Beloved because of whose we are.

We are currently delighting in some very good news! A long-awaited event has finally happened. Our family has a new baby! He’s beautiful, delicious, adorable, and adored.

Long before he was born, while he was being knit together in his mummy’s womb, his nest was being prepared for him: a beautiful safe space created in that loving home for him to sleep in, to grow in, from within which to encounter his first awareness of the big, wide world. It is full of lovely things: soft warm clothes, cuddly bears, things to stimulate his senses, even though it will be months, even years, before he can properly engage with some of them. But they’re ready, lovingly prepared in advance, for his delight as and when he’s developed enough to enjoy them.

He is beloved. Not because of anything he’s done or even will do. Not because he’s beautiful, which he is, nor because he’s ‘easy’, which he isn’t. He won’t sleep, this precious little man, not in the night nor during the day. And his parents are exhausted. But he’s beloved because he’s ‘theirs’. Just that. He is wanted. He is cherished. He belongs.

But our little man is a 2020 ‘lockdown baby’ and so, as yet, we’ve not been able to snuggle him or love on his mummy and daddy as our hearts have longed to do. If only we could take a night shift or walk him round the streets during the day so they could sleep between feeds, or bring home-cooked meals for their freezer, or fresh fruit and vegetables to their door. We’ve not even been able to travel down the motorway and peer at him through the window.

But as I ponder the wonder that is this darling child, I see so many parallels with who we each are in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Whatever the circumstances of our homes, our life experiences, our joys or sorrows, we are treasured by the One who created us. We belong to Him. We are, first and foremost, His. We are beloved.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for creating me and loving me ‘no matter what’. Thank You that, however well - or not - I’ve been nurtured and whatever challenges surround me, You delight in me and You want only good for me. Help me to truly believe that I am the absolute apple of Your eye. Help me to trust You and choose You for every heartbeat and for whatever today will bring. Amen.