Always a Gift

Sarah at 3 weeks
Photo by Keith

Can't remember where now, but a few weeks ago I was reading about how we are made to be given away.  God creates us as a gift to give away--to humanity, to the world--for His purposes.  And when we see the beauty of the gift that we are, and the blessing it is to have a purpose, to have meaning...we understand how blessed it is to be given. 

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...."

Life is always a gift.  Babies are always a gift.

Even if we didn't exactly choose the gift?
Yes.

Even when the mother is unwed?
Yep.

Even if the marriage is falling apart?
Yeah, even then.

Even when the life of the womb bearer is in jeopardy?
Hmmmm, even so.

It strikes me that these questions are hard to answer because the question we are really asking is this...
Is the child a gift to the mother, to the father? 

The answer may or may not be yes, but ultimately, that's missing the point. 

Though  a part of my mother's purpose was to birth me into this world, the purpose of my life is not wrapped up in my mother, though I love her dearly and am grateful for her part in my becoming.  Being her daughter has certainly been a part of what I was purposed for, but the purpose of my life far surpasses her.  The purpose of the life of my children far surpasses me.  I am but a steward of it for a time.  Isn't that the beauty of it? 

I am a gift from God to the world.

My children are a gift from God to the world. 

And isn't bringing a gift from God into the world worth living for, and maybe even dying for? 

A gift that gives beyond us. 

I think about all the babies in Swazi.  I think about the fact that most of their Mom's will never see their babies' purpose. Yet the possibilities are pregnant. They are gifts from God waiting to be given away.  Who will be the steward of those gifts?

I think about the once abandoned child who has a new home.  And I wonder if they know, in the midst of all the upheaval, how important his call is.  How much more important he is than they can see right now.  When the time comes, will they love him enough to let him go?

I think about my girls, and their beauty, and their gifts, and potential.  I think about how much they need guidance and protection.  And I am stilled by the weight of it all.  How do I help them to understand how great a gift they can become?  How much they matter.
 
Maybe it's by honoring the sacredness of who they are becoming. 
Maybe it's by allowing myself to be given away.
I am gift, born to be given away.

My babies are gifts, born through me, to be given away by God. 
Will I let them be given?  Will I help them?  Will I be worthy of being entrusted with them? 

Will I trust the great Giver?