Ben makes his entrance!

Last week was a very special time for me and Sue, as we celebrated the birth of our third grandchild Benjamin (Ben).   It seems that we have been looking forward to his birth for a long time (about 9 months, actually!), and we give thanks to God for his safe arrival.  I am sure that he will be a great blessing to his parents Chris & Megan, and to his big brother, Max.  It was one of those strange co-incidences that Ben was born on 10 October, which is the same date on which my dad died back in 1991.  It is a powerful reminder of the rhythm and pattern of human existence.

Max and Ben have a cousin, Beth, who lives in Doncaster.  Beth and her parents, Matt and Steph, came down over the weekend to see Ben, and it was wonderful to have our 3 grandchildren together in our house for the first time.  I thought that I would take the opportunity to have a photo taken with them.  There is an old saying, "never work with children or animals", and I knew that it wasn't going to be easy getting a good shot.  We did manage very briefly to get all four of us on the settee together, but then Ben started crying, and Beth and Max decided that they didn't really want to sit for a photo-shoot!  We managed to get one brief shot; it isn't a great photo but it will be a very precious reminder in the years to come.

I suppose that every grandparent thinks that their grandkids are wonderful, and mine certainly are!  It has been fascinating to see how Max and Beth have developed in so many ways since they were born last year.  They are clearly very different in both nature and character, yet both so lovable and lots of fun to be with.  I am sure that in due course Ben will begin to reveal and develop his own personal characteristics.  Three very special young children!

Of course, every human being is precious in God's eyes.  The Bible tells us that when God decided to create human beings he made a decision that every human being would be created to bear something of the "image" of God.  A better translation of that word might be "imprint" or "impression".  That can be a little difficult to understand, but at heart what it means is that God leaves the imprint of his hand on every human life, and no-one can be fully complete or whole unless they come to know God in a personal way and enter into a love relationship with him (Jesus came into the world to show us the way).  We are created to walk with God.

Max, Beth and Ben are very blessed in that they have parents who will love and nurture them.  Their parents know that it is far more important to give to a child things like love, encouragement, time, good example, than to give them expensive gifts etc.

I pray every day for my family.  I thank God for each one of them.  Top of my prayer list for my grandchildren (including number 4 who is due next year!) is that they will one day come to know personally the God who created them, who has loved them from before the dawn of time, and who has an eternal plan and purpose for their lives.