It's been almost six weeks since Ezra made his grand appearance. I had the privilege and blessing of baptizing him into the Body of Christ, at our Easter Vigil. I was reminded that it was almost 18 years ago, when the first of our children made her entrance. Nothing much has changed. It never gets old. Each child an incredible blessing, each bringing unspeakable joy, and a sense of awe. To think that God, in his grace has entrusted to us one of his children. A brand new soul, that would not have existed apart from Mary and my cooperation. God made, Adam from the dust of the earth, and Eve from his rib. But the rest of the children in the world, he allows, even requires human participation. When I think about this trust, I am humbled by the enormity of the responsibility that it entails. God loves children, He loves people. He wants them all to be with Him forever. God has entrusted us with Ezra, to raise him, to train him in His stead, the way God would raise his own children so that Ezra too will one day join the ranks of the Saints in His presence. Who is up to the task?
Thankfully, God has not left us to figure it out on our own. He's given us grace beyond measure in the Church, in the Holy Scriptures, in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With nine living children, I still do not know all there is to know about raising children. They are all different, all unique requiring their own tailor made game plan. The foundation of all means and methods however, remains the Church, life in Christ Jesus. In the Church God has granted every grace necessary for us to accomplish this task. Our task, is to make use of every available means of Grace, for us and for Ezra, to the honor and glory of God- That there might never be a time in Ezra's life that he did not know Christ, and have peace with God.
