced and steamed to perfection, the table set with a tea pot, each place with ornate sterling silver utensils, flowers just cut from the yard - these are only a few of the images that fill my mind as I think of the first Libby.
Rich as these images are they are not the most important thing about her. As thrilled as she would be to see the daughter of our youngest son and know that this baby bears her name, she would be more pleased to know that this is the sixth in a line of her family to be taught the gospel, taught to rely on the saving and sustaining work of Christ. She would be pleased if Libby and her brothers took an interest in planting flowers as well as reaping a harvest from a well laid out vegetable garden. She would be more pleased to see them delve into God's word and be blessed by the rich harvest He provides. As I get to hold Libby, I rejoice in the memories of the first Libby and even more rejoice in the promises of God. In order to see this blessing continue, we must look to Christ alone. As we marvel at how blessed we have been by the people in our lives, we must remember that it's Christ who sustains us and nurtures our families from generation to generation.
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