Madeline

God has blessed us with our third baby, my beautiful princess. She's not a princess like Ariel from Little Mermaid, but like Cinderella. She's six weeks old now and becoming more beautiful every day. Her beauty increases as her mother nourishes her, her father protects and provides for her, and her brothers snuggle her with loves. Her beauty increases not because of what we do though, it is because of the Father's love flowing through us. Our goal is that the Father's love would become more and more evident in her life as we refine the gifts and beauty that God has already put there.

Madeline's name sake (Mary Magdalen from the Gospels) was a business woman whose life was made beautiful when Jesus refined the demons from her. Our baby is a reminder that God has created beautiful gifts in each person, we get to articulate and watch them blossom. Another Madeline who experienced "blossoming" is a baby that was Rich Mullin's pastor's daughter. She wasn't suppose to be born because of congenital birth defects-she was. And the doctors said she wouldn't live a day, she lived a week. She wasn't suppose to live a month and she lived a year and half. Then she went to be with the Father. Rich said she was his prayer partner and wrote a song about the beauty of the Father in a baby who couldn't hear, couldn't make a noise, but could pray with the angels. The only complete public recording of the song is on Rich Mullins: Live from Lufkin, TX. It was taken off youtube so you'll have to buy the DVD or come over to my house to see it.