A Labor of Love
Remember the story of Jacob from Genesis 29? Jacob worked seven years to marry his love, Rachel, but was tricked by his uncle and married her older sister, Leah, instead. Jacob was not deterred and promised to work seven more years for Rachel. Talk about a true labor of love! I don't why exactly, but this story kept bubbling into my conscious thoughts as I pondered my youngest son, Christopher, turning 7 last week. It must be the 7 year time frame that made me think about it. Seven years is a long time but has gone by so quickly in many other ways. We celebrated at a Belmont basketball game (guess which masked Bruin in the photo is Christopher), some pizza, a trip to the circus over the weekend, and by watching the first two days of Christopher's life on DVD (this puts a different spin on what "labor of love" means).
And we'll be the first to tell you that parenting is not easy day in and day out. There are many difficult stretches that involve a different type of labor: sickness, mistakes, disobedience, the hard times of parenting. But those times of trial quickly melt away in retrospect.
Christopher was enthralled watching the video of the hours after his birth. The pure joy on everyone's face was so evident: Mommy, Daddy, big brother, grandparents, nurses. What a joyous event! I could tell that watching the video of his first two days was a special moment for him. What a cute, special little baby that has grown into our little boy in 7 short years. We love you, Christopher, and are so proud to be your parents!
