Today is a doubly-special day for me. Today is the anniversary of my baptism (June 23, 2000). And while I am celebrating sixteen years as a child of God, my youngest son Joshua is celebrating his first birthday.

Joshua is the child we didn’t know we needed.

David says this about children:

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them…

Psalm 127:3-5a

Don’t get me wrong: If you never have a child you may never think “I’m missing something.” You can live perfectly happy, blessed and faithful Christian lives without ever bringing a child into the world.

On the other hand, without fail when you do have one you will say “I needed this. Now I’m complete.” There’s something about having a child that makes you think “this was the missing puzzle piece I didn’t even know I was lacking.” And after you have that first child, you’ll think “This kid is perfect. Let’s not risk ruining things by having another one.” And then…SURPRISE!

But when the second one comes along, you will certainly think: “I’m so glad this happened because we needed this. Now we’re complete.” And if you’re like me and Lauren (mostly me) you’ll think “Two is nice…these two are nice. We’re done. This is fine. We’re happy. Our life is complete.”

And then several years pass until…SURPRISE!

And you’ll hold him in your arms and you’ll think “where have you been all my life?”

me and joshua

Our life is complete.