Happy Birthday, Maggie Lynn!

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV). Today is our granddaughter’s birthday. Maggie is two years old! It hardly seems like two years has passed with all the changes that have taken place over the last two years it has made it seem very short indeed. My tradition of writing something centered around the birthday of family members started today with our reading. It may seem a bit odd to go to such a deeply theological passage; however, the last verse seemed to be just right.

Maggie, also known fondly as “Munch,” continues to surprise us with her ability to bring joy and happiness regardless of the circumstance. When the Apostle Paul said that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” he surely had Maggie in mind! All of our grandchildren have been absolute joys to us. Since moving back to Texas we have been able to be geographically closer to Maggie. That has brought a greater level of involvement in her life. Her jaunty personality never ceases to remind me of the importance of our children and grandchildren. She has been a bit slow to warm to me, though she took to Mary very quickly. This has given us a glimpse into her independent mind. David or Becca might be holding her and they will offer here to go to grandpa. She usually throws her head back a bit with a wry smile and announces, “Nope!” Of course there are times when she gladly comes to my arms; however, there are also those times when it simply doesn’t suit her desires. I’ve thought some about that. It reminds me how often we may have missed the warm, loving arms of our heavenly Father simply because it didn’t suit us at the moment. Even though we are created for such a relationship, we may at times independently stand against the idea of such a dependency. We are always the worse for it, yet we repeat the same mistake always getting the same result of a loss of his embrace and protection. Christmas is a time that we can easily be reminded to run into the arms of our heavenly Father. Even in our culture we have reminders all around us of his love for us. He sent Jesus to show us that love in his atoning work on the cross. Might I encourage you to say “Yep” the next time you see his arms open wide to receive you? You’ll be glad you did. And… Happy Birthday, Maggie!