Listen for the Heartbeat of God...

Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. - Luke 18:17

Rebekah has her first conversation with David Henry

So how do I build a blog post around this grandson when Rebekah's up there in Connecticut loving on him, and I'm not? Fortunately it's not too difficult, because I have a few new pictures - and a picture sometimes says it all.

Like this one. Rebekah finally got to hold him. It was around 3:00 yesterday afternoon, right there in the Hartford airport. It certainly looks like David Henry has a few things to say for himself. Or he's yawing. It's difficult to tell. Rebekah said he was welcoming her to Connecticut. I think he was asking, "So where's my Grandaddy Derek?"

Snuggle down

GOD'S HUG: But overall I hear David is a real snuggle-bunny. He likes to hold tight and just form himself into the contours of Naomi's lap... or Craig's... or Rebekah's for the next few days. And I love that image because it makes me think of God, and how God simply wants to surround us with love - especially in light of this difficult week.

MEN'S ROOM: Wednesday night - all reeling still and full with questions - I chosePsalm 46 for my men's group. We've been reading from the Book of Psalms for the past several weeks and this one just seemed to fit so well. You already know how it goes, so I'll just quote a few of the highlights:

• God is our refuge and our strength... that's why we have no need to fear...
• The Lord is with us... the God of Jacob is our strong place...
• God says, "Be still and know that I am God..."
• The Lord almighty promises to never let us go...

"Just hold me, Daddy..."

"Sometimes," I told my guys, "all we can do is just to be still, to snuggle into God's presence and cultivate an awareness of God's care and love."


I told them about David Henry, and how he doesn't have the foggiest notion of what his mama or his daddy are saying; he has very little idea what they're up to; he has no clue as to how he should communicate other than to cry like crazy when he needs something - and even then he really doesn't know what it is...

But little David Henry does know WHO he needs. He needs his mama, and he needs to be held, and he just wants to be there and to feel her heartbeat like he heard his whole entire life so far - all those months before he was born.

God is the heartbeat of my life. God formed each one of us and created us as particular individuals. God did that with the idea of a relationship of love in mind. And sometimes all we need to do is to lean in close and to let the arms of God wrap around us. And we need to hear that heartbeat again like we did when we were being formed.

That's all. God's heartbeat. So snuggle in already - DEREK